Chicago, IL, February 11, 2010 -- Actor/Writer/Director Wendell B.
Harris, Jr. continues efforts to keep his award-winning film, Chameleon
Street, among the not-forgotten gems of cinematic history by kicking off
2010 with a launch of his critically-acclaimed film among new releases
on iTunes. Chameleon Street is debuting in the iTunes catalog and joins
an elite group of films negotiated through aggregate firm TuneCore, as
it celebrates twenty years since its' winning entry at the 1990 Sundance
Film Festival.
Chameleon Street is a psychological comedy that
uses the real-life story of Douglas Street, an infamous Michigan-born
imposter, to explore the myth of the American Dream, the paradox of
African-American male identity, and the movie medium's uncanny ability
to get under the skin of American Society. It is the quintessential
story of an innovative thinker using all the wrong modes to try and
overcome all the odds.
The film is set for release on iTunes at
the climax of the 26th Sundance Film Festival, which honors excellence
in independent film each year. In 1990, Chameleon Street was awarded the
festival's most prestigious award, the Grand Jury Prize, and in 2009,
Harris Jr. was honored to return to the festival for the film's
induction into its' collection of favorite festival classics. 2010
spells progress as Harris and his team take to the internet to promote
the digital release via aggressive grassroots marketing tactics.
Wendell
B. Harris, Jr. and his team at Prismatic Images have meticulously
prepared for the digital launch of the film and plan to engage film
lovers on their favorite networking sites like Twitter and Facebook to
get the word out. There is a commemorative music soundtrack that will be
available as a free download and thank you for fans participating in
the Chameleon Street experience. "The unique ways that people
communicate and share in this new digital world remained top of mind
while planning for the launch into the world of iTunes," said Harris,
Jr. "We've ventured onto social networking sites and discovered a world
of fans of this film. We want to keep the conversation going."
The
soundtrack will be available for free on a Chameleon Street branded
community site on the NING Network, and features music from emerging
musicians discovered by Harris along the promotional route for the DVD
release of the film in late 2007. "Many of the artists participating in
the soundtrack were die hard fans of the film," Harris Jr. reflected.
"The energy and spirit heard in the work of cutting-edge musicians like
Allegra Dolores, Marcus Davis, and a cache of others mirrors my own
passions as both writer and filmmaker not to mention Doug Street's
ill-driven passions as displayed in the film." Through the inclusion of
the soundtrack, and the NING site where members are encouraged to be
"who they say they are", Wendell B. Harris Jr. and his team hope to
elevate the cult-status Chameleon Street has maintained over the years
by hip hop lovers, for a whole new audience.
Largely ignored by
Hollywood after the 1990 Sundance win, sampling of the film by hip hop
artists, Mos Def and Talib Kweli for their 1999 debut album entitled,
Black Star helped to keep underground "cred" for the film authentic. The
transparent ties to the "golden era" hip hop community translates into
new ground covered for the Chameleon Street brand and team behind it.
Newer and established fans of Chameleon Street will be treated to an
array of new experiences as the year rolls in. 2010 represents the 20th
anniversary of Chameleon Street, and the beginning of a new era for
Wendell B. Harris, Jr. with a long-awaited return to his passion for
filmmaking.
About Wendell Harris:
Wendell B. Harris, Jr.
is an American filmmaker who was trained in drama at the prestigious
Interlochen and Juilliard schools. He is the writer, director and lead
actor of Chameleon Street, a Gethsemane 84, Inc. / Prismatic Images,
Inc. production, and has produced the radio series Black Biography,
which showcased Black icons from the spheres of art, history and
politics. He has appeared as an actor in the films Out of Sight and Road
Trip. Wendell Harris is currently in post-production for the
forthcoming docu-series, ARBITER ROSWELL. This scathing, imaginative,
impeccably researched, and often hilarious master-work explores the
inner connectivity of both our media and the military-industrial complex
--- two entities which Harris believes wield an inordinate amount of
power in shaping our culture and our minds. According to Harris, ARBITER
ROSWELL contains an amazing acting performance by Steven Soderbergh,
portraying Theodor W. Adorno as well as startling death-bed revelations
from legendary Army counter-intelligence agent Frank J. Kaufmann who
actually coordinated the Roswell incident in 1947. He is currently
shopping several film treatments from the comedy genre including
Negropolis which is being co-produced by Alde Lewis, Jr. and Richard
Kiley, Jr. Wendell is also collaborating with the writer-producer Mike
Barker (American Dad) on two feature film projects while exploring the
possibility of producing the feature film version of Bill Wiese's
controversial and compelling narrative, 23 Minutes in Hell. He also
manages to tour as a guest speaker at college and university campuses
nationwide. For more information visit www.wendellharrisjr.com
To
interact with Chameleon Street visit:
www.twitter.com/chameleonstreet
www.myspace.com/chameleonstreet
www.chameleonstreet.ning.com
Custom Search
Recent Comments