Trailer Release: My Block

Twenty-Four year old writer and film director Tay Pugh strikes an intimate chord on the discussion of gentrification with his new short film “My Block.”

In the film tension arises between three young African American residents born in the Bedford Stuyvesant area of Brooklyn, NY and four Caucasian residents new to the area. One of the new residents, April, expresses her concerns to the landlord when she spots the one of the black males hanging on the stoop. Fed up with the treatment from the landlord and his sudden demands since the moving in of the new residents, the group of black males, Chad, Isaih, and Tyquan decide to have a block party to bring awareness to the changes taking place in the community, “My Block.” Catch a sneak peak below of the film set to air this spring, with a surprise ending you don’t want to miss.

http://youtu.be/KplwSrfX8Bg[iframely]http://iframe.ly/bFkV[/iframely]

Cast and Crew:

Executive Producer: Tay Pugh                   Writer: Tay pugh                                    Director: Tay Pugh

Assistant Director: Sehiya Sun (AMC Networks & Howard U alum)

Production Assistants: Aqe Austin and Tim Austin

Isaih: Maquir English                   Tyquan: Elliot Rogers             Max: Patrick Davitt-Sweeney

April: Athenas Duche                   Chad: Tay Pugh                         David: Nicholas Barone

Behind the Film: Tay Pugh

• Where are you from?
  • Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY and I currently reside in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
• Where did you attend school?
  • I attended Norfolk State University and HBCU in Virginia and received a bachelors degree in Mass Communications
• Who are some of your idols and what influenced you to become a filmmaker?
  • Spike Lee, John Singleton, Robert Townsend, Charles Burnett, and Oscar Micheaux. I wanted to become a fimmaker when I was about 15 years old. I had watched a bunch of films from the “new jack cinema” era of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s which were primarily urban centered films told by young black filmmakers. This era totally inspired me as a young filmmaker. Some of those films include: “Do The Right Thing”, Boyz in the Hood”, “Menace to Society”, and “Straight Outta Brooklyn”.
• What inspired you to create this film?
  • While I was away at college every time I would come home and visit my city it was continuously changing. So I wanted to create a film that spoke for the voiceless. A film that told the side of the people who were being forced out of their neighborhoods.
• What are some of your upcoming projects?
  • I am currently scheduled to shoot two short films this spring written and directed by myself under my own production company entitled Prophecy Films. Also I am currently writing two television pilots, a comedy skit series, and a feature length film.