Clarendon Entertainment is a New York City-based film production and distribution company that specializes in films and documentaries with subject matter of interest to African-American audiences. Founded in 1998 by media entrepreneur Rodney Parnther director, Roderick Giles, the company’s stated mission is to expand the range of quality film content available to fans of black cinema while maintaining long-term African-American ownership of the copyrights to its properties.
The company is best known for financing and producing well-crafted high quality 35mm short films under the Urban S.L.A.M. (Short Live Action Movies) brand. Urban S.L.A.M. is a platform that introduces audiences to the work of a new generation of urban filmmakers. These films are generally well-crafted pieces that feature both established and emerging African American performers. The films have been official selections at prominent film festivals throughout the U.S. and have aired on cable networks owned by HBO, Showtime and BET. One of the shorts, The Tested, won the top prize at the 2006 Los Angeles International Short Film Festival, qualifying it for an Academy Award nomination.
Clarendon distributes the Urban S.L.A.M. series on DVD as well as other titles under a multi-year agreement with Alternative Distribution Alliance, a unit of Warner Music Group. The DVD is presented as a collection of 5-8 high quality short films with compelling segments in between films. The company also offers its short-form content (i) as part of Urban SLAM ClubPremiereTM, an online movie club that premieres new titles each month by delivering them to members via e-mail and (ii) on BlackMoviesOnline.tv, a soon to be launched premium video web portal where indie filmmakers can expose their work to black cinema enthusiasts. Recently, the Company began offering colleges and universities across the U.S. live programs built around selected documentaries for Black History Month. It first program, From Martin to Tupac: Political Assassinations completed a successful tour in February 2009, including screenings at USC, Fordham University, Carnegie Mellon, Wellesley and Ferris State.
In April 2007, the company released The Adventures of Teddy P. Brains: Journey into the Rain Forest, the critically acclaimed first episode of a 3D animated series aimed at children 5–8 years old. The series follows the exploits of 6-year old Teddy, an African-American boy with a love for learning, his cousin Tempest Wits and dog D’Artagnan as they travel around the earth and back in time on exciting missions.
In March 2008, the company released the award-winning documentary Who Killed Martin Luther King?, directed by Emmy award-winning John Edginton,on DVD for the first time.
In the summer of 2008 Shoebox Pictures went into production on the feature length version of The Tested with Russell Costanzo once more at the helm and Melissa B. Miller producing. The feature length version expands on the controversial themes of redemption, justice, and the cycle of violence and stars Aunjanue Ellis, Armando Riesco, Michael Morris Jr. and Frank Vincent.
Beginning in the fall of 2009, the company will begin offering colleges and universities exclusive access to its subscription-based educational web destination www.BlackCinemaOnline.tv. This new site's theme is Fade-Up: A Celebration of African American Cinema - Past, Present and Future and includes a multi-media historical archive; interviews with film scholars, critics and historians; movie trailers for upcoming theatrical releases; and a rotating presentation of the company's short film titles.