The District of Columbia Office of Motion Picture and Television Development (MPTD) is pleased to honor Gemal Woods, award-winning filmmaker and founder of Park Triangle Productions, as the May 2013 Filmmaker of the Month. Gemal is an award-winning artist and filmmaker whose work has won recognition in the DC film and arts community as well as nationally. His diverse portfolio of production credits range from work on the PBS distributed, Moneywise with Kelvin Boston to the award-winning documentary, Obama in Ghana, which aired on BET’s Centric TV.
Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gemal began working in the digital film production when he moved to the Washington area in 1999. He attended the New York Film Academy (NYFA) in 2002 to enhance his filmmaking skills. In 2003, he started Park Triangle Productions, a small production company servicing government agencies, nonprofit organizations and the arts community. He is skilled in a wide range of filmmaking abilities including directing, writing, creative development, consulting, producing, designing, scripting, and programming. His current focus is in the areas of directing, cinematography and editing.
His first documentary film, Blue Line: Destination Christylez, focused on the life of DC’s very own Christylez Bacon, and won the 2005 Rosebud Film Festival. His dramatic short film, Types in Stereo, which was also filmed on location in the District, won the Arizona Black Film Showcase in 2010. His short documentary film, Close Ties: Tying on a New Tradition, a film that focuses on a rite of passage ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana has won The Texas Black Film Festival (2012), Best of Festival The Chicago International Social Change Film Festival (2012), Rosebud Film Festival (2012) and is currently represented by a distributor.
In 2010 he launched The Angle, an eclectic documentary web series filmed predominantly in the District that features a different topic, person, place or thing affecting American culture each week, exploring subjects from a variety of angles or perspectives. The series, which covers a wide range of topics from food and sex to religion and modern politics, garnered six awards at the Los Angeles Web Series Festival including Best Travel, Talk, Lifestyle or Music Series. The Angle was also a finalist at the International Academy of Web Television Awards in 2013.
Currently Gemal is working on a dark-dramedy web series filmed in DC entitled No Strings, Please due to launch June 2013. He currently resides in Ward 4 of the District of Columbia with his wife and two children.
The DC Film Office launched the Filmmaker of the Month initiative to feature a District-based filmmaker who exemplifies the vast amount of talent and creativity based here in the nation’s capital. The Filmmaker of the Month initiative is part of its mission to elevate the national and international profile of the city’s most talented filmmakers. Previous filmmakers honored include Double R Productions Founder Rosemary Reed, Money Matters director Ryan Richmond, Emmy-award winning Durrin Productions founder Ginny Durrin, and Línea Directa producer and documentary filmmaker Eduardo López.
You can visit the Filmmaker of the Month section to learn more about Gemal and previous Filmmaker of the Month recipients.
Do you know a filmmaker you would like to see featured as the DC Film Office’s Filmmaker of the Month”? If so, please forward your suggestion to [email protected].