CREATED EQUAL
production team
director - bill duke
William Henry "Bill" Duke, Jr. is an American writer, director, producer and actor with over 35 years of experience. He received his dramatic arts training at Boston University, New York University's Tisch School of Arts and at the American Film Institute. Known for his physically imposing frame, Duke's work frequently dwells within the action/crime and drama genres but also includes comedy.
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Duke first broke into TV in the early eighties directing episodes of well known TV shows including "Miami Vice", "Cagney & Lacey" and "Hill Street Blues". Additionally, he directed several made for TV movies that received wide critical acclaim including "American Playhouse" and "American Playhouse: A Raisin in the Sun (#8.1)".
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Bill Duke's face, then became known to movie goers following his appearance in several high octane action movies of the mid 1980s, including fighting (and losing) to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando, as unlucky mercenary "Mac", in Predator and as Carl Weathers fiery police chief in Action Jackson.
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After cutting his directorial teeth on the small screen, Duke directed his first feature film with the crime drama, A Rage in Harlem. Duke followed up that success by directing several other notable films to include, Hoodlums, Sister Act 2, Deep Cover and Not Easily Broken. His documentaries, Dark Girls and Light Girls, both NAACP Image Award nominees, aired on OWN and were two of the most successful documentaries on the network.
Screenplay by Ned Bowman and Michael Ricigliano Jr. and Joyce Renee Lewis
Based on the book by R. A. Brown
michael ricigliano jr.
Michael Ricigliano Jr. has penned screenplays, stage plays and television pilots such as Brooklyn Law (Tele Play), A Queen for a Day (Stage Play), The Brooklyn Banker (Screenplay), Created Equal (Screenplay), Godless (Stage Play), Phelan House (Stage Play)
• Screenplay – Lily of the Feast
Short Film starring Paul Sorvino & Tony LoBianco.
Directed by Federico Castelluccio.
Winner 7 awards including Best Director, Best Short Film Long Island International Film Festival, Best Ensemble Cast Orlando Film Festival
• Screenplay - The Brooklyn Banker
Feature film. Starring Paul Sorvino, Troy Garity, David Proval, Arthur Nascarella. Directed by Federico Castelluccio
Distributed by Tricoast Films. Nationwide Theatrical Release date August 5th, 2016.
• Screenplay – Created Equal (Based on the book by RA Brown)
Feature Film. Starring Lou Diamond Philips, Aaron Tveit, Edy Ganem
Directed by Bill Duke
• Stage Play – A Queen for a Day
Performed off Broadway at the St. Clements Theatre. May 3rd - July 26th 2015
Starring David Proval, Vincent Pastore.
Directed by John Gould Rubin
joyce renee lewis
Joyce Renee Lewis (screenwriter, playwright and poet) is co-writer of CREATED EQUAL, the 2017 legal drama/thriller directed by Bill Duke. She is co-writer and associate producer of the Lions Gate hip hop feature film CIVIL BRAND. Directed by Neema Barnette and produced by Jeff Clanagan (CodeBlack Entertainment), it stars Mos Def, LisaRaye McCoy, N’Bushe Wright, Monica Calhoun, MC Lyte and Da Brat. Before theatrical release, CIVIL BRAND was an official selection at several festivals including Sundance (SRO screenings), the AFI Film Festival, the African, Asian & Latin American Film Festival (Milan, Italy), the Roxbury Film Festival and the Women’s International Film Festival. It won Audience Awards at the American Black Film Festival in Miami, the UrbanWorld Film Festival in New York as well as the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles.
Lewis is the writer of the feature film SPIRIT LOST (a cable cult-classic) for Live Entertainment/ United Image Entertainment/BET Films. Regina Taylor and Leon star. Additionally, she contributed to the writing process on the Showtime movie RUN FOR THE DREAM: THE GAIL DEVERS STORY, produced by Hallmark and Logo Entertainment, starring Lou Gossett, Charlayne Woodard, Robert Guillaume, and Florence Griffith Joyner.
The critically-acclaimed TURNING POINTS (co-writer), the one-woman show starring popular television & film actress Cleo King and directed by Bill Duke (mounted at the Franklin Theater in Los Angeles), was her stage writing debut.
Lewis is a proud San Jose State University graduate and alumnus of the Directing Workshop for Women at the American Film Institute.
Producer - thada catalon
Catalon began her film career as an actress. Her acting & filmmaking career thus far includes work in several short films, commercials, webisodes, music videos and seven feature films; to include her latest production efforts “Created Equal” which was directed by Bill Duke and stars Aaron Tveit, Lou Diamond Phillips and Edy Ganem.
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Catalon’s first foray into producing was the urban crime drama “Because I Love You” starring Chico Benymon, Billy Sorrells and Courtney Cameron. The picture is currently being distributed worldwide. Her next feature length production “Alternate Realities” starring Donny Boaz, Tom Sizemore and Christopher Judge, in which she was the first recipient of the inaugural Houston Filmmaker Grant, went on to WIN Best Sound Design and was NOMINATED for Best Drama at the 10th Annual 2014 Action on Film Festival. Alternate Realities is currently available on Video on Demand and streaming services worldwide. Thada also contributed as Production Manager for the feature length film “The Last Man Club."
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Aside, from holding three academic degrees, including a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Full Sail University, a Master of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Thada further cultivated her experience in film, by pursuing a degree in Filmmaking from The Art Institute of Houston.
director of photography- Steven parker
Parker is an award-winning cinematographer and camera operator with two decades worth of experience shooting feature films and episodic television. His résumé includes festival-favorite indies such as "Feed The Fish" starring Tony Shalhoub and "Sacrifice" starring Dermot Mulroney and Melora Walters as well as grand studio pictures like Antoine Fuqua's "The Magnificent Seven" and Doug Liman's upcoming Tom Cruise film "American Made." In the television world, Steven has worked on range of popular programs such as "NCIS: New Orleans" and "Zoo" for CBS, "The Astronauts' Wives Club" for ABC and AMC's groundbreaking "Into the Badlands."
Steven studied Art Education at the University of Cincinnati before discovering filmmaking, whereupon he moved to Chicago to study film and video at Columbia College Chicago. As a veteran filmmaker, he has traveled the world, shooting in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, Mexico and all across the US. He gives back to the community through educational outreach, having guest lectured at Chicago's DePaul University, Roosevelt University and the School of the Art Institute, as well the Hollywood Hearts youth organization and caregivers.org.
Steven is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, an associate member of the Society of Camera Operators and a long-time member of the Independent Film Project, Film Independent and the Digital Cinema Society. He is based in New Orleans.