Black Film Space is proud to serve as the fiscal sponsor for the short film MISSING RHYTHMS.

Black Film Space's fiscal sponsorship program allows for members to use its 501(c)(3) non-profit tax-exempt status to receive tax-deductible donations on the film's behalf and solicit charitable contributions throughout the production process.

MISSING RHYTHMS has been chosen after careful evaluation from our board, and we believe it supports our mission to provide career advancing opportunities for Black filmmakers. We are excited to be collaborating with a filmmaker of such high caliber to launch this long overdue program for our community of Black artists.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

PROJECT TYPE: Narrative Short
GENRE: Psychological Thriller
PROJECT STATUS: Pre-Production
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Regina Hoyles
WRITER: Aja Houston
PRODUCER: Toni Adeyemi
PRODUCER: Julie Bersani
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Kim Cohen

LOGLINE: In a mysterious insane asylum full of missing Black women from all over the country, a woman must use rhythm to remember her true identity and fight being lost forever behind the ominous Blue Door.

SYNOPSIS: Through a psychological thriller lens, MISSING RHYTHMS centers a Black woman who—after awakening from an amnesic state—must contend with a world that seeks to limit her and her possibilities. As she and several other test subjects slowly regain memory of the versions of themselves that were threatened to be erased, they are forced to challenge the misrepresentations that plague them and other Black women and girls across the nation at the risk of being forgotten forever.

TEAM

REGINA HOYLES, (Director/Producer)

Regina Hoyles is an award-winning filmmaker, writer, and actor originally from the south suburbs of Chicago currently based in Los Angeles. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Regina is the founder of RLH Productions. Her works have garnered numerous festival selections and several awards such as the Black Girls Rock! Film Fest award for "Best Screenplay" the Blackstar Film Festival Lionsgate/STARZ Producer Award, the LA Diversity Film Festival Diversity in the Arts Award among others. Her directorial debut, ADULLAM, received distribution on REVOLT TV’s anthology series, “Short and Fresh. She produced two multi-award winning shorts directed by Felicia Pride, tender and Look Back At It starring Angel Laketa Moore and also produced and starred in the proof of concept short film WELCOME HOME written and directed by Jo Rochelle which was recently completed. As a writer, Regina was staffed on a new animated Disney series. As an actor, she can be seen featured on shows like THE MARVELOUS MS. MAISEL (Amazon), THE CHI (Showtime), ALL RISE (OWN) and 9-1-1: LONE STAR (FOX).

AJA HOUSTON, (Writer)

Aja Houston is a nomadic playwright from Everywhere, USA due to an army brat adjacent childhood. Aja creates with passion, politics, and magic to boldly build off-kilter, uncanny worlds to tell monolith-breaking Black stories led by multi-faceted Black women. Starting her career as an actress in London, NYC, and San Francisco she moved to LA shifting to writing, earning her MFA in Dramatic Writing from the University of Southern California. Currently, Aja is developing LADYVILLE a socio-political horror TV series and her play, HERe, will be produced by the LA based AMMO Theatre Company in the winter of 2024. To learn more about Aja’s work visit ajahouston.com

TONI ADEYEMI, ( Producer)

Toni Adeyemi is a Nigerian multi-hyphenate who is passionate about creating authentic stories for marginalized communities. She graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Communications. Since then, she has worked in the entertainment industry as a consultant and coordinator, where she developed a keen understanding of what makes a compelling narrative.

As an award-winning writer, producer, actor, and editor, Toni brings a range of talent and experience to their projects. She created DOWN BAD, a dramedy TV pilot which won Best Web Series at the International Black & Diversity Film Festival. As a producer, she has worked on short films like CHAKRAS FOR SALE and VIOLET BLUE, both currently on the festival circuit.

JULIE BERSANI, (Producer)

A graduate of NYU – Tisch and founder of Black Poppy Productions, which specializes in developing and producing uniquely told stories that value imagination and representation. Julie has produced critically acclaimed content across the mediums of theatre, film, and music videos for artists and clients including John Legend and The Grammys. Feature films include LAND OF GOLD (MAX); DYLAN & ZOEY (STARZ); and BACK TO LYLA (VOD). She is also a founding member of Los Angeles based Ammunition Theatre Company (AMMO).

KIM COHEN, (Cinematographer)

Kim Cohen is a Los Angeles based Cinematographer. Originally from the Chicagoland Area, she is an ambitious storyteller who has shot numerous short films, music videos for Grammy Award Winning songwriters, commercials, documentaries and branded content pieces. Uplifting a project's vision is her top priority. She aims to support her community by sharing her passion for filmmaking and remaining curious in all of her pursuits. Most recently, she was a 2023 Cinematography Fellow for Film Independent's Project Involve.

Missing Rhythms Fundraising Campaign

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Team Members