In this episode, we talk with filmmaker and endangered animal activist Kerry David. She is the founder of Over and Above Africa - a non-profit organization she launched in 2014 that has been instrumental in helping countries in Africa have an upper hand in the war against illegal, criminal animal poaching. We also talk about the magic that occurred when she followed her passion for living outside of the chaos of Hollywood and what happened next.
ONLINE AUCTION: June 1st - 13th, 2022: https://www.overandaboveafrica.com/#auction-2022
Social Media: @OverAboveAfrica
Website: https://www.overandaboveafrica.com/
Kerry has been working in the film and television industry for over 25 years. She began her career at Paramount Pictures in Business Affairs learning the contract side of filmmaking, followed by three years working exclusively for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman honing her physical production knowledge. Films with TC & NK include; Mission Impossible 2, Without Limits, Portrait of a Lady, Peacemaker, Practical Magic, The Blue Room, and Eyes Wide Shut with legendary director Stanley Kubrick.
Armed with this experience, Kerry started her own production company. She co-produced the award-winning DVD Deposing the Usual Suspects, followed by Agent Cody Banks and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. She subsequently produced Perfect Romance for Lifetime Television, followed by the critically acclaimed, feature documentary; My Date with Drew. MDWD won multiple awards around the world, including the Audience Award for Best Feature at the HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Best Feature at the NY Gen Art Film Festival, and the Audience Award at The Locarno International Film Festival and attained a worldwide, theatrical release.
Next, she produced Expert Insight: Short Game Golf with Jim Furyk & Fred Funk, which won a Telly Award for Outstanding Instructional Content and Cinematic Excellence.
Kerry's next feature was adapted from the New York Times bestseller Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury. Friend and Oscar nominee, Stephen J. Rivele (Ali, Nixon) adapted the book, and the film was released by 20th Century Fox, starring Mira Sorvino, Barry Pepper and Cole Hauser. Like Dandelion Dust premiered at the prestigious Deauville Film Festival in France with a 10-minute, standing ovation and won the Premiere Audience Award for Best Feature. It went on to accrue 35 other film festival accolades.
She produced her fourth documentary, Making Miles - The Miles Davis Story and followed that up by producing, writing and co-directing Seeking Happily Ever After, which was one of only 25 films accepted into the Sundance Film Lab. It was also used by Stanford University's law department as a case study for fair use practices and was distributed by Lionsgate Films.
From 2010-2013 Kerry took a leave of absence from Hollywood to build an orphanage in Ghana, West Africa. She worked with a talented team in Ghana to build a Musical Village for Orphans, which launched in 2013. Of her time in Ghana, Kerry said; "Working with the kind people in Ghana will remain a highlight of her life."
In 2014, at the forefront of the crowdfunding campaign phase, she raised over $500,000 for various non-profits, productions and artists. She was pulled away after learning the silent war on endangered species due to commercial poaching and human/wildlife conflict. Moved to action, she launched her Non-Profit; OverandAboveAfrica.com.
In 2017, she wrote, directed & produced the multiple award-winning feature documentary, "Bill Coors: The Will to Live" followed by a request to create a 40-minute, educational version for two University curricula in Denver. In 2019 she completed writing, directing and producing her passion project, the feature documentary; "Breaking Their Silence: Women on the Frontline of the Poaching War". BTS won seventeen film festivals, including Jury Award & Audience Award for Best Documentary at San Diego International Film Festival and the Durango Film Festival. www.BreakingTheirSilence.com.
In 2020 - She started filming the feature documentary, "Open Secret,". OS is a shocking story detailing corruption and collusion among key individuals who covered up systemic racism and child sexual, emotional and physical abuse throughout an entire school district. The history of this abuse dates back decades. The very people tasked with protecting these children abandoned them at every turn, allowing some sexual predators to remain in their positions for years. Now in editing. Her feature film, "The Road Ahead," will air on Hallmark in August 2022.
In addition to her award-winning film work, Kerry gave a TEDx Talk about her experience filming Breaking Their Silence. She's been a guest speaker, panelist, and moderator at artist's groups and schools such as University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, Pepperdine University, ROTC, and the New York Film Academy.
