If you’ve seen the music video for Idris Elba’s sultry new single, “Private Garden,” you have experienced a sample of the creative eye and spirit of filmmaker Crystle “Clear” Roberson, but if you haven’t viewed any of her award-winning short films, you are in for a real visual feast.
Roberson has been writing, producing and directing her own material for five years, and she already has an impressive collection of awards and honors from the industry. In 2006, she received a film grant from Kodak, which she used to shoot the short film The Song of Time, chosen as an official selection in the TOMI Film Festival of New Orleans, and honored by Women In Film & Television’s International Showcase.
Roberson went on to write and direct two more shorts, Friend In A Can and Standing Reign. The latter was awarded Best Film of Atlanta in the 48 Hour Film Festival, Best Short in the TOMI Film Festival of New Orleans and Best Narrative Short in the International Black Film Festival of Nashville, Tenn. Standing Reign was also featured on the Best of 48 Hour Film Project 2007 DVD, which includes 16 selected films of over 2,000 entries.
In 2008, Roberson was honored by Women in Film & Television/Atlanta with the esteemed Woman to Watch Award and was chosen as one of four filmmakers, nationwide, to compete in the Chase Legacy Film Challenge, an opportunity for young filmmakers launched at the SundanceFilm Festival. She wrote and directed ”Next Door’s Next” and won the Challenge’s HBO Filmmaker Award, for which she received an additional film grant from Kodak.
Roberson also served as associate director for the award winning short film, Before I Wake, which won Best Film Grand Prize in The Doorpost Film Project. Her short film “The Black Cage” starring Mykelti Williamson (Forrest Gump) also earned “Top Film” status in Doorpost. Both of these films were selected as 1 of 7 Top Films for BET’s Lens On Talent 2011. Crystle was the only director to have 2 films as Finalists in this esteemed competition.
On Nov. 11, Roberson will wrap her first independent feature film, Echo at 11 Oak Drive, which tells three stories that transpire under the same roof over three eras-1951, 1973, and 2011. Although each occurrence is unique, the dialogue is identical; proving that history repeats itself in the oddest of ways. Famed film producer Will Packer (Stomp the Yard, This Christmas, Takers, Obsessed) is a supporter of the project which he says he is sure audiences will find intriguing.
Crystle “Clear” Roberson spoke with rolling out recently and gave us exclusive insight into her film career and the mission she is on as a filmmaker: Click Here to Read Crystle Clear's Interview:
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