Celebrity Friday: The Talented Patrik-Ian Polk

Patrik-Ian Polk is the director and writer of the feature films Punks (2000), Noah's Arc: Jumping the Broom (2008) and The Skinny (2012) as well as the Black gay television series Noah's Arc (2004). He is one of the very few Black, gay independent filmmakers in Hollywood. His new film,  The Skinny  premiered at this year's 2012 Fusion LGBT People of Color film festival at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on Saturday March 25th.  The Skinny  hits theaters next Friday April 6th in Washington, DC and Atlanta (click on the city name to buy your tickets now).

Happily, MadProfessah was in Los Angeles for other reasons and was able to see the premiere of Polk's new movie at Fusion. A full review of the film will be coming shortly, but regardless I intend to most definitely see the film again at the E-Street Landmark Theaters next weekend!

Patrik-Ian received the Fusion Achievment Award right before  The Skinny premiered. The award was presented to him by Lee Daniels, the Black gay director of Precious. You may recall that Daniels received an Academy Award nomination for that film, which ended up winning two Oscars, for Best Supporting Actress (Mo'nique) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Here's the blurb on Patrik-Ian's award:

PATRIK-IAN POLK made his feature film directorial debut with PUNKS, which had its world premiere in January 2000 at the Sundance Film Festival, was nominated for a 2002 Independent Spirit Award for Best Low-Budget Feature and was the Outfest 2000 Centerpiece. Polk made his television debut in 2006, creating the original comedy-drama series NOAHS ARC, the first scripted series for MTV/Viacom’s Logo network.  In November 2008, MTV/Logo released a feature film spin-off titled NOAHS ARC: JUMPING THE BROOM- written, directed and produced by Polk. The film opened at #1 on the IndieWIRE independent film box office chart and won the 2009 GLAAD Award for Best Film. The film also received 3 NAACP Image Awards nominations, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Polk is currently developing a NOAHS ARC series spin-off for Logo and a drama series for BET. And his 3rd feature film THE SKINNY will be in theaters soon.

During his acceptance speech Patrik-Ian explained that he had just finished editing the film ("yesterday!') and explained that he had decided to distribute the film himself, and that it will be available for limited runs (One Week Only) in major cities with large Black gay populations, starting with Washington and Atlanta on April 6t. So, if you want to see the film in your area you will need to run, not walk, to the theater when it opens because one week later it will be gone.

Here's a blurb about The Skinny:

Love, Secrets, and The City: this is what The Skinny is made of.  A group of young, sexy friends reunite in New York City a year after they graduated from Brown University. They  show off their new loves, but some resort to their old tricks. The three days they spend together in the city shows them what a difference a year makes.

There are lots of "hella phyne" bruthas in the movie and some pretty explicit sexual situation. The film is being released Unrated. It is a MUST SEE for any Black gay person living in a major city (and there's Black lesbian representation as well!)

After the premiere of the film there was a party at the Egyptian Theater, Patrik-Ian sang some of the songs from the soundtrack (which he wrote and performed). He's a very talented guy and today's Celebrity Friday!