Two Howard Bison paving the way from "Howard to Hollywood"
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Posted By: Stacey Alphonso on June 20, 2016 Stacey Alphonso and Kellie R. Griffin, both native Philadelphians, admittedly can hardly agree on anything with the one exception being their love for their alma mater, Howard University. These women have known each other since elementary school, then continuing on through high school and ultimately reaching the hallowed grounds of Howard University, without even knowing the other was planning to attend! "I always tell people that Stacey has followed me all her life and now here she is in Los Angeles!" says Bison Project Executive Producer, Kellie R. Griffin. Both women, true opposites, have taken very different routes to get to Los Angeles. Griffin, graduating from Howard with a Bachelor’s in Psychology and a Masters in Social Work, moved to L.A. in 2000 on a dare of sorts. "People kept telling me that I should be a director,” joked Griffin, “so, one day, I packed up my car and drove from D.C. to Los Angeles to attend a film workshop.” Alphonso, on the other hand, having her Bachelor’s in English from Howard and a MBA, started her own award-winning multicultural marketing firm, “Mecca” Communications, which she operated for 14 years before she "followed Kellie" to L.A. "When I was attending Howard, I couldn't decide if I wanted to be a filmmaker like Spike Lee or go into entertainment law, so I majored in English with a minor in Broadcast Production so really it was Kellie that followed me into entertainment”, poked Alphonso. After successfully running her business and raising two kids, she decided to go back to her first love- film venturing into the unknown and transitioning from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in 2009. From their journeys from Howard to Hollywood, Griffin has established herself as a Hollywood comedy writer, creating the BET family sitcom Reed Between the Lines and most recently working as a Consulting Producer for NBC’s Crowded, while Alphonso has brought her expertise of multicultural marketing and development to Hollywood and established the first HBCU based internship while working at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Together, in the last two years, this yin and yang duo has wrangled two Howard-centric projects that would do their alma mater proud while reaching back to help other Howard Bison make it in the industry. In 2014, The Kellie R. Griffin Bison Project was born. This project, created by Griffin and executive produced by Alphonso, is to be a feature film that will be written by, produced by, directed by, and starring H.U. Bison. “With all the Howard Alumni here in the industry, I thought it would be really cool to make a film that was strictly Bison,” shared Griffin. Meanwhile, Alphonso created The Bison Chats, co-produced by Griffin, is an hour long, bi-weekly podcast where H.U. alumni in the entertainment industry share their “Howard to Hollywood” stories. To date, they have interviewed talent such as writer/producer Brandon Broussard, Howardwood creators Adia May and Asha Kamali, the iconic voice of Dijonay, Karin Malina White, and producer of the new BET show Rebel, directed by John Singleton, Dallas Jackson. To hear more about The Kellie R. Griffin Bison Project and learn how to submit your script by August 21, 2016, go to www.KRGBisonProject.com. And to listen to The Bison Chats download from iTunes at http://apple.co/1VCxW4z. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
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Stacey Alphonso
Manager, Marketing, Pubicity and Promotions, Sony Pictures Entertainment Howard University class of 1990 Member Since July 2014 |
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