Tony Winner Tonya Pinkins Wins Best Director at Micheaux Film Festival

Tony Award-winner Tonya Pinkins (who has starred in several Broadway shows and had featured roles on TV shows like Gotham, Madam Secretary, Fear the Walking Dead, and the upcoming ABC limited series Women of the Movement opposite Tony-nominee Adrienne Warren) has just won Outstanding Direction of a Feature at the 2021 Micheaux Film Festival in Los Angeles for RED PILL, her first feature film as writer/director. The provocative socio-political horror film takes place the weekend before the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, is currently in talks with multiple distributors and was also nominated for Outstanding Feature (Panavision Award), Outstanding Writing of a Feature (Pinkins) & Outstanding Actress (Pinkins) at the Micheaux Film Festival (named for the pioneering African American filmmaker).

This year, RED PILL has won over 15 awards at 10 festivals including Best First Feature and Best Black Lives Matter Film at the Mykonos International Film Festival, Best Black Lives Matter Feature at the Barcelona International Film Festival, Best Screenplay of a Feature Film and Best Female Director at the Five Continents International Film Festival, Best First Feature at the Luleå International Film Festival, and Best Feature at the Amsterdam International Awards. This year RED PILL was also a Semi-Finalist for the European Cinematography Award.

A frightening and visually stunning metaphor for all our fears, RED PILL (87 min) takes place the weekend before the 2020 election and centers on a diverse progressive group of friends who travel to rural Virginia to canvas. Upon their arrival, the group begins to encounter a sinister, mysterious presence that lurks in the small Virginia town, and what unfolds changes their lives forever. Pinkins also stars in the film alongside a stellar ensemble cast that includes Rubén Blades (Fear the Walking Dead), Catherine Curtin (Homeland, Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black), Kathryn Erbe (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Colby Minifie (I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Boys), Luba Mason (Broadway's Girl From the North Country), Adesola Osakalumi (Across the Universe, Enchanted), and Jake O'Flaherty (TV's Shameless and Lethal Weapon).

At the start of RED PILL, though most of the group is excited about the weekend canvassing trip ahead, one member Cassandra (Pinkins) becomes uncomfortable as soon as they cross state lines. And from the moment they arrive to a seemingly picturesque (though oddly furnished) rental property, something isn't right. Haunted by mysterious dreams the first night of the visit, Cassandra wakes up the next morning further questioning their safety when her boyfriend appears to be missing. Soon, the group encounters a sinister presence that lurks in this small town, and what was meant to be a meaningful bonding experience becomes a dystopian nightmare that will change their lives forever...ending with a reminder that there are worse things than death.

The director of photography is John Hudak Jr. (Dysgenesis, Clinton Road, The Incoherents, Jackie Boy). The film edited by Minji Kang (The Five, And the Dream That Mattered, Anniversary), and features an award-winning sound/music department with score by Tasos Eliopoulos, sound design by Paul Hsu (The Glorias, Salt, Captive State, Fighting, The Giver), sound editing and re-recording mixing by Michael Barry (The Glorias, Men in Black, A Quiet Place, Mamma Mia!, The Bourne Legacy) and music supervision by Carter Little (The Glorias, The Man with the Iron Fists, Soundbreaking: Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music, Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, I Saw the Light). The film is produced Katie Rosin (Closure). Post-Production services provided by Technicolor-PostWorks NY.

Tonya Pinkins is the Tony Award-winning veteran of nine Broadway shows, numerous Off-Broadway shows, daytime dramas: As The World Turns and All My Children; primetime series: Army Wives, Scandal, Gotham, Fear The Walking Dead and Madame Secretary. She will be appearing in the upcoming STARZ series Run The World and is currently filming Women of the Movement for ABC playing the grandmother of Emmett Till. Tonya received the 2020 Rachel Crothers Leadership Award from the League of Professional Theater Women and the 2020 Franky Award for extraordinary impact on contemporary theater and performance. Tonya has won the Tony, OBIE, Drama Desk, Out Critics Circle, Garland, LA Drama Critics, 3 Lortel, Audelco, Monarch, NAACP Theater, Stage Raw, Alfred Drake and Clarence Derwent Awards. She was nominated for 3 Tonys, Olivier, Joseph Jefferson, Helen Hayes, Drama League, Soap Opera Digest, NAACP Image, Ovation, NOEL, Audience Choice, Black Theater Alliance and the Saturn Award. Tonya is an outspoken activist who made the New York Times for roasting herself. Tonya is the author of Get Over Yourself: How to Drop the Drama and Claim the Life You Deserve. Tonya's podcast covers the hot topics of the day, especially what Tonya calls the Red Pilling of America.