film
https://www.fullspectrumfeatures.com/mop
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WRITER/DIRECTOR: Emily Esperanza
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Greg Stephen Reigh
PRODUCER: Eve Rydberg
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Eugene Sun Park
ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS: Adora Wilson-Eye
"Each month Generation POP asks artists to submit a work of art with a given prompt. Artists are given complete freedom to answer with any medium, any content, and any message.
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This is their opportunity to flex their creative minds with words, music, paintings, graphics, and more."
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- POPOUT ZINE
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Video created for the March 2021 entry for POPOUT zine in Paris.
Subject: Visual Stories
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POPOUT zine is an independently published zine that strives to create a forum for under represented artist, writers & creative people with passions.
Written, Narrated and Shot by : Samantha Jo
Editor: Samantha Jo
Music: Amaranth Cove "Loss and Love"
369 "Meditation Aquatic"
Poetry By: Sonia Sanchez
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2023 // L1 CREATIVE BUSINESS ACCELERATOR AND RETAIL SHOP
Arts + Public Life X University of Chicago
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L1 Creative Business Accelerator and Retail Shop, launched in August 2020, stands as a beacon of creative entrepreneurship within Washington Park's Arts Block. Located beneath the historic Green Line elevated tracks, this initiative, operated by Arts + Public Life (APL) under UChicago Arts, offers a 10-month fellowship and 700 square feet of shared retail space to three South Side entrepreneurs. These inaugural fellows—Samantha Jo of Samantha Jos Balm Yard, Keyon Huggins of Hyde Park & Co., and Jamica Harper of Red Elephant Company—are dedicated to scaling their creative ventures. Selected through a rigorous process in partnership with Proximity, the fellowship equips entrepreneurs with subsidized retail space, mentorship, and tailored training. Renovated with custom millwork by Norman Teague Design Studio, L1 aligns with APL's commitment to creative entrepreneurship and joins the Arts Incubator and Green Line Performing Arts Center. In response to COVID-19 challenges, L1 expands its model to integrate both e-commerce and traditional retail. Together, the cohort and APL navigate the complexities of creative business ownership, aiming to scale sustainably while enriching the community's economic landscape.
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2024 //Gullah Geechee Heritage Month
Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how climate change is sweeping more than just land from the coasts—it’s erasing history. As hurricane season hits hard, I think back to an interview I once found where someone said the same. Our rich Geechee Gullah culture is at risk, and if my generation (and the ones after me) don’t reach back to our elders, this history could be lost.
I’ll admit that surviving day to day has pulled me away at times, but reconnecting to my roots is a journey I’m still on. Every day, in how I live, eat, and breathe, I’m reminded of who I am. And if it weren’t for my family, I wouldn’t know much of what I carry now.
This video is an ode to what I’m rediscovering—my people, my history, my culture. I’ll be sharing clips from special moments, songs that found me on my way down to the Carolinas, and interviews I still rewatch today.
This video includes my journey to St Augustine, FL 2021, with my father, Assin Manso, Ghana in 2022, with my mother, and my 33rd birthday in Savannah, GA + Charleston, SC, with my partner in 2023. All three of these journeys are connected. Each step of the way I remembered where I've been. These places have changed me forever.
VIDEO CREATED + EDITED BY SAMANTHA JO
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Starring : Samantha Jo and Morgan McNaught
Written, Directed and Shot by : Greg Stephen Reigh & Ashley Thompson
Gaffer: Jeremy Freedberg
Editor: Greg Stephen Reigh
Graphic designer: Nick Marchese
Video created for the May 2020 entry for
POPOUT zine in Paris.
Subject: Future World/ Future You
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POPOUT zine is an independently published zine that strives to create a forum for under represented artist, writers & creative people with passions.
Written, Narrated and Shot by : Samantha Jo
Editor: Samantha Jo
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" An Ode To My 30 "
Editor: Samantha Jo