Jamal Sims Master Class Supports Hip-Hop Dance Film

Sep 19, 2012

Register for a master class and Q&A session with Jamal Sims to take place Saturday, October 6, at Debbie Reynolds Studio (signup deadline: 8:35 PM PDT on Friday, September 21) and you can be one of the first backers of the new project Jamal is choreographing for, an ambitious animated hip-hop dance film namedCentral Park Tale!

Top-quality animators will interpret and depict Jamal Sims’ choreography using the animal characters of the film. (For a sneak peek at what Jamal’s working on, see the latter portion of the introductory film on Kickstarter!) The film’s director is Daniel Jeannette, who recently served as visual effects animation supervisor forThe Hunger Games.

In the tradition of the classicWest Side Story,writer and producer Jacqui Barcos’ screenplayCentral Park Taletells the story of two rival tribes vying for space in New York City’s Central Park. The park’s native gray squirrels clash with a band of black squirrels who—displaced from their home territory by an urban development project—move into the park in a struggle for survival.

The gray and black squirrels battle it out for Central Park turf through song and hip-hop dance—even as a pair of squirrels from the rival tribes are falling in love. There’s already lots of information on the talent working onCentral Park Tale—and beautiful preliminary artwork—posted on Kickstarter, so check it out!

In addition to the Jamal Sims master class and Q&A session (for pledges of $50+), a variety of incentive packages are offered for film backers from levels of $5 and up! The deadline to pledge support is this Friday night, September 21 (8:35 PM Pacific time / 11:35 PM Eastern time).