Tambay A. Obenson

Editor/Writer, Shadow And Act LLC.
Tambay Obenson launched Shadow and Act in 2009, after self-financing and releasing his first feature, and forming a distribution company, inspired by the lack of awareness of independent films about people of African descent. Shadow And Act has since become the primary destination for black cinema on the web.

Tambay A Obenson was born in Nigeria, to a Cameroonian father and Nigerian mother - completing his primary school education in both countries, before moving to the USA for his secondary school and college years. In 2003, Tambay produced his first feature-length film, "Beautiful Things." 2 years later, inspired by the lack of distribution for films about people of African descent, Tambay, with 2 partners, formed Voyager Film Company Inc, a film distribution company. Its first release was Tambay's "Beautiful Things," via a limited theatrical run in New York City, in 2006, followed by a DVD release, where it currently exists. Voyager later acquired a 2nd feature-length film titled, "The Man Who Couldn't," by Brandon Wilson, as well as a series of short films, planned for DVD, and online releases. Since 2007, taking on a more journalistic approach, Tambay has become an avid blogger and podcaster. He created a blog called "The Obenson Report on Black Cinema," as well as a podcast of the same name. Both would gradually gain in popularity, affording Tambay the opportunity to create critical content for other media sites, notably an op-ed piece he penned for NPR's News & Notes, calling for an autonomous black owned & operated film studio. In accordance with his steadfast belief in collective power, in April 2009, Tambay collaborated with several of other black cinema bloggers, to create a single web portal for cinema of the African Diaspora. The new site, called "Shadow And Act," has enjoyed great success in the 3 months since its debut, getting the attention of many within the film industry (directors, producers, publicists, etc) who recognize the power in the site's potential reach. His journalistic inclinations aside, Tambay continues to write screenplays, hoping to eventually produce more films. He currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

Source:
www.ifp.org/?page_id=15598&detail=tambay-obenson