“Red Tails” Film Director to speak at “Passing The Torch” Awards Gala | Arts & Culture

The Renaissance Foundation will be hosting its second annual “Passing the Torch” Awards Gala.  The Gala will take place on November 10, 2012 at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center in Columbia, South Carolina. This highly anticipated event will begin with a reception at 6 p.m. and the awards gala will follow at 7 p.m.

The “Passing the Torch” Awards Gala recognizes servant leaders under fifty who make significant contribution to our communities by improving the quality of life within our state.  This event will allow you the opportunity to celebrate the achievements of this new generation of servant leaders that continue to build strong cross-cultural communities.   We will also honor those serving in the military that serve our country every day.  

The keynote speaker is Anthony Hemingway, the Director of the film “Red
Tails”.   In 2008, George “Star Wars” Lucas tapped Hemingway to direct “Red Tails”, a film that the producer had been working on perfecting for more than two decades.  The World War II action adventure film was inspired by the legend of the heroic Tuskegee Airmen, the first all African American aerial combat units that overcame fierce racism and segregation to serve with valor and excellence.

Mr. Hemingway has long been fascinated with the art of telling stories, yet it took stepping onto a set as a production assistant while still in high school for him to find his medium. From that day to this, He has found a way to bring stories to life on screen.

He is the son of two South Carolina natives, and grew up in the entertainment industry exposed at a young age to the camera and lights on location.  His father was a actor and his mother was a production coordinator.  He started working with his mother on the set at the age of 14 and soon realized he found his true calling.

Mr. Hemingway became the youngest Second Assistant Director in the Directors Guild of America at the age of 19 and then the youngest First Assistant Director at 22 in 1998.  His experience includes Assistant Director on feature films – Ali, Changing Lanes and The Manchurian Candidate and acclaimed television series’ – The Corner, Oz, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and The Wire.  He also has directed episodes of True Blood, Shameless, The Wire, CSI: NY, The Closer, Battlestar Galactica, Falling Skies, Fringe, Heroes, CSI: Miami and Treme. 

The Renaissance Foundation was organized in 1996 and became a 501 © 3 non-profit in 2001.  Its mission: to provide cultural diversity, outreach, resources, partnerships and initiatives within the community in order to bridge the gaps of disparities and to provide a platform to address these issues.  Aligned with the mission, the Cultural Arts Center is committed to embracing diversity in the arts and to preserving the history of our past for future generations.  Our vision is to renovate and transform historic Bethel into a state of the arts 500 to 600-seat performing arts venue, museum and art gallery.   Historic Bethel Church was built at 1528 Sumter Street in 1921 and designed by John Anderson Lankford, the first registered African American architect in the United States, known as the “Dean of Negro Architecture.  Historic Bethel is on the National Historic Registry and a National Historic Tour Site.  It is one of three monumental Romanesque structures designed by Lankford remaining in South Carolina.

Individual tickets: $65 general public, $50 military, and $25 for students.  For tickets and sponsorship opportunities, contact the Renaissance Foundation at 803-733-5634