David F. Fortune

From beginning to end, what a beautiful journey. An honor to serve. Thank you, Color Book. 🖤 📸: @fosterlew (6,7,8) 📸: @dramaguy16 (5)

➡️ 2021 - @nardeepthoughts won #ATTUntoldStories . ➡️ 2022 - So Young Shelly Yo won & Nardeep’s @landofgoldfilm premiered @Tribeca . ➡️ 2023 - @bydave_fortune won, So Young Shelly Yo’s film #SmokingTigers premiered & Nardeep secured streaming. ➡️ 2024 - @lilianfilm won, David’s film #ColorBook premiered & So Young Shelly Yo secured streaming. Untold Stories has legs and our alumni are living proof! #Tribeca2024

As a kid, I used to steal our neighborhood’s AJC newspaper subscription just to read the sports section. Twenty years later, to have the AJC publish an article on my first feature (Color Book) is deeply humbling and brings life full circle. You can’t script these types of life moments. Thank you, 2371 Miriam Lane/Toney Valley, for the beautiful wounds that helped me shape this story and give context to a community of people that’s very much overlooked and undermined. Sending love to every teacher, mentor, father figure, second mom, and neighbor who poured into me during those formative years. It takes a village to raise a child, and I’m thankful to be nurtured by you all. A sincere thank you to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Christopher A. Daniel for penning this lovely article. Please continue to share our stories. I’m just one of many directors in the city pushing Atlanta and community-based narratives. Our city holds many precious gems that are doing AMAZING work. … And sorry, Ms. Anderson, for stealing your newspapers. Let’s work out a payment plan. Lol Much love to all, and God bless. 📸: @fosterlew #ColorBook #AT &T #Untoldstories #Tribeca #Decatur #Atlanta

Feet touching 🌍, 2023

Thank you family for your love and support over the past two days. My heart is FULL from your supporting text messages, DMs, and encouraging phone calls. I’m still taking them ALL in and filled with overflowing gratitude. I just wanted to publicly give thanks to God for this amazing opportunity and placing me with an amazing creative team to bring our story, COLOR BOOK to life. I don’t stand on that stage without the hustle of our superstar producers @kiah.alexandria @kristenuno @saleahsmith . It was truly a TEAM EFFORT and I’m proud of the work that we put into this project. 💛 A BIG shout-out to our superstar Editor @carlosc19 for braiding this visual poem together. Every single cut and transition was made with the intention of love and sincerity. Much appreciation and respect for your craftsmanship. WE don’t stand on that stage with YOU brother! Thank you to our amazing Atlanta production team led by our Cinematographer, @trevorpmay . It was a pleasure to collaborate with an amazing collective who poured their souls into the pitch and traveled ALL across Atlanta to ensure every inch of the city was captured with respect and dignity. Well done! In addition, we simply want to share a loving thank you to @att — AT&T Presents: Untold Stories and @tribeca for providing this amazing opportunity. Our team is excited to bring this intimate portrait to life while shining a humble light on black fathers and those part of the Down syndrome community. We are honored to collaborate with such a great team of people and organization! Finally, much love to our panel of esteemed judges and host — @derekluke @michaelmichelelegit @itsmomcrae @kellynsmithkenny and @nardeepthoughts . We appreciate you all for seeing the light in this story and providing a platform to bring it to production. We are filled with tremendous gratitude. A warm embrace from the Color Book family to each of you. AT&T Presents: Untold Stories 2023 is NOW public and available to watch on YouTube. Please support the moving stories of our finalists who participated in the event. Link my bio! On that note… A brotha is TIRED and is about to get me some needed zzzzzzzzzz. See y’all Monday. 💛 and✌🏿

Much love and thank you @filmindependent and @netflix 💛🙏🏿

Untitled, 2022 “Beam me up Carlos” 😂- @quranthesquire 📸 @carlosc19

In celebration of Down Syndrome Awareness Month, I simply want to show gratitude to our amazing co - star, Dylan Cox. Working with Dylan was beyond a blessing and a humbling experience for myself as a director. Looking back, I thought I knew what it meant to embody resilience until I met this young king. There wasn’t a single challenge I threw at him that he didn’t accept (And I threw plenty. Lol) A true champion at heart. 🙏🏿👑 Also, a VERY special thank you to @randallchristopher for this intimate artwork/design. If you haven’t already, please check out his instagram page and previous work. Truly a gifted artist! Much love and respect 💛 🎨 - @randallchristopher 📸 - @carlosc19 #DownSyndromeAwarenessMonth #Us

Us (2022) A loving thank you to the cast/crew whose hearts and hands brought this film to life. We’re forever blessed for the amazing work you've contributed to the project. 🙏🏿 Also, S/o to @netflix @ghettofilmschool @d_c.png for supporting our voices and those a part of the special needs community. Much greater was experienced beyond the making of this film. Truly a beautiful experience. 💛 To everyone, feel free to check out the film this Sunday (June 19th). "Us" will be featured on Netflix’s YouTube channel, “Netflix Film Club” in celebration of Juneteenth and black voices. We welcome you all to watch the movie at your convenience. Love and enjoy! Credits -- Cast: @jwgactor & Dylan Cox (Dylan’s mom @nakia.cox.3 💛) EP: @d_c.png @ghettofilmschool Writers: @ryan.mh11 & 🙏🏿 Director: 🙏🏿 Producers: @earthtokare @paisleysutton @kristenlockwood 1st AD: @brettabay Cinematographer: @dcarlomen Production Design: @thebrijones Editor: @la_kulik @carlosc19 Music: @soundslikegiosue Wardrobe: @mikhaelazaba Sound Mix (Prod/Post): @anniemal_16 Color: @andrewbalis Script Supervisor: @borisvesselinov DIT: @bykayleblee 1st AC: @mercadochristo 2nd AC: @8.andahalf Gaffer: @joekosty Key Grip: @bradpowers.kg Swing G & E: @simon_blaustein Casting: @lisazambetticasting

For life… 🤙🏿❄️🙏🏿 ΑΦΑ • ΙΖΛ • Compton • Mageuzi

Just want to give a special post to those who reached out and shared their heartfelt thoughts on Shoebox this past two weeks. Whether through text, DMs, emails, or phone calls, your loving words are home for those of us who worked on the film.  It's simply a privilege to do God's work and help present a narrative that can reach others in these trying times. Your thoughts are gold and I am grateful for you all.  Much love to @indeedworks @hillmangradproductions @lenawaithe @venture.land @271films @prettybirdpic and the entire Shoebox cast/crew who brought this film to life. A true labor of love ❤🙏🏿 🙌🏿 ... And to those who have yet to watch Shoebox, it's currently available on Amazon Prime Video under Rising Voices and Indeed's  jobschangeus.com (Link in the bio). Have a look! 🙏🏿 Again, thank you all for your love, support, and heartfelt feedback. Until next time, God bless!  #Risingvoice #Hillmangradproductions #271Films #Ventureland #Indeed