| Keith D. Black | |
|---|---|
| Born | Keith D. Black October 16, 1980 Johannesburg, South Africa |
Keith D. Black (born October 16, 1980) is a South African-born film screenwriter, best known for co-writing Princess (2006) and House of God (2008).
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Black was born in Johannesburg, South Africa to Irish born father, Anthony and South African born, Michele. He has an older sister, Tracy. His paternal grandfather, Roy Keith Black (deceased)[1] was the Managing Director of a UK public company specializing in Television Rentals in the 1950s. He later help to establish broadcasting in Southern Africa and eventually owned and operated Video Library, which later became Blockbuster Inc.[2] His grandmother, Maureen Black (née Peres) is the daughter of legendary UK and Ireland music producer and record distributor, Harold Peres of Solomon and Peres. By the 1970s, Solomon and Peres was acquired by Decca Records. He is also the cousin to both British Politician, Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes and House of Common's Conservative MP, Phillip Oppenheim, and his lineage is closely tied to one of Britain's most influential families, the Viners, whose Cutlery business grew to be the biggest Cutlery manufacturer in Britain and is ordained by the British Monarchy.
His father, Anthony, spent many years in film and television distribution before becoming a former Senior Vice President and Co-Chairman of the Director's Board of Smith Barney. From 1972–1981, his father, Anthony ran International Distribution for Norman Lear's Tandem Productions. He was considered a pioneer in South Africa Broadcasting by virtue of distributing All in the Family, Maude (1972–1978), Good Times (1974–1979), and Sanford and Son (1972–1977) to Apartheid South Africa. In the early 1980s, Black's family immigrated to San Diego, California. Black describes his childhood as an "adventure. My library wasn't full of classical books by famous authors, but rather it was a library of film, thanks to growing up with 80 odd video stores." Black began exploring filmmaking when he was 13, when he first received a broken video camera that he restored. Although, his apt for acting was superb, Black focused his attention on writing short films. Black attended The University of Wisconsin and eventually receiving his MFA from The American Film Institute in Los Angeles.
In 2004, Black met Jessica Janos, another graduate student who was attending the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Early on, both partnered on several small projects, most notably on the short film Princess (2006), a story about the daughter of a black maid raised by a wealthy white South African family in Johannesburg.[3][4][5] Immediately, their controversial film caught the guise of Fred Roos. Building upon a strong relationship with Roos, Janos helped to raise close to $500,000 to fund Black's dynamic short film. Within weeks, Black and Janos raised the money to fund their project and shoot in both Los Angeles and Johannesburg. Featured in Daily Variety and The Los Angeles Times, as being "the most expensive student film ever made," Black and Janos received criticism for the high cost of production. Evidently, the film went on to win several film accolades.
Black also discovered the lead role in his film, Princess, when shopping in Los Angeles. Benu Mabhena, who was cast as the lead, went on to play Jassie Vandy, the wife of Djimon Hounsou in the 2006 film, Blood Diamond
