This year, Halloween fell on a weekend along with the premiere of award-winning producer and filmmaker BiggVon’s debut films Humor Planet, Demented and Toxsanity. The sold-out private screening was held at the Emagine Theatre in Detroit, on Oct. 31, 2021. Each of the features from the multi-hyphenate’s Corporate Culture Films had the audience gasping and laughing. The crowd was fully engaged as they cheered on the protagonists and yelled at the screen. Corporate Culture Marketing & Films is a Detroit-based organization committed to improving opportunities for actors, actresses and musicians by equipping them with the resources and tools to inspire their growth and economic sustainability in the entertainment industry.
Notable independent actors and actresses appear in the films such as Detroit native Alphonso Settles, who plays one of the main roles in He Played Me, a No. 1 film on Amazon Prime, Tubi and IMDB. Settles’ main role as a serial killer in Demented captures him in a new light. Additionally, his depiction of a male survivor of domestic violence in Toxsanity dispels the belief that only women are victims of intimate partner violence. His abusive and unfaithful girlfriend was skillfully portrayed by fellow Detroit native Shavannahre Brazier. The film was an appropriate end to October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, yet a reminder that prevention is ongoing.
“I’m the one who is actually the victim in this relationship,” says Settles. “We’re not trying to paint women in a bad light. We want to show the world that domestic violence is real and men experience it too.”
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