PRESS and AWARDS
LINKS TO PRESS:
AFF Screenwriter’s to Watch 2020
Austin Film Festival Announces Jury and Audience Award Winners
DEADLINE - SeriesFest Season 5
BLACKFILM - Winners of the 23rd Annual Urbanworld Film Festival
THE REEL CHICAGO BLACKLIST - February 28, 2018
REEL CHICAGO - October 26, 2017
PASTE MAGAZINE - July 6, 2017
Another entry in the “ready for prime time” category is Patrick Wimp, Angie Gaffney and Ted Reilly’s Public Housing Unit, a 1980’s set drama about a trio of Chicago cops tasked with policing the Windy City’s infamous public housing projects. Based on the true stories of real life Chicago officers Eric Davis, Jimmy Martin and Charlie Toussas, Public Housing Unit is a gritty and occasionally humorous police drama more in the vein of Hill St. Blues than Law & Order. Well acted by Chris Boykin, Kamal Angelo Bolden and Ira Amyx as Davis, Martin and Toussas, the pilot packs a lot into 48 minutes, setting the scene and giving us back stories on all three leads with impeccable pacing and dialog. It’s no surprise that it nabbed the jury award for best writer in a drama for co-creator Wimp. It also nabbed the Best Actress award for Destini Huston.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE - March 16, 2017
"Public Housing Unit" (6 p.m. March 21): A lot of TV shows are filmed here, among them that Dick Wolf quartet of "Chicago Fire," Chicago Med," "Chicago P.D." and, most recently, "Chicago Justice." Not as slick, not as star-studded, this show is the equal of any of them.
Set in the 1980s, before most of Chicago's public housing fell to the wrecking balls and when such complexes represented a lawless and all-but-hopeless landscape, it focuses on three members of a Chicago Police Department team dealing with the violence, drugs and the desperation that shadows the lives those they are attempting to serve and protect. Starring Chris Boykin, Ira Amyx and Kamal Bolden as the cops, the show is unflinching. The dialogue — by screenwriter Patrick Wimp — is tough and true and the rest of the cast brings a palpable authenticity to their roles, as when one explains his life of crime by saying with pragmatic matter-of-factness, "If I don't hustle, I don't eat."
SELECT AWARDS & EXHIBITIONS
Atlanta Film Festival | 2020 | Brothers from the Suburbs
Midwest Film Festival | 2020 | Brothers from the Suburbs
Audience Award - Best Scripted Digital Series - Austin Film Festival | 2019 | Brothers from the Suburbs
Jury Award - Best Scripted Digital Series - Austin Film Festival | 2019 | Brothers from the Suburbs
Best Web Original - Urbanworld Film Festival | 2019 | Brothers from the Suburbs
Best Direction - SeriesFest Season 5 | 2019 | Brothers from the Surburbs
Catalyst Content Festival | 2019 | Brothers from the Suburbs
Vancouver Just for Laughs Film Festival | 2019 | Bernadette
Tallahassee Film Festival | 2019 | Bernadette
The Pitch at Industry Days Chicago International Festival | 2018 | The Men Who Angered God
Best Comedy Feature Film – Sydney Indie Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Chicago Film Award – Chicago Comedy Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Best Feature Film - Lone Star Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Edmonton Int’l Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Audience Choice Award – Macon Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Cleveland Int’l Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Best Cinematography – Austin Revolution Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Best Feature Comedy – Austin Revolution Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Best Producer – Austin Revolution Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
PromaxBDA Gold Award | 2018 | WGN/Tribune Media Man of the People
Best of Fest / Best Comedy Feature – Twister Alley Int’l Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Best Ensemble / Audience Choice Award – Twister Alley Int’l Film Festival | 2018 | Bernadette
Bentonville Film Festival | 2018 | Public Housing Unit
Best of Fest, International Television Festival | 2017 | Public Housing Unit
Best Writer (Drama), SeriesFest Season 3 | 2017 | Public Housing Unit
Chicago Independent Television Festival | 2017 | Public Housing Unit
New York Television Festival | 2017 | Public Housing Unit
Southern Short Awards - Award of Merit – VFX | 2017 | Spaceman
Independent Filmmakers Showcase | 2016 | Bromance
Chicago Onscreen Film Showcase | 2015 | Toy Car
KALIBER35 Munich International Short Film Festival | 2015 | Toy Car
Bosnian-Herzgovinian Film Festival | 2015 | Toy Car
International Changing Perspectives Film Festival | 2015 | Toy Car
Balkan Fest Greece | 2015 | Toy Car
Sarajevo Film Festival | 2014 | Toy Car
Balkan Beyond Borders Film Festival New York | 2014 | Toy Car
Chicago Festival of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film | 2014 | Toy Car
Chicago/Midwest Emmy Award | 2013 | WGN/Chicago Cubs/White Sox Crosstown Classic
PromaxBDA Silver Award | 2013 | WGN/Chicago Bulls Season Launch
Nominee PromaxBDA Marketing Awards | 2013 | WGN/Chicago White Sox Season Launch
Poptent Grand Prize Winner | 2013 | Aussie for Men – Simple
Gulf International Film Festival | 2013 | Factory of Lies
Dubai International Film Festival | 2012 | Factory of Lies
Best Shorts Competition – Award of Merit | 2012 | Milwaukee
Salt Lake City Film Festival | 2012 | Milwaukee
Carmel Art & Film Festival | 2012 | Milwaukee
Downtown Film Festival | 2011 | Milwaukee
Chicago Latino International Film Festival | 2011 | Milwaukee
Cannes International Film Festival Courts Métrage | 2011 | Milwaukee
4th Place Finalist, Sprint Epic Short Film Competition | 2010 | Epic Dropped Call
Clermont-Ferrand Courts de Métrage | 2010 | Four
Best Short Student Drama, Illinois International Film Festival | 2009 | Four