By Kathleen Maloney, IFP Minnesota

Independent Filmmaker Project Minnesota is proud to announce the first of a six-part Master Class Series made possible by a generous grant from the James S. and John L. Knight Foundation. IFP MN’s Master Class Series offers the local film community privileged access to film and media innovators who are making a unique impact on the industry and culture.

The series launches with a reading by filmmaker/author Hannah Weyer from her debut novel, On The Come Up, which was nominated for a 2014 NAACP Image Award and was a 2013 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection. Presented with The Loft Literary Center, this event will screen scenes from the award-winning film, Our Song (an inspiration for the novel), and be followed by a conversation and Q&A with Weyer and actress/collaborator Anna Simpson (Our Song). Weyer’s impassioned and propulsive debut novel is based on a true story about a headstrong girl from Far Rockaway, Queens, who is trying to find her place in the world. Weyer and Simpson will discuss their careers and their unique collaboration process. Actress Traci Allen Shannon named Best Emerging Actress 2014 by City Pages, will also be on hand to read excerpts from Weyer’s novel.

Weyer’s narrative and documentary films have been screened at the Human Rights Watch and New York film festivals and have won awards at the Sundance, Locarno, Melbourne, Doubletake, and South by Southwest film festivals. Her screenwriting credits include Life Support (2007), directed by Nelson George, which earned a Golden Globe Award for its lead actress, Queen Latifah and Angel, starring Rachel Giffiths. Weyer has directed both narrative and documentary films, including the acclaimed documentaries La Boda and Escuela. Weyer has worked with teens in the media arts for the past fifteen years and, along with her husband, filmmaker Jim McKay, started an after-school film club at a public high school in Brooklyn.

When Anna Simpson was 15, she auditioned for a part in Our Song, competing against over one hundred other teens. Three callbacks later, Simpson won the heart of the director, Jim McKay, and landed one of the lead roles, acting alongside Kerry Washington. Following the success of her heart-warming performance, Simpson was cast in several other movies, including Everyday People, Sherrybaby, Angel, and Liberty Kid.