Boots Riley (Writer/Director)

Boots Riley has captivated audiences for over 20 years as the songwriter, producer, and frontman for The Coup—a radical funk/punk/hip-hop band from Oakland. He’s also known as the frontman and lyricist for Street Sweeper Social Club, formed with Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine.

Riley has penned six albums for The Coup, all receiving widespread critical acclaim. Two were named “Pop Album of the Year” by The Washington Post and Associated Press, and “Hip Hop Album of the Year” by Rolling Stone.

The New York Post says, “Boots Riley ranks as some kind of genius.” Jeff Chang called him “one of the most influential poets and thinkers of this generation.” Stereogum describes Riley as “a national treasure.” Renowned philosopher Slavoj Žižek has said, “The very existence of a person like Boots Riley is a miracle.”

At the intersection of art and political organizing, Riley has delivered lectures at institutions including Harvard, Stanford, CalTech, Oberlin, Evergreen, Clark Atlanta, Western Michigan, UW Madison, Hunter College, Drake, Brandeis, Concordia, Goldsmiths, University of Florida, Università IUAV di Venezia, University of Melbourne, University of Oregon, University of Otago, UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, UCSC, and The Schomburg, among others.

Boots Riley grew up in theater. His grandmother, Anita Patterson, was the director of Oakland Ensemble Theater in the 1970s and 80s. Riley spent many summers surrounded by rehearsals, shouted directions, and costume fittings—often helping with various backstage tasks.

As a teenager, he joined Berkeley’s Black Repertory Theater, where he wrote, directed, and performed plays in what was then a small but reputable storefront venue.

In high school, Riley was tasked by his drama class to write the school play—an Oakland version of West Side Story titled “Eastside Story,” with all songs as raps. Although he had no experience as a rapper at the time, he wrote and performed all the raps himself—and didn’t get booed. Theater was actually his first foray into hip-hop.

Boots attended San Francisco State’s film school, but left in his third year after being offered a recording deal with Wild Pitch/EMI Records. He’s been involved in 19 music videos, directing The Coup’s “Me and Jesus the Pimp in a ’79 Granada Last Night” and the documentary short, “Eating Forever.”

During this same period, Boots was deeply involved in grassroots organizing. He led campaigns, organized protests and work stoppages, and coordinated plans with groups of activists—even amid tear gas, smoke bombs, and beanbags being fired. He’s now ready for his first feature film.

His book of poetry and anecdotes, “Tell Homeland Security—We Are The Bomb,” is out now from Haymarket Press.

Jonathan Duffy & Kelly Williams

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams, both graduates of the University of Texas at Austin’s film program, first met while working at the Austin Film Festival in 2004. They later partnered to produce Yen Tan’s feature Pit Stop, which premiered at Sundance 2013 and was nominated for the 2014 Independent Spirit Awards’ John Cassavetes Award. They also produced Kat Candler’s Hellion (Sundance 2014), starring Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, distributed by IFC Films. Recently, they produced Brad Besser’s Sundance 2015 documentary Beaver Trilogy Part IV as well as the 2015 SXSW narrative competition feature 6 Years, directed by Hannah Fidell and executive produced by Mark and Jay Duplass.

Duffy, based in the Bay Area, participated in the 2013 A2E Direct Distribution Lab hosted by the San Francisco Film Society. He is the co-founder of an award-winning organic food delivery business and a limited partner in several successful Austin restaurants. He is currently part of SFFS/KRF’s inaugural Producer Fellowship at FilmHouse.

Based in Austin, Williams is a 2012 Sundance Institute Creative Producing Fellow and producer of indie features Cinema Six and Pictures of Superheroes, as well as Kat Candler’s previous short films Hellion (Sundance 2012) and Black Metal (Sundance 2013). As a film festival programmer, he was awarded the 2007 International Film Festival Summit Excellence Award.