NEWS

By RuBin E. GRant

J Whitson was not looking to do a documentary about civil rights leader and minister the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth when he shot an interview of him in 2007.

The interview was going to be part of a documentary about sculptor Tina Allen, who created the bust of Frederick Douglass on display at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

The documentary about Allen didn’t come to fruition, so the threehour interview with Shuttlesworth was never used.

A few years ago, Whitson decided to unearth the interview and use it as part of a full-length documentary about Shuttlesworth, who was a graduate of Rosedale High School and died in 2011 at the age of 89.

Whitson, a documentary production specialist for Alabama Public Television, enlisted his brother, Matt Whitson, a video editor and audio engineer for APT, to help with the project.

The brothers are graduates of Homewood High School, with J Whitson the older of the two by 2½ years, attending Montevallo and Matt attending UAB after high school. They have been working at APT since 2004.

“We’re kind of responsible for each other being at APT,” Matt Whitson said. “I had been working freelance at APT as an audio guy and postproduction assistant. They were looking for an associate producer and I knew J knew what he was doing and was a smart guy, so I suggested him. They had a couple of candidates for the job and ended up hiring J. I told him if something else opened up, to get me in.”

J Whitson went to work for APT in May 2004 and in the fall of that year, Matt joined him there.

A First

“Shuttlesworth” is the first featurelength documentary J Whitson has produced, a job that took three years.

APT will host a premiere screening of “Shuttlesworth” Dec. 15 at the recently renovated Carver Theatre in Birmingham. Attendance is free for the event, which includes a reception at 6 p.m.

The film screening will start at 7 p.m., followed by a question-andanswer session with J Whitson and co-producer T. Marie King as well as honored guests. APT will air the hourlong documentary Dec. 20 at 8 p.m.

“Rev. Shuttlesworth is known in Birmingham, but what has been forgotten or perhaps even never known is he was one of the most heroic figures in the history of Birmingham,” J Whitson said. “He stood up to iconic villain Bull Connor (Birmingham Commissioner of Public Safety), making Birmingham the turning point in the Civil Rights Movement and energizing it.”

Shuttlesworth also was co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and instrumental in the 1963 Birmingham Campaign.

“Rev. Shuttlesworth sometimes gets overshadowed by Martin Luther King Jr., but his story is an inspiring story, a Birmingham story, a national story and a worldwide story,” J Whitson said.

Collaborators

Shuttlesworth Documentary a Major Production for Brothers From Homewood

Courtesy

The brothers are graduates of Homewood High School, with J Whitson, right, the older of the two by 2½ years, attending Montevallo and Matt, left, attending UAB after high school. They have been working at APT since 2004.

Working Together

“Shuttlesworth” isn’t the first time the Whitson brothers have joined forces on an APT project.

They co-created the series “We Have Signal,” a statewide concert program that was filmed at Bottletree Café from 2008 to 2015, and “Subcarrier,” a live music program filmed in Avondale at Saturn Birmingham. They also were credited on the APT original program “Quilts of Gee’s Bend.”

In 2009, “We Have Signal” won a regional Emmy award for “Outstanding Achievement in Audio, Recorded in Live- and Postproduction” and three Telly Awards in the entertainment, sound/ sound design and videography/cinematography categories.

“We’ve been working together for 18 years,” J Whitson said. “It’s got it ups and downs. On the one hand, it’s good because you get to work with your brother and your best friend, and you have some of the same interests. But at the same time, it can be difficult because it’s family and there can be disagreements, and you have to agree to disagree.”

Matt Whitson, who plays bass guitar, also works on making arts-related documentaries, a music series and other projects for APT education department. He is one of the filmmakers of the 2022 PBS Short Film Festival’s Celestia Morgan, which features Birmingham-based conceptual photographer Celestia Morgan using images to exercise and amplify her voice.

“Shuttlesworth” has taken their collaboration to another level.

“It’s been interesting,” Matt Whitson said. “It’s the biggest project we’ve worked on together. It’s gotten a little dicey at times because we’ve had some impasses in making decisions and we’ve had to learn conflict resolution. But it’s been really rewarding, working through them together.”

For the Shuttlesworth documentary, which includes never-before-seen footage of the civil rights pioneer, J Whitson brought in T. Marie King. She is a community organizer and activist who travels to cities across the nation, leading social justice and equity projects in a number of sectors including the arts.

In Birmingham, her film work includes designing the short film and Black Lens programs for the Sidewalk Film Center + Cinema. This year, King also curated the nonprofit’s inaugural Black Lens Film week, a series of films produced and directed by Black filmmakers.

“T. Marie knows anybody and everybody in Birmingham, so many of the major players in the city,” J Whitson said. “She knows my wife. She helped shape the story and coordinated a lot of the interviews.”

King was overjoyed to be a part of the documentary.

“It’s an opportunity to highlight somebody who was so overlooked but made major contributions, being a civil rights activist in Birmingham,” King said. “Whose story is better to tell? It’s a reminder to some of what one person, taking on a role, can do to make a difference.”

“Shuttlesworth” features interviews with a wide range of authors, experts and community and political leaders, including former Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr., Dr. Martha Bouyer, former U.S. District Court Judge U.W. Clemon, Dr. Robert Corley, Dr. Andrew M. Manis, Diane McWhorter, Janice Kelsey, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Bishop Calvin Woods, and Odessa Woolfolk, emeritus director of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

“It’s been really intense working on it and kind of nerve-wracking,” Matt Whitson said. “It might be the most important story in Birmingham, so you (have) to show how important it is. It’s been a pleasure and honor working on it, but a big responsibility.”

Breast Cancer Group Funding $1.27 Million in Research Grants

The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama has announced grants totaling $1,275,000 to fund Alabama-based breast cancer research in 2022.

Grants will fund 24 research projects at seven institutions across the state: the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Auburn University, CerFlux in Birmingham, the Mitchell Cancer Institute at the University of South Alabama, Tuskegee University, the University of Alabama and HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville.

This year’s grant awards, announced Dec. 2, increase the BCRFA’s lifetime investment total to nearly $14 million since its founding in 1996. All funds raised stay in Alabama.

“With this year’s historic investment in research, the BCRFA is proud to continue our legacy of driving breast cancer breakthroughs across Alabama,” said Beth Davis, the foundation’s president and CEO. “From advances in early detection to treatment options, BCRFA-funded research is giving hope to the countless individuals touched by breast cancer – and ultimately saving lives.” multimillion-dollar national grants from the National Institute of Health and others.

“The Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama has made remarkable investments in cancer research in our state, in particular by funding investigators and projects with significant potential to improve cancer outcomes,” said Dr. Barry P. Sleckman, director of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center. “The BCRFA has been an incredible partner, and we are grateful for their support.”

The foundation’s funding is made possible with support from corporate and community partners; local, state and federal funders; event patrons; individual donors; and sales of the Breast Cancer Research specialty license plate.

Journal photo by Jordan Wald

Laura Hinton, BCRFA board chair and Beth Davis, BCRFA president and CEO with a large check to fund Alabama-based breast cancer research in 2022.