There is a growing effort to revive culture, arts and economy in the East Bay. Recent movies like Oakland native Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ and ‘Freaky Tales’, a movie about the Town, is doing just that. NBC Bay Area’s Gia Vang shows what one female director says is a “renaissance”, a renewed interest, happening right now.
There is a growing effort to revive culture, arts and economy in the East Bay.
Recent movies like Oakland native Ryan Coogler's 'Sinners' and 'Freaky Tales', a movie about the Town, is doing just that. One female director said there is a "renaissance" and a renewed interest happening right now.
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Born and raised in the East Bay, award-winning film maker Joslyn Rose Lyons is making the art she wants and calling the shots, "the greatest filmmakers, musicians, artists - that's what they do best. They get out of their own way and they just make the art."
Rose Lyons directed the Emmy-nominated Showtime sports documentary, 'STAND'. Her latest independent film is called, 'The Masquerade'.
"Masquerade, in some ways, is my love letter to time," she said. "Looking at what it means to have dreams deferred, what it mean to have dreams destroyed, and what it meant to have dreams that we still hope will come true."
'Masquerade' has an all-Bay Area cast and crew that includes former 49ers star Vernon Davis and actor Simone Leonora. The film looks at how a community changes over time and the space, both lost and gained, in between -- much like what has happened to the city both women grew up in, Oakland.
"In one way, Oakland has always been resilient ... coming home feels a little, I feel a little displaced at times, but I also feel like the same, there's still pockets of people who care in a really deep way," Leonora said.
"When Simone said resilience, it's such a great word for Oakland and there is a DNA in our soil," Lyons Rose said. "When we're creating right now, there's much more resistance which I believe is actually a great sign that we are now at a threshold of a renaissance happening and we're ready to go beyond it."
Lyons Rose is part of the East Bay film collective called "Make it Bay". It formed in August 2023 to uplift Oakland culture and economy. It's a group of celebrity creatives and community members that include Rafael Casal, Kamau Bell, Ryan Coogler, Stephen Curry and Unanimous.
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Lyons Rose is also known for making music videos with Bay Area rap legends E-40 and Too $hort.
"She's always been special to me," Too $hort said. "All I can remember is her always confidently saying I can do this and I'm going to make it amazing."
When the Oakland rap legend wants a different touch on his videos, Joslyn is the one he calls.
"I've written thousands of songs about Oakland and each one of those songs could have been a short film or a feature film in concept," he said.
Will we see a Joslyn Rose Lyons and Too $hort collaboration on the big screen?
"One thousand percent we're talking about that now," Too $hort said.
