THE CAST

SALLI RICHARDSON-WHITFIELD (Maye)

Salli Richardson-Whitfield burst onto the silver screen in Mario Van Peebles African-American western, 'Posse," in 1993. Since then her wide credits includes work in television, film and theater.

Starring opposite both Denzel Washington and Will Smith as their wives in the films "Antwone Fisher" and 'I Am Legend," Richardson-Whitfield happily juggles studio fare with interesting independent features. In addition to I WILL FOLLOW, she recently starred in the Sundance selection 'Black Dynamite," and the upcoming the church drama "Pastor Brown" and drama "We the Party".

Richardson-Whitfield currently portrays "Dr. Allison Blake" on SyFy's hit series "Eureka," for which she is nominated for a 2010 NAACP Image Award.

Her extensive list of television work also includes her starring role as attorney Viveca Foster on "Family Law "and recurring roles on "CSI: Miami", "Rude Awakening" and "NYPD Blue." She played a guest-starring role on the critically acclaimed series "House" and voiced the character of Elise for the animated series "Gargoyles".

Born in Chicago, Richardson-Whitfield resides in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Dondre Whitfield, and their daughter, Parker and son Dre.

OMARI HARDWICK (TROY)

Omari Hardwick most recently starred opposite Janet Jackson in the theatrical adaptation of 'For Colored Girls" directed by Tyler Perry.

His film credits also include Lionsgate's "Kick-Ass" alongside Nicolas Cage and Chlo‘ Grace Moretz; Twentieth Century Fox Film's "The A-Team"; Buena Vista Pictures' "The Guardian" opposite Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher; MGM's "Beauty Shop" alongside Queen Latifah; and Sony Pictures Entertainment's "Gridiron Gang" opposite Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

Hardwick may be best known for his starring roles in television, including TNT's cop drama "Dark Blue" where starred as 'Ty Curtis' opposite Dylan McDermott, and his lead role as 'John "Sack" Hallon' in the TNT 2006 series "Saved".

In addition to acting, Hardwick is a founding member of Plan B Inc. Theater Group, and a co-founder of Los Angeles Actor's Lounge.

MICHOLE BRIANNA WHITE (Fran)

Michole Brianna White is a veteran theater actress and 2009 Ovation Award Winner in the Acting Ensemble category for her work in "Stick Fly." She began her stage career Off-Broadway in August Wilson's "Jitney," for which she won the 2000 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Ensemble Performance. In addition, she performed in "Fuckin' A" by Suzan-Lori Parks at Public Theater and August Wilson's "Joe Turner's Come and Gone," "Two Train" and "Radio Golf".

White has been cast by director Spike Lee in two films: "She Hate Me" and "The 25th Hour".

Her episodic television work includes "Law & Order," "Numbers," "Threshold" and a series regular role on "100 Centre St".

DIJON TALTON (Raven)

Dijon Talton is best known for his role on the smash hit television series "Glee," which he was a part of in show's first season.

His portrayal of football player Matt Rutherford earned him the SAG Award for Best Television Ensemble in 2009.

He also performed with his fellow cast members for President Barack Obama and the First Family at The White House, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

BLAIR UNDERWOOD (Evan)

Blair Underwood has distinguished himself as an award-winning actor/director/producer, who continues to showcase his multitude of talents in the world of film, television, theater and literature.

He currently stars as President of the United States Elias Martinez in NBC's high-octane conspiracy thriller "The Event." In 2008, Underwood was seen in three high-profile television projects: he was a Golden Globe nominee for his performance as a Navy fighter pilot in HBO's critically acclaimed "In Treatment"; he starred in the hit drama "Dirty Sexy Money"; and he reprised his recurring role of Mr. Harris in "The New Adventures of Old Christine." Underwood's past TV credits include "Sex and the City," "LAX," "City of Angels," "Mama Flora's Family," "Murder in Mississippi," "Soul of the Game," "The Wishing Tree," and "Heat Wave."

Underwood's feature film credits include "Something New," "Madea's Family Reunion," "Malibu's Most Wanted," "Full Frontal," "Rules of Engagement," "Gattaca," "Asunder," "Deep Impact," "Just Cause," "Set It Off" and "Posse."

In 2007, Underwood made his feature directorial debut in the independent drama "Bridge to Nowhere." He recently completed production on the independent drama "Homework," opposite Emma Roberts and Freddy Highmore.

In 2009, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the United States' largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider held the grand opening of its first AIDS treatment center in Washington, D.C. - named after Underwood in recognition of his longtime advocacy. The AHF Blair Underwood Clinic includes a state-of-the-art, full-service HIV/AIDS treatment clinic as well as an on-site AHF Pharmacy. Underwood is also co-founder of Artists for a New South Africa (ANSA).

BEVERLY TODD (Amanda)

People's Choice Award winner Beverly Todd learned the entertainment industry by working with her mentor, the master artisan, Sidney Poitier. Benefiting from his tutelage, she has compiled an impressive list of theater, television and film achievements.

Todd began her professional career in the Off-Broadway hit "Deep Are the Roots." After several successful plays, she won a starring role in the Broadway comedy "Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights," directed by Sidney Poitier, and subsequently appeared with Mr. Poitier in the films "Uptown Saturday Night," "The Lost Man," "They Call Me Mr. Tibbs" and "Brother John".

On television, Todd is credited with breaking ground for actresses of color in the critically acclaimed PBS television special "Six Characters in Search of an Author," for which she received her first NAACP Image Award nomination. She won the People's Choice Award and received her second NAACP Image Award nomination for her starring role in the historic television miniseries "Roots." Additionally, she starred opposite Louis Gossett Jr. in the made-for-television movie "Don't Look Back: The Story of Leroy 'Satchel' Paige".

Another career milestone was starring opposite Richard Pryor as his rational, loving wife in the feature film comedy "Moving." Todd's additional film credits include "Clara's Heart," "Lean On Me" and the Academy AwardŠwinning "Crash." Her more recent films are the "The Bucket List," where she starred opposite Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, and "Hope and Redemption: The Lena Baker Story".

She appeared with Oscar nominee Taraji Henson in January 2011 in the Lifetime original movie "Taken From Me: The Tiffany Rubin Story." Additionally on television, she's had recurring roles on HBO's "Six Feet Under," "Lincoln Heights" and "House".

TRACIE THOMS (Tiffany)

Classically trained actress Tracie Thoms is best known for her film work in high-profile projects such Quentin taratino's "Death Proof," "Rent" and "Devil Wears Prada".

Along with her movie credits, Thoms maintains high visibility on the small screen. Following appearances as a semi-regular on CBS's hit crime drama procedural, "Cold Case" (CBS, 2003- ) in 2005, the talented actress joined the cast as regular during the 2006-07 season. She currently recurs in the popular drama "Human Target."

A native of Baltimore, MD, Thoms received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Washington, D.C.'s Howard University before completing her post-graduate studies at the prestigious New York City's Juilliard School.

ROYALE WATKINS (Roy)

Royale Watkins is an actor, writer and comedian with diverse credits spanning film, television and stage. In 1997, his smashingly sucessful stand-up career blossomed into a starring television role in a sitcom based on his real-life experiences, "Built To Last" from Warner Bros Television.

Watkins feature film work as an actor includes: Taskehi Kitano's "Brother," Reggie Rock Bythewood's "Dancing in September" and "Speed2 : Cruise Control." He is currently a writer for the TBS comedy series "Are We There Yet?" and also served as a staff writer for the sitcome "All of Us." Watkins is also the co-owner and host of Mixtape Comedy Show with actor/comedian Anthony Anderson.

PHALANA TILLER (Christine)

Phalana Tiller hails from Botswana, by way of the DC area and began performing theater at the University of Virginia. She went on to a fruitful career in New York City and Johannesburg working in commercials, as a VJ on MTV2, in theater, on a South African sit-com and in various indie features like The Arrangement and Kali's Vibe. After moving to LA, Phalana continued her commercial and sketch comedy work and recurred in the CBS series That's Life. She recently starred in a DGA award-winning film, Shoegazer. She is represented by Kim Byrd at Innovative Artists and Orion Barnes at Rogers Orion.

DAMONE ROBERTS (Himself)

Considered one of the top beauty artists in the business, Damone Roberts' talent for painting faces and sculpting the perfect arch has led him to work with some of the world's most beautiful and famous people, including Madonna, Beyoncˇ, Gwyneth Paltrow, Megan Fox, Vanessa Williams, Mandy Moore, Alicia Keys and Robert Downey Jr.

In 2002, Roberts created his flagship salon, Damone Roberts Beverly Hills. Damone Roberts New York opened in 2008. He created a line of eyebrow accoutrements sold exclusively at Damone Roberts Salons, Amazon.com, DamoneRoberts.com and at the elite Japanese department store, Takashimaya.

Roberts and his products have been featured on countless television shows and networks including The Oprah Winfrey Show, MSNBC, The View, BET, Access Hollywood, Good Morning America and CNN. He also showcased his makeup talents and brow expertise as the leader of the glam squad on TLC's national hit television show 10 Years Younger.

His work in I WILL FOLLOW is his first acting role.

RAMON LEON (Himself)

Ramon Leon was born in Havana, Cuba. His parents migrated to the United States in 1971 to give their family a better life. Ramon has appeared in several videos for artists such as Erick Benet, Vanessa Williams & EnVogue.

In 2010, Leon attended culinary arts school and is currently working with Wolfgang Puck as an Event Captain and has plans to own his own catering company.

OWEN SMITH (Chuck)

Owen Smith is an accomplished stand-up comedian and commercial actor. On television, he's starred guest starred opposite Tim Meadows in "Glory Daze" on TBS and the Chris Rock smash, "Everybody Hates Chris." Owen currently is both a writer and actor on the Ice Cube sitcom "Are We There Yet?"

TONY PEREZ (Tuliau)

Tony Perez is a native of Portsmouth, Virginia and is a graduate of the American Theatre Wing. He performed at the Mark Taper forum in "Bandido" and at LATC in "Piano", along with numerous off-Broadway shows. Feature films include: Delta Farce, Right At Your Door, Blow, Latin Dragon, The Net, The Pest, Gang Related, Romero, Looking For Lola, Alien Nation, Scarface, Hard To Kill, and In Deep Cover. Guest starring roles include: Sons Of Anarchy, Dark Blue, Burn Notice, 24, CSI: Miami Medical Investigation, Carnivale, Six Feet Under, Dark Angel, E R., Crossing Jordan, E-Ring, Raines, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, Jag, The Sentinel, N.Y.P.D. Blue, Murder One, The Commish.

ROBERT SILVER (Ben)

Robert Silver was born and raised in New York City, studying with Uta Hagen and Bobby Lewis among others. In NY, he appeared in the Broadway productions of Neil Simon's CHAPTER II and PROPOSALS, as well as Off and Off-Off Broadway productions at theatres ranging from Lincoln Center to The American Place Theatre, and Playwrights' Horizon.

Regional theatre credits include TALLEY'S FOLLEY, ROOM SERVICE, CONVERSATIONS WITH MY FATHER, and PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE. His film credits include Woody Allen's SHADOWS AND FOG, FLETCH LIVES, DEVIL IN THE FLESH, and GIGLI. He has guest starred in over twenty episodic TV shows including ER, NYPD BLUE, LAW & ORDER, JUDGING AMY, KING OF QUEENS, THE SHIELD and WEEDS. Some 200 or more commercials round out his professional credits.



THE FILMMAKERS

AVA DuVERNAY (Writer/Director)

Ava DuVernay made her directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed 2008 hip hop documentary, "This is the Life." Winner of Audience Awards in Toronto, Los Angeles and Seattle, the film was released theatrically and debuted on Showtime in April 2009.

She recently directed two network music documentaries, a history of female hip hop artists entitled "My Mic Sounds Nice" for BET and a two-hour concert film chronicling the nation's largest annual African-American gathering entitled "Essence Music Festival 2010" for TV One. Both films premiered August 2010.

Starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Omari Hardwick and Blair Underwood, "I Will Follow" is her first narrative feature and will open in theaters on March 2011 through the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM), a black film distribution collective which she founded.

DuVernay has worked in the world of film as a marketer for more than 15 years, forming her agency, DVA Media + Marketing, in 1999. Her award-winning firm has provided strategy and execution for more than 120 film and television campaigns for acclaimed directors such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Mann, Robert Rodriguez, Bill Condon, Kevin Smith, Raoul Peck and Gurinder Chadha. A UCLA graduate, DuVernay is a member of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She is based in Los Angeles.

HOWARD BARISH (Executive Producer)

For 25 years, Howard Barish has been involved in live-action productions spanning 22 countries around the world. He has produced major campaigns for the most prominent television networks, including: ABC, ABC FAMILY, CBS, NBC, DISNEY, E!, FOX, KINGWORLD, LIFETIME, NBC, PARAMOUNT, STYLE, and THE CW.

In 1992, Barish formed Kandoo Films, Inc., in Los Angeles. A live action/editorial production company focusing on network and syndication on-air promotion, image campaigns, branding, theatrical trailers, radio spots television and motion picture advertising, as well as home entertainment and sales presentations. Additionally, he has been responsible for the production of numerous Network "Sneak Peaks" and "Making Of" Specials. Today, Kandoo remains one of the premier companies in their field. Barish's passion for story telling and long form production has never ceased as he has been involved in dozens of projects over the years. He acted as Executive Producer for E! Entertainment's reality series, THE ENTERTAINER, starring Wayne Newton in Las Vegas. He initiated and produced programming for VOOM's RUSH, a Rainbow Media High-Definition channel overseeing global production for five original HD sports programs including: BIG AIR, FACE TIME, BOING, ROOSTERTAIL, and PLAY 16:9.

In addition to I WILL FOLLOW, his feature film executive producing credits include: FIZZY BUSINESS, GLITTER GIRLS and THE STUPIDEST ANGEL.

MOLLY MAYEUX (Producer)

Molly Mayeux, whose career spans more than 16 years, is a producer of numerous motion pictures. Her recent credits include RAIN starring Nicki Micheaux and CCH Pounder, which is current domestic release by Image Entertainment and DEADLINE, starring Eric Roberts which just wrapped principal photography. She has numerous projects in development under her production banner, Dahlia Street Films, including BUDDY HOLLY IS ALIVE AND WELL starring Jon Heder which will shoot this fall.

TILANE JONES (Associate Producer)

Tilane Jones is Manager of Production and Promotions for Forward Movement Films, serving as associate producer on all of the company's visual product. Her film credits include: This is The Life and I Will Follow. Her television credits include: My Mic Sounds Nice and Live from Essence Music Festival 2010.

Jones also oversees all creative and editorial production related to DVA's Urban Beauty Collective promotional network, providing in-salon entertainment to more than 12,000 black beauty salons and barbershops nationwide.

AISHA COLEY (Casting Director)

As a casting director, Aisha Coley has worked in film, theater and television for more than two decades. Starting at Lincoln Center Theater in New York, Coley cast both Broadway and off-Broadway theater before working in feature films as a casting associate on Malcolm X, Devil in a Blue Dress, Enemy of the State, Crime of the Century, as well as David Fincher's hit film Se7en. Her casting director credits include the NAACP Image Award winning The Secret Life of Bees, Love and Basketball, Bamboozled, He Got Game, 25th Hour, Soul Men, Perfume, Stranger Inside for HBO, Akeelah and the Bee, and The Cosby Show. A former VP of Casting for Twentieth Century Fox, Aisha has additionally served for 5 years as a member of the nominating committee for Film Independent's Spirit Awards.

MIGUEL BUNSTER (Director of Photography)

Born in Princeton New Jersey, cinematographer Miguel Bunster grew up in Chile. He studied Cinematography at American Film Institute, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Cinematography in 2006. I WILL FOLLOW is his sixth feature film. His other film credits include: "La Linea," "Pandemic," "Nobody" and "In My Pocket".

JENNIFER SPENCE (Production Designer)

Born in Canada, Jennifer Spence is a success commercial production designer with hundreds of commercials and video to her credit. I WILL FOLLOW is her fifth feature film. Her other film credits include: "Paranormal Activity II," "Stolen," and "Splinter".

SPENCER AVERICK (Editor)

Based in Los Angeles, Spencer Averick is film editor specializing in documentaries. Averick has worked closely with Forward Movement as editor of the company's award-winning documentary feature, "This is The Life." He is editor of the company's latest film project, "I Will Follow," a dramatic narrative currently in post-production. Averick has also worked with Forward Movement on BET's MY MIC SOUNDS NICE and TV-One's ESSENCE MUSIC FESTIVAL and FAITH THROUGH THE STROM. As well as working with Forward Movement on corporate media projects for clients such as NBC Universal and Warner Bros. Previously, he edited the sweeping Walter Dominquez documentary "Weaving the Past" and served as in-house editor for Rogue Pictures.

VONDA K. MORRIS (Key Hair)

Vonda K. Morris' film work includes Soul Men, Mr. 3000, Ginger Bread Man, Ocean 13 and I Will Follow. Television shows include TNT's Dark Blue, Kathy Hughes' One on One, Bernie Mac Show and The Practice. Vonda's work has also been seen in major magazines and TV commercials.

KATE MALLOR (Costume Designer)

Kate Mallor is a Los Angeles-based costume designer working in film, television, commercials, and theater. Her background in fashion design and love for the performing arts brought her out West via Indiana, Chicago, and Barcelona to pursue an MFA in Costume Design, which she received from California Institute of the Arts. Select design credits include the award winning "Suitemates" starring Ray Wise and Kevin Pollak, and "Dottie's Thanksgiving Pickle" starring Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis.

KATHRYN BOSTIC (Composer)

Kathryn is a recipient of the prestigious Sundance Fellowship for Filmscoring and has written for numerous film, TV, and theater productions. She has worked with award winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson on critically acclaimed documentaries, "Marcus Garvey" and "A Place of Our Own." She has also collaborated with award-winning playwright August Wilson on productions of his last two plays "Radio Golf" and the Broadway production of "Gem of the Ocean".

She is currently writing the music for the Broadway production of "Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo" starring Robin Williams, written by Pulitzer prize finalist Rajiv Joseph and directed by Tony nominated Moises Kaufman. Kathryn is also an accomplished singer-songwriter, performing worldwide with her own band and she has also toured and/or recorded with several artists including k.d. Lang, Ryuchi Sakamoto, Nas, John Hiatt and David Byrne. She is currently recording her soon to be released CD entitled "From Me to You".

KUNAL RAJAN (Supervising Sound Editor)

Kunal Rajan moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood after having worked on feature films in India. Following work on several production sound jobs, he transitioned to post production sound in 2006. He worked with Sound Dogs, one of the world's largest sound effects companies, as an assistant effects recordist on films such as Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. Kunal founded Black Box Entertainment in 2006, a sound production/post production house based in Los Angeles. Black Box Entertainment has worked on various prestigious projects which include Jon M Chu's THE LXD, Fear Clinic, Laid to Rest.