Pamela K. Johnson first learned about Binghamton, New York’s North Side in O The Oprah Magazine last year. She was touched by the North Side’s fifteen-year quest to get a supermarket within walking distance. As she dug deeper into the story, she decided to make a film about food justice starring Binghamton, as well as communities in Los Angeles, where she lives, Nashville and Chicago.
A veteran journalist, Pamela wrote and directed, Talk Me To Death, which won best editing and audience awards in the 2006 Duke City Shootout competition. In 2007, she was selected one of eight out of nearly 200 applicants for the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, where she directed her second short film, Stitches. Her play, LUNCH, was commissioned by Dominguez Bridge Theatre Company, and played to sold-out audiences in 2009. Pamela is the recipient of a Women in Film/General Motors’ Emerging Filmmakers Grant, and a Professional Artists Fellowship from the Arts Council for Long Beach.
Several supermarket chains gave us the run around. They expressed interest in opening a store here, but then there was something about the lease, and the contract. They talked in circles.— LEA WEBB