NOMMO Productions was established by documentarian Billy Jackson in Boston in 1973 as a production infrastructure for a documentary on Black art, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts. “We Are Universal” was completed in collaboration with Blackside Incorporated, producers of “Eyes On The Prize.”

From concept to closing credits, NOMMO is a closely knit team of seasoned associates committed to producing excellent, broadcast quality media--principally in the documentary, promotional, industrial and docu-drama formats--for private, civic and corporate clients.

In its early years, NOMMO designed and produced a PSA for the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission promoting its statewide programs for the handicapped, and a documentary for the New York City Department of General Services that utilized stop action technique to promote its community gardens programs. NOMMO also managed documentation of an NBC Sports triathlon.

In 1985, NOMMO Productions relocated to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, first operating as part of a production team for PBS affiliate WQED-TV’s award-winning “Chemical People” and ALCOA’s “People Like Us”--winning an award in an industrial media competition.

Since relocating, NOMMO has also produced the documentaries “Didn’t We Ramble On” and “Enough Is ENOUGH: The Death of Jonny Gammage.” NOMMO’s next documentary, on the highly regarded and soon-to-be legendary saxophonist Gary Bartz, is scheduled for release in 2007.
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Didnt We Ramble On? Marching bacnd

The culmination of ten years research by Dr. Carl Atkins, Didn’t We Ramble On traces the evolution of the Black marching band from 14th Century West African processions to present-day bands. The music, the pageantry, and the many uses of current marching bands have been irrefutably traced to centuries-old Yoruba processions by Dr. Atkins and confirmed by noted ethnomusicologists Dr. Eileen Southern and Dr. John Szwed.

Narrated by Dizzy Gilespie, this visually and aurally exciting film features performances of a West African procession, New Orleans jazz funeral procession and the Florida A&M University Marching Band. Archival photographs, depictions and music from Africa, Europe and the United States are used to underscore similarities in the evolution of this ancient art form.

Didn’t We Ramble On won the “Best Film” Award in the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame and National Black Programming Consortium competitions in 1991. It also won, among other awards, a CINE Golden Eagle, a Blue Ribbon at the American Film & Video Festival, and a Director’s Choice in the Atlanta Image and the Black Maria Film Competition.
Purchase: $149.50 + $6.50 S&H
We Are Universal Nikki Giovani

We Are Universal is a documentary film that recounts the influence of the “Black Is Beautiful” movement on the art of Black people. Scenes of arts organizations, performances, and lifestyles in four of the major urban areas for art in the country – Boston, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles – are interwoven with opinions of Black art from artists who were themselves major influences on the art [then] [in the 1970’s], and who now have a place in Black history.

Visual segues of two young boys as they explore their hometown from downtown to “uptown” combined with a musical score, written by Carl Atkins and featuring the performances of Gary Bartz and James Mtume, provide visual metaphors and thematic cues for the discussions of how Black culture has evolved. The conclusion of the film offers a projection of Black art that, as the years have passed since it was produced, remains undeniably accurate…

That We Are Universal was produced in the 60’s, when ideologies of Black people had a major influence on all art forms, and that it is now a document, will have increasing importance in the years to come.
Artists who appear in the film include Quincy Jones, Freddie Hubbard, Charles White, Nikki Giovanni, Don Lee, Hugh Masekela, Betty Carter, Lee Morgan and many others*
Purchase: $99.50 + $6.50 S&H
Enopugh Is Enough: The Death of Jonny Gammage
Protest against police brutality

On October 12, 1995 Jonny Gammage, a 31-year-old African-American businessman, churchgoer and volunteer, was pulled over by five white police officers while driving a Jaguar owned by his cousin, Pittsburgh Steeler Ray Seals. During the ensuing struggle Gammage was asphyxiated. There was shock and revulsion in the community, and thousands, both black and white, took to the streets to protest.

Enough is ENOUGH! examines the criminal justice system and the procedural relationships among the law enforcement officers, the Coroner's office, the District Attorneys, and the courts. Interwoven with the story line are interviews with prominent lawyers, politicians and activists such as Prof. Charles Ogletree of Harvard, Louis Farrakhan, Johnnie Cochran, Al Sharpton and many others.

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Enough Is ENOUGH: Click Here >		  
 
     
 
 

Billy Jackson Producer and Director, is a national award-winning documentarian
and principal owner of NOMMO Productions, producer of more than 50 documentary, dramatic, and promotional films. NOMMO’s clients have included
Alcoa, BET, Duquesne Light, ACLU, Massachusetts Rehabilitation Administration, and the NYC Dept. of General Service, among others. For
many years he also freelanced as acinematographer for Blackside, Inc. He has taught film courses at Emerson College and Pittsburgh Filmmakers, and
served as consultant, cinematographer, and/or producer for government, industry, independent production houses, and television stations.

In 1982, Jackson was co-producer and production manager for "Booker T. Washington," which won the Cine Golden Eagle award. Jackson founded Community Media (CM) in 1989 and served as Program Director until 2003. Community Media was a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit organization that offered neighborhood film screenings, trained youth in video production and presentation, produced documentaries about contemporary issues, and provided video documentation services for nonprofit organizations. "A Safe Place," a CM-produced documentary about gangs, won Best Community Produced Video in 1996 from the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame. Another CM video, "Things That Fit," on August Wilson’s play, "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom," won a Cultural Affairs runner-up award in l999 from the National Black Programming Consortium.

Jackson received his undergraduate degree from Northeastern University and MEd from Harvard, and has made a lifelong study of youth education in
media arts. He served four years on the media panel for the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and one year on the Creative Teaching Partners panel for the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and has served on the boards of several media, social service, and arts organizations. He is committed to increasing resources for media arts and multicultural programming, and providing greater opportunities for developing artists.
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