Arts Directory

About

Artist Bio

Leasharn M. Hopkins is a multi-disciplinary artist. She is a literary (playwright/screenwriter) artist; performance (actor) artist; director (stage and film); and an acting coach. Over the years, Leasharn has written a book of poetry, over thirty full-length theatrical productions (which have been performed and produced across the U.S.), and numerous screenplays.

In 2016, she wrote, directed, and produced her first self-produced film short, A Mother’s Plea. The dramatic short’s theme was wrongful incarceration. A Mother’s Plea is available for purchase on YouTube Movies, Amazon Prime, ITunes, and BluRay.com. Leasharn has written, directed, and self-produced her sophomore film short project, Nightmare. This short deals with the emergence of a civil rights icon evaluating today’s African-American society.

In 2022, Leasharn was hired to write two (2) short films. The education film short, African American History Through Our Eyes, was funded by the WeGOJA Foundation and the SC Arts Commission. The film is being shown in all South Carolina schools. The second film short project was an episodic HIV/AIDS project for Arizona State University titled I Knew Better. She has served as line producer on the film short After The Rose for B.O.M. Entertainment and directed and filmed (iPhone) the first season of a web series titled Urban Call for F.L.A. Filmz.

Her television spec script, “Felicity Finds Love,” was selected as a quarter-finalist in the BET and ColorCreative Screen Competition. The same television spec script was placed third at the 2018 Urban Media Makers Film Festival in Atlanta, GA.

Leasharn serves as Festival Curator for the Pacific Northwest Multi-Cultural (PNMC) Readers Series & Film Festival. Also, she serves as Coordinator for the Garland Thompson, Sr. Readers Series Festival for the International Black Theatre Festival in Winston-Salem, NC.

One of her valued accolades was being chosen as the first African American female recipient for the 2018 Media Screenwriting Fellow in South Carolina. This fellow was awarded through the SC Arts Commission.

Artist Statement

My goal is to expose, train, nourish, and motivate young artists of today to become the future artists of tomorrow. I am a strong advocate for “Edu-Tainment” in literature, theatre and media arts discipline. My instruction begins with teaching students to understand the history behind theatre (e.g., American, British and the Black Arts movement) and media (film pioneers such as Oscar Micheaux). By understanding the history of these arts disciplines, hopefully, this will motivate students to want to learn how to develop their “voice” as writers; their visual “eye” as filmmakers; or how to interpret scripts and bring to life the words written by literary artists (playwrights and screenwriters). Thus, showing how the Arts can be the beginning of a career of self-expression and impacting societal norms by using edu-tainment. Also, I realize everyone is not meant to be on stage or in front of the camera. Therefore, letting students know there are alternatives that are just as fulfilling in technical theatre and working behind the lens that is just as important. I believe from my classes students will either want to learn more about the three artistic disciplines or assist in developing an appreciation for the Arts.