Looking Back on 2019

"Matthew Kennedy: One Man's Journey" DVD cover

2019 has been a banner year for INFEMNITY Productions and The Noshing with Nina Show (TNWNS). The year began with the broadcast of our recap of “The People’s State of the Union” in January. For Black History Month we broadcast the first of a two-part series on the award-winning documentary film Matthew Kennedy: One Man’s Journey, produced and directed by host Nina Kennedy.

In March, the Rock Ballerina Kimberly Nichole was our special guest on TNWNS. Kimberly is most recognized for her amazing performance of “House of the Rising Sun” on NBC’s The Voice.

Nina Kennedy directing the Fisk Jubilee Singers

Also in March, the Fisk Jubilee Singers performed at Carnegie Hall under sponsorship of the H.T. Burleigh Society, and Nina was asked to participate in a panel discussion with the descendants of Ella Sheppard, Harry Burleigh, J. Rosamond Johnson, W.C. Handy and Bob Cole on the legacies of famous African American musicians. After that panel discussion, Nina asked current Fisk Jubilee Singers director Paul Kwami if she could conduct a master class for the students on her father’s arrangement of the Spiritual “Steal Away.” That master class took place at Fisk University in October.

In April, the fabulous and beautiful April Gibson won a B Free Award for her role as director of The Noshing with Nina Show, in the First Amendment category. Our episode on “The Poetic Address to the Nation” won the award.

Also in April we had the pleasure of meeting singer/songwriter Melissa Etheridge who gave us a spontaneous promo for TNWNS.

In May, we were on the Red Carpet for the GLAAD Media Awards where we filmed interviews with Rosie O’Donnell, Don Lemon, Indya Moore, among others, all in anticipation of the acceptance speech given by the material girl herself, Madonna.

April lost her father in May, yet she kept going and managed to produce a music video for our hit single “It’s World Pride,” released in time for the Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration of the Stonewall Rebellion. Recorded and co-produced with Brenda Alderman (aka B.Love), “It’s World Pride” had its world premiere at the Stonewall Inn, and TNWNS was on hand to film the festivities.

On Juneteenth, INFEMNITY Productions dropped “Blue White and Red” starring lyricist Nejma Nefertiti, Nina Kennedy in her role as pianist, over beats by Mike Gutta. “Blue White and Red” was released on SoundCloud and reached a global audience.

In July we happened to be in Alibi Lounge in Harlem where we were interviewed for an article in the Daily Beast by Tim Teeman, and were given more media coverage for our “It’s World Pride” single. Also in July we were able to meet and mingle with former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, and former Attorney General Loretta Lynch at the annual Paul Weiss Diversity Networking Reception at Lincoln Center.

TNWNS and INFEMNITY Productions went international in August when we packed up our equipment and took our show on the road to film on location in Vienna, Austria, where we produced a music video of Nina’s performance of Schumann's "Widmung." We also filmed scenes in London for the show.

April and Nina with Jeh Johnson

During the course of this year, Nina submitted the manuscript for her first book of memoirs that should be out any day now. We learned this year that, as an author, she has been invited to present at the James Baldwin Conference in the South of France in June of 2020, celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of Baldwin’s arrival in Saint-Paul de Vence.

For our final show of the year we featured Red Carpet interviews filmed at the NYWIFT (New York Women in Film and Television) Muse Awards, featuring Sarah Jessica Parker, Ellen Burstyn, filmmaker Julie Dash, and CBS This Morning's Nancy Giles, among others. We also presented April Gibson's documentary There's A Place For Us: Dixon Place.

Whew! What an exhausting year! Wish us luck for the GLAAD Media Awards and the New York Emmys of 2020. We have submitted and are anticipating nominations.