User:Timothy Edward Gordon

Timothy E. Gordon (born August 25, 1963) is an American film critic, host of the public radio show Keeping It Reel with FilmGordon, and film contributor at WETA-TV's, Around Town. He has served as a film critic for BET.com, Jet.com, and TheFilmGordon. In 2013, he was invited to join the nation's largest film critic association, the Broadcast Film Critics Association. He currently serves as President of the Washington, DC-Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), both the Black Reel Awards and the Black Reel Awards for TV, and also is the Director of the Lakefront Film Festival.

Personal life
Gordon was born in Newark, New Jersey. He attended the University of the District of Columbia, where he majored in Communication and minored in English. His mother, Annette, and father, Warner, raised him and his two younger siblings, David and Valerie in Irvington, New Jersey. He lives in Columbia, Maryland. When not enjoying films, Gordon's passions are his beloved sports teams, the eight-time champion New York Giants, the Amazin' New York Mets, the Washington Wizards, Rutgers University football and Seton Hall basketball.

Career
Gordon began his career in journalism when he launched the monthly newsletter, The Renaissance Review, which covered African-Americans in the film industry in 1992. The following year, Gordon began hosting, The Tim Gordon Entertainment Show on Radio One's, WOL-AM interviewing filmmakers and reviewing films. In 1996, Gordon took over as Morning Show Producer for WMMJ's The Doug Gilmore Show on Majic 102.3 in Washington, DC. He also produced "The Reporter's Notebook in 1998, which featured daily newsmakers and award-winning sports columnists, including Michael Wilbon, Ralph Wiley, Steven A. Smith, J.A. Adande and others.

In 1999, Gordon came aboard as Afternoon Show Producer at WHUR-FM's Live with Doug and Lorna. Over the course of his seven-year career as a show producer, Gordon oversaw over 125 live in-studio concerts, known as "Instajams," and featured guests such as Toni Braxton, Patti LaBelle, Quincy Jones, Smokey Robinson, Alicia Keys, Mary J. Blige, Nina Simone, and others.

An avid student of film history and a fan of awards shows Gordon was inspired to create the Black Reel Awards in 2000 to annually celebrate the achievements of African-Americans as well as those from the African diaspora in front of and behind the camera. Over its 20-year history, the Black Reel Awards has nominated over 1,000 industry professionals for its prestigious top film prizes.

In 2002, Gordon was named President of the Washington (D.C.) Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA). The 65-member association examines issues pertaining to critics throughout the industry and annually honors the year’s best films and performances. He created the non-profit educational organization, the Foundation for the Advancement of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) in 2004. With a mission to target, identify and prepare candidates who will represent the next generation of filmmakers and potential film executives, FAAAF introduced two programs, "Reel Kids," and the "Producer’s Institute" to continue with the important work of redefining our “reel images” for the next generation.

In 2003, Gordon was invited by USA Today to join in their special Diamond celebration of the 75h Anniversary of the Academy Awards. He joined Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Roger Ebert, and Peter Travers to write about their favorite Best Picture winners of the Oscars first 75 years. Gordon selected the mob epic, The Godfather as the subject of his brief essay for the paper.

Gordon joined the PBS affiliate WETA-TV's Around Town in 2005 as one of their two film critics. He also boarded BET.com as their film critic and head of the site's Entertainment digital portal in 2007. Gordon oversaw the site's initial Live Oscar night coverage as well as creating their coverage of the "O-Unit," a history of Black Oscar winners. In 2008, he created the movie brand, "FilmGordon" consolidating his film content and social media platforms under one umbrella. The following year, Gordon launched his weekly film podcast, Keeping It Reel with FilmGordon, which features his interviews, movie news and weekly film reviews. The show recently celebrated it's Tenth Anniversary on DC Radio in Washington, DC.

Gordon was accepted for membership into the 400-member group and nation's largest film critics association, the Broadcast Film Critics Association (recently renamed the Critics Choice Association) in 2013. In 2017, Gordon spun off the TV categories from the Black Reel Awards and launched the Black Reel Awards for Television awards to celebrate the achievements of Black creatives on the small screen, cable television and streaming services.

After two decades of attending film festivals, Gordon was presented an opportunity to create his own in 2019 when he launched the Lakefront Film Festival in Columbia, Maryland. The inaugural festival featured over 40 films, panels discussions from Sesame Street and Netflix, a 35th Anniversary Centerpiece screening of Purple Rain, and an Opening Night film from Warner Bros., Blinded by the Light.

Additional professional credits
Gordon has served as a programming consultant for several festivals and film series, including Morgan State University’s Arts Festival, Lincoln Theatre’s Film Feast (Washington, DC), and the Uptown Saturday Night Movie Ministry series. He has also served on film festival juries for the Virgin Island International Film Festival in Christiansted, St. Croix as well as Jury President for the Over-The-Rhine International Film Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Currently, he hosts the weekly film show, Keeping It Reel with FilmGordon on 96.3 HD4 on DC Radio. His work has also appeared in the USA Today, Variety Magazine’s prestigious Bureau of Film Critics, and has been a guest on NewsOne with Roland Martin, BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley and BET’s Screen Scene and Howard University’s Evening Exchange (WHUT-TV) and the WHUR’s The Daily Drum with Harold Fisher.