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I am a motion picture and new media professional
specializing in the development, branding, production, distribution and promotion of entertainment properties.
My interest in film began at about 8 years old when my father
bought an 8mm movie projector and two cartoons: Betty Boop and Mr. Magoo. Once I learned to operate the projector,
my friends would come on Saturdays, sit in our living room and give me five cents for a cup of kool-aid and a small bag
of popcorn. We'd watch one movie. They'd come back
the next weekend to see the other one, again paying five cents. Of course, it was short-lived, because I only had two
movies and the other ones carried by Sears, at the time, were not for children. The bug stuck though... and here I am,
years later, still passionate about this business.
A Chicago newspaper reporter once wrote that if you place Abiiba Howell in a bag, shake it up and
turn it upside down, she would still come out standing on both feet. From a path that includes marathon running, modeling,
motherhood, stock car racing and martial arts to artist and motion picture professional, Abiiba has always charted her own
course. The native Chicago
filmmaker was the publicist for Mr. T until he was discovered for ROCKY III. She owned a limousine service while a full time
student at Northwestern University (first month coup: booking the Rolling Stones and O'Jay's Chicago tour stop). Abiiba's
career was launched as a film and television Makeup Artist before her rise to writer, producer and director, working on Chicago,
Texas and Hollywood film and television projects. In 2008, Abiiba returned to school earning new skills in strategic business analysis and development, production,
distribution, search engine optimization, internet marketing and promotions and new media, among others.  Abiiba's work as producer includes music videos, commercials, documentaries and movies. She
has been the Production Supervisor for several projects, including: VISA: China to Houston; Learning About for the Family
Channel, George Foreman's Knockout Household Cleaning and numerous other projects. As the current Senior Producer for Dominion
Films, Abiiba wrote, produced and directed: Aging With Grace; Total Control; Fantasy in Pink and The Accident. Her television
series' include: Getting the Edge, The Do-It-Yourself Car Show and The Independent Movie Show.
In late 2011, Abiiba added the website collection of celebrity
anecdotes to her roster at http://www.FreeFlowingMedia.com. Projects for clients include: the Dick Gregory: A Force of Nature
live stage performance, It Could Be You (project development), A Fresh View (development and production) and others in various
stages of development. Documentary work includes: The A.F. Project, Career
School Nightmare, Don't Get Hurt in Texas,
and more. She has written eleven screenplays and collaborated on one other. Abiiba was the Texas Assistant Production Coordinator for HBO and Billy Bob Thornton's film Don't
Look Back; Production Coordinator for London Weekend Television's, The Jogger; and Production Coordinator for House on Todville
Road (before moving over as Key Makeup/FX). She was the Production Manager for The Dark Dancer (Third Coast Entertainment/Showtime),
Material Witness; Holyfield: Showdown at the Garden (Showtime TV Networks); Pirate Island of
Jean Laffite (playing continuously
in Galveston, TX since 1997); Prithvi (India) and for numerous other movies, music videos and commercials. Abiiba's *award-winning makeup work may be seen on numerous projects
including: Return to Vengeance, Burned Soul, Somebody Up There Likes Me, *The Trap, *It's About Life on Earth (NASA), Space
Troopers, Destitution, *The Big Picture Review With Fiskel and Hebert, The Man Who Came Back, (Carol Alt, Sean Young, George
Kennedy and Jennifer O'Dell), MindSight, Suddenly
Unexpected, Arlington Road, Hope, Children of the Corn: Pt. 4, House
on Todville Road, Rough Riders, Two for Texas, The Chase, *Hurricane in a Double-Wide, Space Marines, America's Dream, Hidden
Obsession, The Independent Jury (trailer) and countless other features and short films, as well as over sixty music videos
and nearly one hundred commercials. She has worked directly with talent including: Danny Glover, Meg Foster, Naomi Watts,
Karen
Black, Aerosmith, Public Enemy, George Kennedy, Montel Williams, Marilyn Manson, Evander Holyfield, Jerry Springer,
Daniel Baldwin, Carlos Ponce, Lorenzo Lamas, Terrence Howard, George Foreman, Lee Norris, Lorraine Toussaint, Lyle Lovett,
Andy Dick, The Geto Boys, Wesley Snipes and many others. Under her Casting Director hat, Abiiba cast over 450 people for TIN CUP; cast Houston's 2012 Olympic
Bid commercial; was the Texas Casting Director for HBO's Breast Men; The Texas Casting Director for William Katt's The Clean
and Narrow; Casting Director and Production Manager for Pirate Island of Jean Laffite (which has been playing at The Great
Storm Theater in Galveston, Texas since 1997) and for many other films, music videos, television shows and
commercials. Abiiba has been an invited guest speaker at:
University of Houston, Houston Independent School District, Hightower High School, Houston Community College Filmmakers Academy,
Lee College, Aldine Independent School District, Scriptwriters/Houston, Texas Southern University and others. She has appeared
as herself on Candid Camera and was featured on the Debra Duncan Show with
Shelly Duvall and Loretta Devine. Abiiba also
played the role of Beneatha in a Chicago school production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun and has appeared as
an extra on several productions. A
voting member of the Independent Spirit Awards and a Blue Ribbon Judge for the 2010 and 2011 Emmy Awards, Abiiba has held
longtime memberships in various industry organizations and associations while remaining active in two IATSE unions. making
time to volunteer with her pet charities. In 2011, Abiiba took on the challenge of helping to bring attention to the plight
of homeless people by writing and publishing her blog at www.AbiibaMedia.com. In 2002, Abiiba founded Film Expo Texas an industry event,
packed with workshops, exhibits, screenings and contests. She coordinated the event through 2008 with the mission of working
to make the motion picture industry and its resources available to all. Abiiba works to help open doors for industry newcomers
through teaching the trademarked GETTING INTO THE MOVIES series of workshops (some since 1991). While her interests include:The
Makeup Squad, Dominion Films, The Music Video Factory and the American Motion Picture Institute, the motion picture and media
industries continue to fuel her passion.
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