‘Seeking Mavis Beacon’: Neon To Produce Jazmin Jones Doc

Neon has signed on to produce the documentary Seeking Mavis Beacon, which marks the feature directorial debut of the Brooklyn-based helmer Jazmin Jones.

Beacon, a character created for the Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing line of computer software, was the most influential Black woman in technology right up until the day she vanished. Jones’ film will investigate her disappearance and reimagine the legacy of a missing Black woman who helped define the digital age.

Neon is producing alongside award-winning independent filmmaker, teacher, film curator and BelleMoon Productions co-founder Guetty Felin, with Olivia McKayla Ross serving as co-producer.

“NEON has been a perfect home for this project. They understood our positionality as Black femmes and share our interest in disrupting traditional documentary form,” said Jones. “The trusting relationship we have with NEON has exceeded my expectations of the possibilities for a first time Black queer nonbinary filmmaker– it’s been a blessing.”

Jones is a visual storyteller and thought leader with BUFU: By Us For Us whose aim is to build platforms for more vibrant and nuanced representation of the marginalized communities she’s a part of. She co-founded the project-based collective BUFU, which was awarded Eyebeam’s 2017 Trust Residency and a 2020 residency with the Brooklyn Community Foundation Incubator Project, in 2015. Jones has been recognized for her work with the National Association of Education’s Human and Civil Rights Award, as well as the Fair Use Award from the Media That Matters Film Festival and a Civic Arts and Humanities Fellowship with the Flaherty Film Seminar. She was recently featured on SFMoMa’s Raw Materials podcast.

Neon is an independent film production and distribution company founded in 2017 by CEO Tom Quinn and Tim League, which has this year received six Oscar nominations for its films Flee, The Worst Person in the World and Spencer. Other recent releases include Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner, Titane, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria starring Tilda Swinton.