DR. CHRIS C. ULASI is a director and President of the association. He holds a B.Sc. in Mass Communications, MA in Telecommunication Policy and Administration from Texas Southern University, and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin in International Communication. He has served as Graduate Studies director in the School of Communication and is currently the Chair of the Department of Radio, Television and Film at Texas Southern University. He has over 28 years of experience as a professional communicator, scholar and researcher. Dr. Ulasi is a screenwriter, producer, director, and poet. He was from 1993-1996 journal editor and book editor of the Journal of Nigerian Affairs formerly CONPO REVIEW). He is the Executive Editor of USAfricaonline, a multi-media company, and The Black Business Journal both based in Houston. He has published scholarly articles, book chapters, and presented leading papers at numerous conferences.
Dr Ulasi serves on several University-wide committees, such as Graduate Council, Lysceum & Cultural Arts, Scholarship, Research, Faculty Evaluation and Performance. Chris is a member of several professional organizations including African Studies Association and the International Communication Association, and is very active in local and nationally based social and cultural organizations and contributes to a number of charitable programs for the benefit of young and elderly people in crisis. From 1993 –1996, he served as the Secretary General of the Council of Nigerian Peoples and Organization, North America. In 1990 he was elected the first Secretary General of the Igbo Peoples Congress (1990 –1994), an umbrella organization representing all the Igbo community organizations in metropolitan Houston, Texas. He served as Vice President of Anambra State Association, USA (ASA-USA), and currently President of Anambra State Community, Houston.
A film producer/director, Chris has to date produced seven & co-directed three feature length films: “Material Witness” (Songhai Filmworks, 1994) and “The Kangaroo” (Songhai Filmworks, 1995), “The Stalk Exchange 419” (Songhai Filmworks, 1997). His fourth film as a producer, “Return of the Exile”, which he co-wrote with Don Okolo was shorlisted at the 2005 Nigerian International Film festival, New York. Other films include“Blood “n” Destiny” in 2009 and “The Land”, 2011by Insurmountable Filmworks. He has just recently premiered a new feature film titled “Page Thirty-Six” in Houston with screening in Los Angeles and Oakland, CA in November. Another project by Ulasi, a five-year documentary film examining the lives of the Nigerian emigrant community in Houston, is currently in production.
Chris is currently working on a book about the Nigerian film industry. An avid and published poet, his new book of poetry “Fragments of the Rainy Season” is forthcoming in Fall 2013.