Grab your popcorn and your soda, and take a seat. The show is about to begin
as journalist George Alexander takes us behind the camera with over thirty revolutionary African American filmmakers in his new book, WHY WE MAKE MOVIES: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema (Harlem Moon/Broadway Books; Trade Paperback Original; February 18, 2003;
$15.95).
Delivering a cultural celebration of filmmaking, WHY WE MAKE MOVIES turns the spotlight on some of the African American pioneers in the entertainment industry.
John Singleton, Spike Lee, and Forest Whitaker are just a few who write, produce, and direct some of the most successful films of our times. In fact, the highest-grossing movie in Miramax history, Scary Movie, was produced by Keenen Ivory Wayans. George sheds some light on: how these innovators as well as several others got their big breaks; what movies mean to them; and how they have dealt with the adversity they faced in Hollywood.
In George's own words, the participants include "a broad range of cinematic voices whose works are not only important for today or just yesterday, but will continue to speak to and inform us and the world for years, decades and perhaps generations to come." Their candid conversations are separated into seven categories: The Pioneers-Gordon Parks, Melvin Van Peebles, William Greaves, Ossie Davis, Fred Williamson, Michael Schultz, Spike Lee; The 80's Explosion-Ernest Dickerson, Robert Townsend, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Warrington Hudlin, Doug McHenry; Give Me That Old Indie Spirit-Charles Burnett, Haile Gerima, Euzhan Palcy, Julie Dash, Lee Daniels, Kasi Lemmons; Bearers of the Race: The Documentarians-St. Clair Bourne, Stanley Nelson, Camille Billops, Kathe Sandler, Orlando Bagwell; Black Wave Cinema-George Tillman, Jr., Malcolm D. Lee, Gina Prince-Bythewood; Crossing Over: From the Black Experience and Beyond-Bill Duke, Carl Franklin, Reginald Hudlin, John Singleton, Forest Whitaker, Debra Martin Chase; The Scholar-Manthia Diawara.
WHY WE MAKE MOVIES gives a detailed perspective of what motivates these directors, producers, and documentarians, and what they have experienced on the road to success, and quite fascinatingly, what goes on inside their creative minds. Some of these insights include:
v Gordon Park's advice to aspiring directors-"To do anything well, you have to have a purpose other than just money. You have to have good feelings about the universe, about people, about helping it become a better universe."
v Keenen Ivory Wayans's opinion of what's key for making a good parody-"What happens in parody is, first there is a good movie, then there are fifty bad versions of that movie, and when the audience is tired of seeing those films, then that genre's right for parody."
v Gina Prince-Bythewood's thoughts on how important casting is in a film-"Oh, it's eighty-five percent of the movie. Viewers can forgive a lot of things-low light, a bad camera angle, crossing the line-but they won't forgive bad acting."
v Robert Townsend's inspiration for The Five Heartbeats-"I grew up on the Temptations, and when they broke up I kind of took it personally, and I just wanted to know what happened…I thought, 'That's an incredible story, because they sing love songs but do they really have love in their lives?' And that's kind of the germ of the idea for The Five Heartbeats."
v George Tillman, Jr., discusses the controversy surrounding the movie Barbershop-"We did test screenings, we showed it at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Milwaukee, the cosmetology convention in Atlanta and no one had a problem with the film. Then all of a sudden the controversy came out of nowhere."
As George says, "My meetings with each filmmaker were like a master class, with the erudite teacher instructing the humble and eager student. I entered this theater with respectable knowledge of cinema, and as I continue to journey with this project
I realize that my trip has only just begun; there's much more exhilarating learning and living to do." Fortunately, WHY WE MAKE MOVIES enables us to join George on this special odyssey and find out what's behind the magic that these inspirational filmmakers bring to the silver screen. So quickly refill your soda and get comfortable, because there's so much more to discover.
WHY WE MAKE MOVIES - Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema
By George Alexander / Published by Harlem Moon/Broadway Books
Trade Paperback Original; $15.95 / ISBN 0-7679-1181-4
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
A frequent lecturer on film and popular culture, journalist and screenwriter George Alexander has contributed to national publications, including Savoy, Variety, Black Enterprise, and Forbes. He recently interviewed directors Forest Whitaker, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Bill Duke, and Julie Dash for spots on HBO Zone that will run before the airing of their respective films in February. George lives in Los Angeles and New York City.
source: Random House / Laura Pillar / LPillar@randomhouse.com