FEATURE: STEP OFF (was "Battle") - Narrative Feature

Martay said:
OAs for Lucas, it should be noted that he is trying to bring a Big Budget account of the Tuskegee Airmen to the screen and has been for a long time. Now you can look at it two ways(simultaneously, I believe).

(and the Atlanta Film Festival asked if we could be allowed to do a screening outside the festival in LATE summer) but it would have been limited. However, we struck our deal before we'd submitted it to any festivals since we'd sent a rough cut (it was picture lock but temp score & sound) to the few distributors we'd targetted early. So, when the deal was made, festivals really went out the window. They were pushing us to deliver so they could make their desired window for release. SO, festivals became forgotten.

I like festivals and do think they add credibility...particularly to a FILM. However, we scrapped our festival strategy (we had one, so it's important to have one) when we came to terms on the deal.

-Martin
Click to expand...

I never heard about the Lucas Tuskeegee Airmen project. I'm surprised that it hasn't been shot. Then again, many of them don't seem to make movies with their own money. I guess it's industry rule 4081.

Those tidbits about the distro side are important. Sounds like due diligence came into play early in that process.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
Martay said:
YES! Absolutely. This is rampant.

If someone (particularly a writer) can't be motivated to do work on their own. What makes me believe they'll be motivated when given a chance professionally. First, who in their right mind would give someone like this a chance professionally?

You're either serious, or you're not.

we think up mock replies like..."First I need to know if you'd prefer Will Smith or Tom Hanks as the lead, but as soon as you decide we'll get it sold."

This is definitely an issue. But, you'll know who to help. And TP may find his way to that space too one day. Heard he shot back at Spike Lee though...told 'em to "Go to Hell".

-Martin
Click to expand...

I like that mock line idea. I'll have to plagiarize that sometime.

I didn't hear that Perry responded. I could see if it did happen though. I'm thinking that Spike asked for funding at some point and Perry didn't wanna go that route for whatever reason. Theeeeen he decides to jump on him about the kinds of movies he makes. Not sure if it really happened but it doesn't sound good. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
@Martay. That's another good look with Immigration Tango. Are they making a lot of changes before distro or is it pretty locked now?

I've seen a few notes mentioned Corrado so I'll have to check out the thread soon.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
tieuellegacy said:
@Martay. That's another good look with Immigration Tango. Are they making a lot of changes before distro or is it pretty locked now?

I've seen a few notes mentioned Corrado so I'll have to check out the thread soon.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
Click to expand...

Immigration Tango was released back in February in limited release in theaters. NYC, LA, Miami, Houston, and Phoenix.

It will be released on DVD and On Demand in June.

They made a ton of changes to my original script.

-Martin
 
tieuellegacy said:
I like that mock line idea. I'll have to plagiarize that sometime.

I didn't hear that Perry responded. I could see if it did happen though. I'm thinking that Spike asked for funding at some point and Perry didn't wanna go that route for whatever reason. Theeeeen he decides to jump on him about the kinds of movies he makes. Not sure if it really happened but it doesn't sound good. Tieuel Legacy! Motion
Click to expand...

Feel free to use it.

Here's a mention of the TP statements and it links to a full interview from this page below.
http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowan...e_can_go_straight_to_hell_you_can_print_that/

-M
 
@Martay...Do you have a desire to do Step Off 2 or are you against sequels?

I've had thoughts of completing my feature on this microbudget with the hope of getting the script to part 2 out to distributors that may have a desire to see it completed. I'm thinking that that the sequel could have a few "named actors" in it to draw more attention. Then it's possible to beat the sophomore jinx right off the bat. That's probably only possible if they value what we've done with the small budgets. In your case, they already see the value or else they wouldn't have distro'd it. What do you think? Any talks of it?

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
tieuellegacy said:
@Martay...Do you have a desire to do Step Off 2 or are you against sequels?

I've had thoughts of completing my feature on this microbudget with the hope of getting the script to part 2 out to distributors that may have a desire to see it completed. I'm thinking that that the sequel could have a few "named actors" in it to draw more attention. Then it's possible to beat the sophomore jinx right off the bat. That's probably only possible if they value what we've done with the small budgets. In your case, they already see the value or else they wouldn't have distro'd it. What do you think? Any talks of it?

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
Click to expand...

I would not be opposed to a sequel to Step Off. Ideally we would be able to graduate to bigger names and incorporate more well know Hip-Hop artists as well.

We are doing another feature this summer but if Step Off does unusually well, that may be an option after that. However, that's a long shot. We have a lot of scripts that we'd like to produce...in fact we had been wavering on which one we'd go into production on this summer until one kind of won out with the team.

We're still shopping Step Off for international distribution as well.

I guess it would just be a matter of how Step Off does in the market. I don't know what Lionsgate's interest would be as yet to pursue it but I certainly would take an opportunity to do a sequel if it presented itself.

If nothing else, I know we'll do another Hip-Hop movie down the line as we really enjoyed finally incorporating our long experiences with Hip-Hop as the main subject of the film and we still have more to express...so it might not be a direct sequel but we'll be mining Hip-Hop for other stories down the line.

-Martin
 
Does Lions have a first look for the sequel or are you free to shop it?

I think that Step Off should attract more people but there's a fine line in going overboard with talent sometime. I had one person that strongly suggested getting my project into the hands of Lil Wayne. I was pretty far against that but I understood where she was going with it. She really felt that his name as a producer would be important and I can see that. It would probably be more important as a producer than having him in the film. Although I like the small parts he had in Hurricane Season. I think that 8 Mile had a really good mixture of talent plus the pre-release noise of Em possibly getting an Oscar added to it (even if it was for soundtrack and not acting).

What's it like finding international distro? Is it like a needle in a haystack when searching for contacts or is there an agent that's beating the pavement?

Keeping the scripts internal or are you taking submissions?

I'm wondering why more people aren't mentioning Rain Forest instead of just Tyler? I hear that they are really just 2 people but they are doing good work in my opinion.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
 
Here's a can of worms that probably shouldn't be opened:

Is it not a "black" independent feature film if the main leads are not, but the director/producer is?
 
Kholi said:
Here's a can of worms that probably shouldn't be opened:

Is it not a "black" independent feature film if the main leads are not, but the director/producer is?
Click to expand...

That's a good question, Kholi. I think what we call "black" films are all in the perception. On the surface, if anybody sees a film with non-black actors, they wouldn't consider it a "black film." I think there's a such thing as a film with black actors that's still not a "black film." I think alot of it depends on the subject matter and the story. If it's a cultural story, then I can see the film referred to as that, but if it's sort of a universal story, what would then make it a "black film?" In that case I would think it would be a film that just happens to have black actors as leads. I think that's a stigma too that our society needs to get away from. We don't look at films, any films with white people as "white films" necessarily. However, it's almost like as soon as there's more than 2 or 3 black people in the main cast (most times it seems), it's looked at as a "black film" with a sort of specific, cultural black story and it shouldn't be like that. I also think that perception kind of makes people think too that's it's not legit or it will not be as good, among other things. The movie "8 Mile" with Eminem comes to mind as I'm writing this. That film was not considered a "black film" even though the subject matter and story were kind of cultural, but yet universal at the same time (an artist struggling to make it). I would say though, if Eminem was not the lead and instead the lead was a black man, that the film would have been looked at as a "black film" with a black, sort of cultural story.
 
Marlon Ladd said:
That's a good question, Kholi. I think what we call "black" films are all in the perception. On the surface, if anybody sees a film with non-black actors, they wouldn't consider it a "black film." I think there's a such thing as a film with black actors that's still not a "black film." I think alot of it depends on the subject matter and the story. If it's a cultural story, then I can see the film referred to as that, but if it's sort of a universal story, what would then make it a "black film?" In that case I would think it would be a film that just happens to have black actors as leads. I think that's a stigma too that our society needs to get away from. We don't look at films, any films with white people as "white films" necessarily. However, it's almost like as soon as there's more than 2 or 3 black people in the main cast (most times it seems), it's looked at as a "black film" with a sort of specific, cultural black story and it shouldn't be like that. I also think that perception kind of makes people think too that's it's not legit or it will not be as good, among other things. The movie "8 Mile" with Eminem comes to mind as I'm writing this. That film was not considered a "black film" even though the subject matter and story were kind of cultural, but yet universal at the same time (an artist struggling to make it). I would say though, if Eminem was not the lead and instead the lead was a black man, that the film would have been looked at as a "black film" with a black, sort of cultural story.
Click to expand...


Couldn't agree more about the stigma. It's annoying and I'm personally tired of seeing it perpetuated on all sides of the quad. Good thoughts in general, honestly I'd personally rather never be lumped into a category, anyway. Just reduces my chances of reaching a global audience me thinks.
 
tieuellegacy said:
Does Lions have a first look for the sequel or are you free to shop it?

What's it like finding international distro? Is it like a needle in a haystack when searching for contacts or is there an agent that's beating the pavement?

Keeping the scripts internal or are you taking submissions?

I'm wondering why more people aren't mentioning Rain Forest instead of just Tyler? I hear that they are really just 2 people but they are doing good work in my opinion.

Tieuel Legacy! Motion
Click to expand...

We're free to shop it ourselves but there's an understanding that they get first look if we initiate it ourselves (which is unlikely at the moment).

Well, since we don't have a sales agent, it's like a needle in the haystack but no more so than our original process for finding the domestic distributor. We just have to seek out companies we've never corresponded with in the past. We're out to a couple but it'll be a long process if we don't get one that handles all the territories as we'll be making separate deals for any that aren't covered by a particular distributor.

We don't take submissions per se. Between myself and a few other ATL writers I work with, we've got an abundance of screenplays that we're developing. Only if we grow to a Rainforest level would we entertain outside submissions.

Yeah, Will and Rob at Rainforest aren't alone there but those are the main guys...especially Will (he's a Sony Ent. "go to" guy for projects outside of Rainforest as well). We have a decent relationship with some of the folks there. It's been fun watching them grow from Trois to Takers over the years. They're planning big things, so people should definitely take notice of them. Also, their strength all along has been marketing and promotion...they know how to reach their audience and it's paid dividends for them like crazy.

I recently mention in an interview that we at Reel One Entertainment are trying to be a mini-Rainforest.

I just hope they get back in the habit of shooting in GA.

-Martin
 
Marlon Ladd said:
I think what we call "black" films are all in the perception.
Click to expand...

Absolutely.

I produced a short film with a friend who is a black frenchman by way of Ghana. He's completely a French filmmaker by sensibility and the short we made "Spleen" was cast with white actors. So obviously if nobody knew the director, they'd just assume it was an indie drama.

We eventually did get some festival play but were turned down by more than one Black film festival because of our cast. So, even though it technically fit the requirements of the festivals, we were told that they weren't going to show the film because of the casts' race.

So, it does provide a stigma all the way round.

-M
 
Well, I think it's the responsibility of us new indie filmmakers to make films that crush the stigma and go above and beyond. We have to venture into and explore different types of stories and genres and present them on an epic level. Just think about this for a moment - how many 200 million dollar "black" action films do you know of? I can't think of one, besides like "Bad Boys II." That film isn't looked at as a "black film" though, because of the director, the story and the action. I think at some point an epic film, no matter who's in it, can transcend alot of things.
 
Guys, related to our general discussions of the Stigma or "Urban" movies. I was at the Atlanta Film Festival this weekend and got to see Things Fall Apart (I'll be doing an article on it for CinemATL so I'll post a link to it later) and meet Mario Van Peeples who directed the movie afterwards. He was basically echoing a lot of what we've been talking about here. How he's trying to do movies that break out of the mold of either the straight Thug stories or the (and this is where he kinda takes a mild swipe at TP) buffoonery comedies that seems to define black movies from Hollywood.

He said while he acknowledges a place for everything, he would feel much better (to quote him), "If we had our BLIND SIDES and GOOD WILL HUNTINGS alongside the types of movies about us that Hollywood already puts out."

Things Fall Apart is pretty good actually. It's got a few Mario-isms and stuff that's a little more on the nose than I'd like (which happens in many of his movies) but overall it works well.

I thought it was relevant to our discussions here.

He was very nice and we spoke one-on-one afterwards for a few minutes. It was a good discussion.

-Martin
 
That's cool. I respect Mario and his dad for what they've tried to do. I agree with what he's saying and I believe that's why we have to continue to do films and make more of them. Hollywood is a business. If they made a film of a bee humping a snake, then the following year you'd see "Bee Humps Snake II." They're not willing to take too many chances.
 
Wow. On the flip side...this film won't change much stigma.
http://www.pastemagazine.com/articl...ks-out-at-atlanta-film-fest-screening-ey.html

To be fair, I did a piece for CinemATL on this movie already and was tried to ask about ethics without really asking and it seems to have come up with the audience here in ATL.

This is a movie that premiered at Slamdance and has some very committed supporters there.

I was supposed to be at this screening but opted out yesterday as I can see it Saturday but I feel terrible as I included it on a rocommended film list and hope nobody that went upon my recommendation got hurt or even frazzled as that is not the experience one should expect at a film screening.

-Martin
 
I missed a lot of good convo since I've been gone, Kholi asked a great question and you guys gave great answers. "Blood Thirsty" is my first short, I wrote it and I'm producing it. I'm black, the guy helping me produce it is also black....everyone else is white, cast, crew, everyone. Wasn't a choice by color, but it was a choice by talent and it snowballed and before I knew it, everyone was white, didn't bother me at all. I had a GREAT time, I learned a LOT, and I made a BUNCH of new, talented friends that all have the same end goal as me.

But then it dawned on me...what IS this film going to be considered?! I mean it's a short, but we're hoping to get together for a feature as well....the story itself is an "Outbreak" story..it doesn't have a color/culture to it..it's just a guy trying to figure out what's going on...but I was wondering would I be able to submit to "black" festivals..since I'm black..and I guess so far my question was answered in this thread...black festivals are for films with black actors in it, not films made by black film-makers. That's fine, I'd much prefer to get into festivals that don't judge color first...but I think it's weird/funny/ironic that this convo was going on while I was on set asking myself these same questions.

Like I always say, it's up to US to change what's considered the "norm" in this business!
 
CRProductions said:
...but I was wondering would I be able to submit to "black" festivals..since I'm black..and I guess so far my question was answered in this thread...black festivals are for films with black actors in it, not films made by black film-makers.
Click to expand...

Well, technically most of the festivals guidelines say differently. That they're more for "black" filmmakers. I'm just talking about how it worked for my friend who had white actors in his film.

-M
 
Black Films

Black Films

Martay said:
Well, technically most of the festivals guidelines say differently. That they're more for "black" filmmakers. I'm just talking about how it worked for my friend who had white actors in his film.

-M
Click to expand...

You have to read the fine print. The ones that I've seen allowed films that were produced, directed, and written by people of color. Some may go as far as to say "african descent". However, if you're not willing to be judged on color first, then Hollywood Black Film Fest, American Black Filmfest, and many others aren't where you wanna be. The key criteria is to have filmmakers that are of the race that they intend.

Martay mentioned a filmmaker named Kelly McClung. Unless he's cajun or something, I'd look at him and say that he was white. One of his films was at the ABFF HBO competition. I'm not sure if and of the other filmmakers were black but it made it around 2007.

Tieuel Legacy! aka The DDAd
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top