Angels in Entertainment at the Merge Summit

Artists in Faith

On Wednesday I received an email from a woman I’d met a few months back. She was sharing an email about a conference she was going to attend called the Merge Summit - a literal merging of entertainment and faith. She had sent it out to her email list, and although I liked the idea, I promptly set it aside—after forwarding it to some friends and went on the plan for a big meeting that was going to happen next week.  However, a few of my friends responded back and asked if I were going to attend. Actually I hadn’t even opened the link, but when I opened it, I immediately knew it was something I had to go to, and that I had to find a way to pluck down my little $99 to hear some inspirational words from people in the business about the link between God and entertainment. Having attended, I am really glad that I did.

First, I want to speak a little about the co-founders. I didn’t know Dr. Holly Carter who runs Relevé Entertainment, an entertainment company which packages and produces family and faith-based entertainment (music and film) and also produced this event. She’s the founder of the event but I what I didn’t know – and here’s where doing your homework BEFORE an event becomes important – is that when she worked in the studio system, she was behind great hit black TV shows like The Prince of Bel Air, In Living Color and Martin, AND is also quite a philanthropist.  She was a strong advocate for Obama’s presidential campaign and also threw together a non-profit concert from Hurricane Katrina survivors back in the day. Here’s also something that impressed me—she’s educated in both her fields—not only does she have her MBA from USC but she also has her Doctorate of Divinity—thus the Dr. in Dr. Holly Carter.

I had heard of Robi Reed in general but also knew her from attending a previous conference, the LA IMIS back in June. She is a casting director who is probably most well known for casting many of Spike Lees films (Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, etc.) although her IMD profile lists a whopping 63 titles and I’m sure that there are probably a few more that are not on there. She was also behind the casting many smaller indie films like Soul Food, and one of my personal faves, “Love Jones.” Now she’s a VP of Casting and Talent at BET, but what I didn’t know is that Robi has also been venturing into the producing world for over a decade and to her credit, co-founding this event – which is in its 4^th year - is quite a production.

I was only at the event for the Friday as I couldn’t get out of my commitments on Saturday, but I have to say how impressed I was with it. Watching these two black women herald in this cast of angels in the entertainment industry was quite the undertaking.

Often I feel that many Black events get a bad rap in the entertainment industry because as people of color, we often fall into stereotypes. The food is bad or not prepared to our liking, the venue is problematic or not quite up to the standards of the guests involved, and the notorious CPT or colored people time pushes the schedule so far behind.  But this was a very well organized event even if information was not disseminated as easily as it could have been.

Registration tables were staffed by lovely women wearing black and appropriate attire who sat behind letters that displayed where you needed to go in line. There was a very nice doorman/greeter waiting for you to point you in the right direction – thank you Dexter. And the Biltmore Hotel was a really great venue set downtown. The only thing I might have recommended for the Friday group is some written suggestions for places (beyond the hotel) to eat nearby for those who live outside of LA (and those here who never venture this side of town). Oh yes, and a networking room where folk could hang out and just meet other people (forgive me if there was one but I did look for it). Consequently, there were few interruptions by the stereotypes - but God loves them too! - who often seem to emerge at events like this. I did cast a wary glance at the women who pounded on the glass doors instead of following the signs to walk around to the entrance.  So perhaps these angels brought with them a blessing because there were no unfortunate events to be covered by press.

What really made the difference for this event - and there truly seemed to be an air of if not religion, spiritualism - was a culture of connectedness. I need to say that I don’t only mean acts like the kind prayer with which Michael Elliot opened his excellent workshop on pitching– and this is not to say that I am at all dismissing such a noble gesture as this; however, what I am referring to is a sincere warmth and openness between speakers and attendees. Even though I was only one out of 100’s of attendees, I still felt that most of the speakers were genuine and sincere in their attempts to keep it real for people who really want to break through and find themselves on their way to finding success within the entertainment industry. Even if some of the panel leaders did not ask the most interesting or thoughtful questions – please know that I am not talking about the impassioned (and shaming if you had not seen Sparkle) Debra Langford - all of the speakers seemed to communicate an atmosphere which expressed that they were not here out of obligation, they were here because they cared.

Holly came on stage when she was introducing the trailblazing Suzanne de Passe and shared personal anecdotes about some of the lessons she had learned, but I did not have the chance to hear Robi speak. I am still damning myself for missing her Making of A Dream panel that was at 8:30AM– ouch! But I remember the person who sat on the stage at LA IMIS and candidly shared how all her success still prevented her from being able to be the best casting director she wanted and how being pigeon-holed in the industry had really affected her. Robi has a strong voice, but it seems to me she also has a quiet strength and I could see that as I watched her coordinate an event by hand – and that is no joke. Being on the phone, putting out fires as they arise, making sure guests are accommodated and respected is a big deal – I know because I have been there. Both Holly and Robi seemed to have devoted so much time, energy, love and spirit to this endeavor because as far as I could see, they were two black women who were working very, very hard to make a successful event. That personally meant a lot to me.

I have to say that much of my initial reluctance about going to the event probably stemmed from my personal resistance to religion. Too many rules and not enough explanation, too much corruption and not enough understanding, too much condemnation and not enough listening have really made it hard for me to follow any institutional religion. For me boundaries are the opposite of connectedness and yet every religion has them. But I know I am truly a person of God when I hear someone speak an endearing personal truth and I feel privileged to hear it. That is when my faith renews, and it feels like I am reborn every time.

I want to congratulate and thank these two beautiful life-affirming women of faith for taking the time to create an event that was not for themselves but for their love of others. I am one of those people who often wonder why there aren’t more people in the entertainment industry who want to help others get where they need to go. I don’t really understand the mentality that ‘if I had to struggle, everyone else should to.’ But I have to also check in with myself and remember that everyone can’t be or can’t do everything. We are human. But it so uplifts me when we try.

One last note: Although all of the speakers were wonderful, I want to give special thanks to Tia Brewer and Fonzworth Bentley for taking the time to mark out specific paths for people to discover more themselves so they can uncover their artistry. Inspiration is great and important, but concrete steps help you get there. And to Zola Mashariki who came even though she was sick and a new mommy with a newborn.

Casting Notes at LA IMIS 2012

Casting the Light

This weekend I had the chance to participate in a wonderful conference: Jadar Entertainment's first ever LA IMIS (indie music and film industry summit).  It was a marvelous event that had to compete with some other really great film events that were also happening downtown, but for those of us who had the chance to attend, it was a unique opportunity to see what collaboration and a passion for talent can really produce.  And because the attendance was lower than expected, it made for a rare opportunity to get very intimate with some of Hollywood's most treasured 'behind the scene-ers'.

I appeared on a panel on breaking into Hollywood: Lights, Camera, Action Take Two with notable pillars of stardom actor Richard Lawson and TV director Oz Scott, as well as performer and now manager Sabina Cabe. There was a music panel which followed quickly after, a panel on marketing and publicity with Deborah Hayter of Deborah Hayter Publicity, Linda Jones of The Mass Appeal, and Gina Smith of SPMG Media. All were excellent panels with the panelists lovingly sharing as many tidbits as they could about how to break into the industry, but the panel which most stood out to me was the casting panel with casting director notables (gorgeous too) Robi Reed, Leah Daniels, and Tracy "Twinkie" Byrd who was deliciously bohemian and Brooklyn.  With honesty that was more refreshing and direct than I'd heard in a long time, they shared a lot of great insights for actors that I wanted to share here.

Here are some great recommendations (and pet peeves) they shared for all the aspiring actors out there; and since many of these talented people are my friends, I thought I'd put this out there:

Do your Research - they all complained that many actors come in either unprepared, without having done their research or BOTH! One told a story about an actor (African American at that) who was working with Forrest Whitaker in a more recent film, and asked him if he had ever directed a film. SCRATCH @#!

Be Ready… To ask questions, to be thrown a curve ball, to do the scene differently,  to answer questions about the scene, and to stop and start again.  They all told stories about actors who show up with any number of excuses for not being prepared or familiar with the material

Bring a PIC - Even though everything is done online these days, they all liked to have a physical picture in hand. One even gave away a secret: send her a postcard with a picture as a way of getting an audition. Postcards are easy to keep on a desk if they see something they like

Don't Bring an IPAD - Come in with lines prepared and don't read from an IPAD. It's distracting and gets handled like a prop in the scene.

Don't Crash Auditions - At least one of the casting directors said that she disliked this 

Be On TIME - which for at least one of the casting directors meant: BE EARLY

Don't Make Excuses - They all moaned woefully about the number of excuses they hear on a daily basis and claimed to have heard them all.  If you have an excuse, forget about it--you've been scratched.

Don't Go to the End - If you mess up a line in the beginning or have a false start, stop and ask to start again. By the time you muddle through lines you've already messed up, you have used up the time you reserved for yourself and you've demonstrated nothing more than your capacity to plow through a bad take which in a film world means the loss of a lot of time and money.

Get a Harassing Agent - They all admitted that the persistent agent is the one who gets the actor in. If your agent isn't doing that for you, it's time to SCRATCH them!

Stand out - One of the casting directors desperately bemoaned how alike everyone in LA looks. Don't be afraid to stand out and go the extra mile.

Finally I want to add my small two cents as a writer/director to the actors that I love:

Don't be afraid to completely fill the room with who you are. Why be small when you can be big?
Don't be afraid to make a mistake or do something unexpected.  That's the stuff of grand filmmaking!
And don't be afraid to take a risk.  This is why we love actors.  Because they are capable of taking the emotional risks that most of us would never dare to... and they do it ONSCREEN for all to see!

Jadar entertainment The Mass Appeal Deborah Hayter Publicist SPMG Media

Detective Dee and the Mystery of His Infinite Love

Just came back from seeing the tiny little treasure, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame directed by Hark Tsui and written by Jialu Zhang and Kuo-fu Chen. I love Chinese films. I think I will probably always love them because the first film I ever fell in love with was Camille Claudel; the second was Zhang Yimou's Ju Dou. I grew up in a tiny little suburban town where I didn't know much about cinema and knew even less about foreign cinema. A pretty highly homogenized area, it wasn't until I came to Chicago that I really discovered that there was more to the world than white and black, and once I knew that I've pretty much never looked back.

Detective Dee tells a deliciously lurid and fantastical epic of the mystery of the burning flame that burns several unsuspecting officials to nothing more than few ashes in the first few sequences. We quickly learn that the reigning emperor-to-be at that time is the Empress Wu (Carina Lau) who is about to receive her coronation, despite the fact that she is not well liked by most. Her life's quote: to achieve greatness, everything is expendable. We quickly meet her cohorts of support who gather around her with mixed affection--for her and each other: Pei Donglai (Chao Deng), terrificly ghastly in his ghostly blonde complexion and the lovely but viperous, Jinger (Bing Bing Li), and then the poor one-handed loaf Shatuo (Tony Leung Ka Fai), Detective Dee's friend, who turns out to have more up his sleeve than just a stump. With two officials literally burning to nothing but dust in seconds, the Empress concedes her somewhat disguised dignity and brings in Detective Dee (Andy Lau), the detective who vocally promoted against her taking the throne (because he believed her ascension was not quite deserving) and was promptly jailed and sentenced to a life long obligation of burning memorials.

I've seen Andy Lau in several Chinese films, and he's a wonderful actor who's worked forever (Chinese actors never seem to age!) and on basically everything (from Kar Wai's As Tears Go By to Yimou's House of the Flying Daggers to Alan Mak's and Wai-Keung Lau's Infernal Affairs). But it was nice to see him in such a relaxed posture in this film. It's lovely to see because as one artist to another, you want to feel that actors know love most of all and especially in a film about love.

I know that many action fans will find fault with this simple description, especially when so many martial arts films have some sappy storyline that's a love story, but this story is not about romance, it's about true love, sadly the love that many of us will never experience and rarely recognize.

When Detective Dee comes out and begins his investigation, he never pretends to be anything than who he is, even when he shows up to meet the Empress for the first time in his shreds of rags that bear a meek resemblance to clothing. He never pretends to like her but he agrees to take on this job with really nothing but the faint wisp of freedom. But it seems clear that that is not his reason for taking on this obligation, there is more a feeling of: this is what has been presented and so he will take that path.

The bickering between Empress's cohorts erupts as Detective Dee patiently investigates every avenue and discovers along the way, just how deep the Empress' indiscretions have gone. But soon Detective Dee begins to have impact on his colleagues. The bickering seems to fall away as Jinger's grim facade fades and even Pei becomes less of a creepy guy and more of someone who cares about his comrades. What is so eloquent about all of this is that this movie illustrates so much of love's power in such a subtle way. It's not that Dee ever suggests or even quietly insinuates that anyone change their behavior, he simply goes about in his own way of loving and dealing with the people around him, and his love seems to enshroud those that are around him. They seem to grow and change simply because they are with him and know him; they are loved by him despite their own failings and impurities.

It's this faultless character that helps him to save Jinger's life, to have Pei at his greatest moments of torture sacrifice his last words for others, and in Dee's last moments with the empress--the woman whom he has referred to as pure evil--causes her to disclose her heart to him and rescind the quote that greatness is really all there is. (Kudos also to the writers and filmmakers for deciding to give some of these traditionally one-dimensional characters, a space in the real world.)

Don't get me wrong, there's some pretty nice martial art work here, some brilliant to half-way decent special effects--done exceedingly well for video/HD (of which I am never a fan). There's also great costuming, wonderfully tranportive locations, admired more for the idea than execution, and some great sleepy sequences with Jinger's red. The solved mystery really is not too shabby either. But what really comes through and lifts this picture is the theme of love, love of self, love of others, love in abundance and love without limitation. How I love that that's what true art is all about. I embrace the quote that love changes things. However, this film reminds me that love changes everything.

Tai Chi Master and Photo Journalist: Robin Diakhate

This morning a friend and I decided to go for a walk at one of Los Angeles' local parks. Kenneth Hahn is a beautiful park located just south of the Baldwin Hills area. I have been to Kenneth Hahn only once before and this was my second visit, and I was astonished by what a complete and enormous park this is. With several trails, beautiful ponds, lakes and streams, a number of vistas from which to view LA, and more than a few kid parks, it has a lot to offer (despite some ugly technical structures) and is a wonderful surprise to find off La Cienega if you're heading down to the airport. My friend has been here on a few occasions, and we met there because she and I are creatives who are both at major turning points in our artistic and creative lives. Although this was never said out loud, we met there not only to walk and to share, but to somehow work through our separate processes, to discover where our art was taking us, to exchange and debate the obstacles we were facing, and to find the creative and financial balance we're seeking in our lives.

Robin is a beautiful woman with dark ebony skin and a full robust voice that always reminds me of the deep and indistinguishable strength of black women. She's steady on her feet and her NY accent always brings me back to the east and whether I could live in NYC as I know my family wishes. Her hair is in long locs and dotted by tiny curls of grey that frame a full and round face that surrenders easily to smiles and laughs. I love her laugh because it is like mine; totally its own creature and yet uniquely Robin.

Robin is a photographer. But she is not like some others who I've known who also call themselves photographers. She is a student on her way to becoming a master; and by saying master, I mean that she is intent on learning every element related to her craft and how these elements affect and define each treasured image. A master here I think of as someone with a lifelong pursuit of learning because a true artist's thirst for their craft is so inexhaustible. Robin is always looking for that stolen moment, and she wants to photograph everything. From the bee that's creeping under a petal to the key lime cupcake we had from one of the lunch trunks. She finds something to love about each shot she takes, and she tries to capture something of that affection in each image. She wants what spills forth from the camera to show something of her in each take and to reveal the connection she's made with her subject. She wants her observer to be with her when she captures that shot, and I think that what makes her work come alive.

As we talked I asked her if she had a mission statement, and the one she shared was simple and powerful, though she feared it might sound a little too cheesy. She shared that what she was seeking was to reveal the oneness of life in her photography, to show all the connectedness that we have found between ourselves and the life around us. That one life is never separate and is always connected to us as we are connected to the earth. There are many things I take away from Agape, and one of the grandest thoughts has been that God is us. That the central spiritual being is not watching us, but is to be found within us and within all the blessings of the earth, and I found myself moved by her wish and desire to have her work do just that--move people.

While this nature and enlightenment conversation was happening, she saw a man happen to walk by. He was a graceful figure dressed all in white straight out of the old Chinese films I used to watch when I was a child. He was wearing the same slippered shoes and a simple cotton tunic top. He was a small but very striking man with a handsome face, and beautiful laugh wrinkles that framed large eyes that never seemed to stop twinkling. As he walked by and greeted us, she asked ever so politely if she could photograph him. He respectfully asked why and eventually refused, but I was so taken by her small and genuine gesture. And apparently so was he, because after he completed his tai chi exercises in another part of the park, he came back to us and so began a longer conversation that began with fear and a revelatory 8 hours later ended in love.

As Robin and I talked after this wonderful conversation with this teacher and observer of life and love, she asked me if I had gone on her blog and seen her work, and I realized sadly that I had not. I realized in this one moment, I had not been her friend and had not supported her or her work. It's funny because when I sat down to write the snapshot of this day, I had planned to write about this glorious man who shared so much with us. Robin and I had come there both holding a lot of fear about which paths and choices we should make, and that fear had all dissolved in the presence of this man; but it wasn't because of him I realized, it was because of her. Her openness had left such an impression on this man, that he came back to us and in turn shared his most personal remembrances, lessons and thoughts; he had very literally poured out his soul and let us bathe in it.

What so much of this century's modern work (and even social discourse) lacks, is authenticity; but not only authentic work, but authentic people--people who are sincere and open and allow themselves to be opened and to open up to others. In so many ways our culture has learned how to speak the words, but not to walk in the way that we describe. We have become so mired in a face of artificiality that we can't even see the reality of what's important in our own lives. I believe that is a force that we must continue to combat in our daily life with these characters of life that can't be forgotten: love, truth and presence. So I commend Robin for not only making me see my own contribution to this unspoken fallacy, but also for providing a very rare authenticity to her work. It makes her work really live and breathe and in so many of the photos, I see exactly her love and spirit in the work she has created. This is her site. http://lovebeyondwords.posterous.com/?tag=photography&page=3 Please approach with care because you just might fall in love with her too.

Diego Velasco's La Hora Cero

I just came from LALIFF, a very small and locally supported film festival that is heralded by none other than the Edward James Olmos. I saw my dear friend and classmate's first feature film, La Hora Cero and I was filled with so much love and pride for his first effort, I decided that this would be my first venture into blogging.

It's a terrific film that opens with an amazing sequence that is reminiscent of Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men. There's a long winding road on a mountain with grand views of a beautiful Latin country (Venezuela), a bloody car, a pregnant woman and a cloud guilt (and questions) that fills the screen. It's a grand opening for a tightly shot and edited story that pushes the viewer ever deeper into the film. It's a also an impressive sequence for a first time feature director; it's enough to handle just making your first film and having everything make sense, but Diego tells a very personal story in this action packed beginning.

We visit a lot of characters in a very short amount of time, and I personally tend to dislike those movies because it never gives me the time to really "settle" on a character and who they are, what they want, and why they're in this movie. I like to make personal connections with my characters even if I never meet them in real life, and here I was given the opportunity.

A crew of gangster villains are set against the backdrop of a tumultuous Venezuelan community where the haves and have nots are revealed not through their homes or their jobs or cars but through their relationships with the hospitals there: the treated and the untreated and the people who treat them. It's a new approach that I later learned comes from Diego's own personal upbringing--both his parents are doctors. What's also new about this approach, is that there is a courageous lack of exposition in the story. Yet nothing feels superfluous or omitted--the questions we have are what drive the story forward and keep the momentum flowing.

As the story progresses there is a lovely unfolding like a flower of the many relationships in the film and the characters. It allows us to go deeper into the story and into these characters' lives and desires. We come to understand the characters motives without it being spelled out for us any point. It's a wonderful balance of plot truly driven by its characters journeys, a delicate motion that Diego succeeds in achieving. It's a wonderful grand film with strong and truthful (my favorite is the police commissioner) performances that should launch Diego's career in the studio system or with independents. He's in a fantastic space with this first feature and hopes to gain distribution soon.

I love watching these kinds of films. It reminds me of the infinite capacity we have to create and to have love in our creation. I hope it reminds those execs making the 5th version of the same movie to take a chance on new talent and see what can grow.