Independent African American Film Producers - Research Paper Example

Independent African American Film Producers Independent film producers are professional producers who make feature films that are mostly produced outside the confines of the system of major studios (Levy 29). In addition to production, as well as distribution, through independent companies, these producers can also distribute and/or produce their films via major studio subsidiaries. One of the most distinguishable aspects of independent African American film producers is the style and content through which they achieve their individual artistic vision. Normally, although not all the time, these producers produce their films on budgets that are significantly lower compared to major film studios. These films are also characterized by marketing them as a limited release, although there are times when the marketing campaigns can be done through wide release (Reid 48). Prior to distributing the films, independent film producers will screen their movies at film festivals. This paper will seek to give the biography of three independent African American film producers; Tyler Perry, Spike Lee, and Ivan Dixon. Biography of Tyler Perry Born in New Orleans on 13 September 1969, Tyler Perry had a difficult childhood. He has had to forge his career in the entertainment industry, in which he has made various successful plays, films, and even written books that have ended up on the best-sellers list. According to him, his childhood was difficult in a family with three other siblings where his early life was punctuated by corporal punishment by his father (Uschan 30). He once attempted to kill himself to escape what he fathomed to be a difficult life. In an attempt to forge a life away from his father, the man born Emmitt Perry Jr. changed his name to Tyler and dropped out of high school, although he did go on to earn a GED general equivalent later on in his life. He only discovered his passion after trying his hand at several unfulfilling employment opportunities. Watching Oprah Winfrey on television, he was inspired by an independent filmmaker’s comments on the show about how personal breakthroughs could be brought about by difficult experiences (Uschan 31). Starting by writing a series of letters that he addressed to himself, Perry used his experiences to create his first musical I Know I Have Been Changed. While touching on the subject of his abuse as a child, Perry also touched on forgiveness, an aspect of his films that has been ever-present, reflecting the seriousness he takes his faith as a Christian (Uschan 31). His first showing of the musical in 1992 only drew an audience of 30 people. Perry was disappointed but determined and took odd jobs to fund his reworking of the project. Although he staged his show in various American cities, he was still not successful and had to live in his car for a while. Perry finally got his breakthrough in 1998 with the musical I Know I Have Been Changed, for which rented the Atlanta franchise of House of Blues. Soon he began to draw sell out crowds, forcing the musical to be moved to a theater with more sitting space (Uschan 36). He followed up this musical with an adaptation of Woman Thou Art Loosed, a book by Televangelist T.D. Jakes, which also proved popular with audiences, particularly African Americans. However, it was his next project, I Can Do Bad All By Myself that brought him the success he had been craving and introduced Madea, his most famous character. He based the character of Madea on mature women in his life, including his mother, choosing to play the character by wearing a drag and changing his voice. Madea made her screen debut in Diary of a Mad Black Woman in 2001 and making subsequent popular appearances in Madea’s Class Reunion and Madea’s Family Reunion, for which Perry toured extensively around the country in support of his films (Uschan 36). Diary of a Mad Black Woman proved a hit at the box office, starring Steve Harris and Kimberly Elise as an adulterous husband, and scorned wife respectively. Perry himself made an appearance in the film as three different characters, including the now popular Madea. He showed that Hollywood had a market for comedies themed on urban African Americans by grossing over $50 million (Sans 56). However, he continued to make plays that made successful crossovers onto the screen. His leading role in 2006’s Madea’s Family Reunion, in which he was also the producer, grossed $63 million, and set him on his way to launching an acting studio that year in Atlanta, while he also launched House of Payne, his first TV series. These series starred frequent collaborators LaVan Davis and Cassi Davis. It was also during this time that he wrote Don't Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea's Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life, which was also successful and won an award at Quill Awards for humor and as the book of the year (Sans 56). Perry returned to the big screen and continued to make films about adversity, morals, and family. These films included the Idris Elba star turn Daddy’s Little Girls that tackled divorce and child custody battles, as well as Why Did I Get Married?, in which he explored various couples and their relationships (Sans 60). For this film, he used a large cast that included the by now legendary Madea, Janet Jackson, and Jill Scott. Meet the Browns, released in 2008 followed a family’s life after the death of their father and starred Angela Basset. Other recent films include The Family that Preys in 2008 and Madea goes to Jail in 2009. However, in spite of his success as an independent film producer, Tyler Perry continues working on plays, such as the 2011 play The Marriage Counselor (Sans 60). Biography of Spike Lee Born on 20 March 1957 in Atlanta, Shelton Jackson Lee was making amateur movies when he was only twenty, and his graduate thesis won the student’s academy award. She’s Gotta Have It, released in 1986, was his first feature film, which drew attention to him as an independent film producer (Conard 51). His films revolve on serious societal issues like violence, politics, and race; while he is also known for his production work on commercials and documentaries. Lee grew up in Atlanta in a relatively well-off African American family, and he begun to make feature films at 20. Last Hustle in Brooklyn was his first film as a student and was completed while he was still a Morehouse College undergraduate. Graduating in 1982 from the film school at New York University, Spike Lee won a Student Academy Award for Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop, which, as mentioned, was his thesis film (Conard 51). Spike Lee’s first feature film She’s Gotta Have It cost $175,000 to produce and was made in just 2 weeks; although it went on to gross over $7 million (Conard 56). Spike Lee’s films have been known to tackle controversial themes and provocative elements, which have also been extended to his public statements and speeches. His films always tend to take a critical point of view with regards to such themes as violence, urban crime, political relations and issues, and relations between various races. Do the Right Thing, which was produced and released in 1989, took a critical look at all these themes and received an Academy Award nomination in the same year for Best Original Screenplay, which was a major achievement for an independent film producer. Lee continued to explore political and social elements in his subsequent films, including She Hate Me, Summer of Sam, Mo’ Better Blues, and Malcolm X. Again, Spike Lee, despite his independent film background, was nominated for Best Feature Documentary at the Academy Awards for his documentary 4 Little Girls, which covered the 1963 Baptist Church Bombing at 16th Street (Conard 56). Spike Lee continued with his independent endeavors, producing, as well as directing, When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, a documentary feature that was four hours in length. This particular documentary continued Spike Lee’s fascination with controversial themes, this time looking at the aftermath of New Orleans’ Hurricane Katrina (Abrams 45). His work in violence and crime films also led to the Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, and Denzel Washington starring Inside Man, which marked Spike Lee’s emergence from being simply an independent film producer into the mainstream in 2006. Spike Lee also found success as a producer working in TV commercials, especially his famous turn alongside Michael Jordan in the campaign for the Nike Air Jordan sneakers. He has also worked with other commercial clients, such as Ben & Jerry’s, Taco Bell, and Converse. 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, which is his independent film production company, is located in Brooklyn, New York near his childhood home at Fort Green (Abrams 45). Spike Lee’s most recent film as a producer, 2008’s Miracle at St. Anna, deals with the story of four soldiers of African American origin trapped during the Second World War in a villager, in Italy (Abrams 46). This film received acclaim for looking into an experience that was often overlooked; that of buffalo soldiers- African American infantry men- and bringing it to the screen. However, there was a debate as to the accuracy of this particular film with some critics contending that the execution of the film did not measure up to the ideas that led to its production. At present, Spike Lee is said to be working on a sequel to Inside Man, which he produced and released in 2006. In addition, he is also said to be looking into doing documentaries about basketball players Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, which are expected to be released in late 2014 (Abrams 47). Biography of Ivan Dixon Ivan Nathaniel Dixon was born in Harlem, New York on April the 6th, 1931 to grocery store-running parents. However, he moved to the South and was almost sucked into a life of crime before he took an interest in film as an actor. He soon enrolled at Lincoln Academy in North Carolina’s Gaston County where he studied dramatics (Otfinoski 85). He went on to graduate in 1954 from Durham’s North Carolina Central University and made his Broadway debut in the Cave Dwellers, a play by William Saroyan, in 1959. However, his big break came when he landed a part in Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raising Sun, in which he took the part of a well-mannered Nigerian student Joseph Asagai alongside Sidney Poitier. This started his long-term friendship with the African American film pioneer Poitier and saw them work together in subsequent films (Otfinoski 85). Ivan Dixon made his mark as a director and actor, earning the attention of the American public with his pronounced themes of his and other African American’s racial and social relevance (Otfinoski 87). His first real breakthrough on the screen came with his appearance in 1965’s World War II themed sitcom Hogan’s Heroes where he had a role as a technician with the POW radio crew. However, while this served to increase his visibility, he felt that he was not satisfied creatively and was overshadowed by John Banner, Werner Klemperer, and Bob Crane and their flashier posturing. He decided to leave the show and was the only original member of the cat to do so. However, in retrospect, he was one of the few African American actors in the 60s to take part in a major series on TV, alongside Greg Morris and Bill Cosby (Otfinoski 87). Dixon was an independent film producer from 1970 to 1993, producing the films Trouble Man and the Spook who sat by the Door. He was also involved in the production of several TV show episodes, such as In the Heat of the Night, Air-wolf, the A-Team, the Rockford Files, the Bionic Woman, and the Waltons, among others (Moon 33). As a famous actor in Hollywood, as well as in his position as an independent film producer, Ivan Dixon worked towards ensuring that African Americans got better roles in films and television. During this time, he also received Emmy nominations for his production work in the Rockford Files and the Waltons, as well as the National Black Theater Award, the NAACP Image Awards four times, and the Pioneer Award from the Cinema Society for Black Americans. Moving to Hawaii in the early 90s, Ivan Dixon obtained a construction permit from the Federal Communications Commission for the Dixon Broadcasting Company, after which he built a radio station that he ran to fund his independent film ventures. He used funds from fellow African American actors like Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby to establish Dixon Productions Inc. in 1998, which operated in both California and Hawaii (Moon 33). His most famous independent films include Trouble Man in 1972 and The Spook Who Sat by the Door in 1973. The latter film dealt with the CIA and the first officer of African American descent to work at the agency before turning revolutionary (Moon 35). The film was pulled out of theaters soon after its release because of its message regarding the use of force by African Americans to attain their rights. However, this only served to help the film achieve cult status after its release on DVD in 2004. He suffered a brain hemorrhage in 2008, which led to his death. He was survived by his wife of fifty-eight years, Berlie Ray and two surviving children, Alan Kimara and Doris Nomathande. Doris worked with her father in his production company and was a one-time production assistant for 1991’s cult African American film Boyz in the Hood (Moon 35). Works Cited Abrams, Dennis. Spike Lee. Chelsea House, 2008. Print. Conard, Mark. T. The Philosophy of Spike Lee: Lexington, Ky: University Press of Kentucky, 2011. Internet resource. Levy, Emanuel. Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film. New York: New York University Press, 1999. Print. Moon, Spencer. Reel Black Talk: A Sourcebook of 50 American Filmmakers. Westport, CT [u.a.: Greenwood Pr, 1997. Print. Otfinoski, Steven. African Americans in the Visual Arts: New York: Facts on File, 2003. Internet resource. Reid, Mark. A. Black Lenses, Black Voices: African American Film Now. Lanham, MD u.a: Rowman & Littlefield, 2005. Print. Sans, Christopher. The Courage to Laugh Out Loud: Tyler Perry, an Unofficial Examination. S.l: s.n, 2010. Print. Uschan, Michael. V. Tyler Perry. Detroit, MI: Lucent Books, 2010. Print. Read More