On May 18th, 2009, Communications strategist David Magdeal spoke with Tanya Kersey on the "Inside Urban Hollywood" podcast. Working on the media campaign for Precious, this is what he had to say.
David Magdeal:
"For me the most amazing thing was Mo'Nique. If she's not nominated then there's something wrong. And then the new girl, the one that plays Precious, Gabby, she nailed that to the wall. Everybody in there is really good. You don't even recognize Mariah. I had to even do a double take. Like that's Mariah? Oh. She's really good."
Precious's theatrical release is November 6th. With Oscar's new 10 best picture change, its practically a shoe-in to garner a nomination. Mo'Nique's, Gabourney Sidibe's, and Mariah Carey's performances have all popped up on shortlists for Oscar contenders as well.
For my first podcast interview, my distinguished guest was Lamont Pierre, an independent filmmaker by way of Florida. He had also interned under Lee Daniels during the fall that Precious was being wrapped. This is what he had to say:
On Precious:
I remember being in the elevator with Lee in his building one day and I think he had just screened it for some people and he asked me again, for the umpteenth time and was like really, what did you think of it. Because I actually got a chance to see Precious with him one day. He screened it for me. And I told him in the elevator. I was like, look, this film is going to be my generations The Color Purple. And it is. And I stand by that today. People are not ready for this film. They're not ready.
On Precious' Cast:
Mo'Nique was awesome. Gaby Sidle, Precious, Mariah!I can't stress this enough. You know what, people can hate all they want to until the release date in November. And then it's going to silence everybody. So, it's cool Mariah, just deal with it for a few more months. When that movie comes out, that will be all she wrote. Cause that woman acted her ass off. Excuse my language. She can act her butt off. And this film. She just does it. Like, she does it. Paula Patton. In my opinion, she's giving you Halle-Berryisms, with her performance. Everybody in that film did such a great job.
Precious Predictions:
I know [Lee Daniels] is very very proud of it. I'm very proud of it to. It was my film. I wish it was my film. It's going to be a hit in many ways. Not only is it going to be critically acclaimed, I think it's going to be great financially for everyone involved. Everybody needs to watch out for that film.
The Precious trailer and poster have finally been posted. Precious is the new "It" movie for me this year (previously it was "The Soloist"). There's been plenty of Oscar buzz talk for Mo'Nique in the Best Supporting Actress category and after seeing this trailer, I am a full believer.
That's right. Its April, only 9 months from the 2010 Oscar Nominations being announced. Most films that will be honored haven't even seen daylight, yet the 41 year old former phone sex operator turned comedian is already garnering Oscar buzz for her role as an abusive mother in Lee Daniel's Precious.
The Film Experience blog has announced it's monthly Oscar predictions and Mo'Nique has topped the Best Supporting Actress list. "Everyone who I've spoken to who has seen this says 'it's not just hype. She's in'. We'll trust them". Now the list changes every month but last year Film Experience correctly predicted three-out-of-the-five eventual nominees in April.
Mo'Nique already won the Special Jury Prize for acting at the Sundance Film Festival. Precious also won the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at Sundance, has been picked up for distribution by Lionsgate, and will receive additional promotional assistance through Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions and Tyler Perry's 34th Street Films. All of which will create a big release and hopefully ensure Mo'Nique's buzz lasts throughout the year.
Let's not forget, Lee Daneils has a knack for making films that garner Oscars for black women. In 2001, he produced Monster's Ball which made Halle Berry the first African-American woman to win Best Actress.
My, this month seems all about Lee Daniels doesn't it. At least it's well deserved. Precious is set premiere nationwide on November 9th, 2009.
Morgan Freeman is also garnering buzz for playing inspirational leader Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood's biopic The Human Factor. There is also some talk of Djimon Hounsou for The Tempest and Sophie Okonedo for Skin.
Filmmaker Lee Daniels exemplifies the focus, boldness, and hard-working grit it takes to become a successful black filmmaker. Openly gay at the age of 50, Daniels has built a lifetime of career achievements, from working up to owner of a profitable nursing home, to working up from casting assistant to casting director, to building a talent management empire. With as much success as Daniels has had he could no doubt become a powerful force in Hollywood, yet he continues to produces Indies to cater an issue close to his heart, the depiction of blacks on the big screen.
Born Lee Louis Daniels on December 24th, 1959 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Daniels expereinced his fair share of heart-ache early on. While attending Junior High School, his father was shot and killed in the line of duty. He watched his mother, Clara Daniels go on supporting five school-aged children. This image of diligence push him later in life.
He enrolled in Lindenwood College in St. Louis, Missouri, planning to study theatre and film. However, he saw little connection between the information he was being taught and the actual Entertainment industry. So, with $7 to his name, he quit, heading off to L.A. to write screenplays. A path also chosen by his sister, Leah Daniels-Burton, who was then a casting director for Warner Brothers Television.
Times came down hard on Daniels in L.A. and he recognized the need for financial stability. He worked at a nursing agency, dispatching caregivers to treat a number of crippling diseases. Here, the image of his mother's dilegence served him well. He advanced from dispatcher, to manager, to owner, expanded the nursing staff from 5 to 500 and garned 1 Million dollars by the age of 21.
A producer, whose mother Daniels established care for, saw Daniel's tenacity and suggested he get into casting. He started out as a casting assistant and rose to casting director in two short years. Wanting to ascend even higher, he left casting to form Lee Daniels Entertainment, a respected talent, management agency in New York City. For over 20 years Lee Daniels Entertainment guided the careers of many successful actors in both theatre, television, and films including Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Loretta Devine, and Morgan Freeman.
In 1995, Daniels came across a script about a disturbing bi-racial romance. The project had been turned down by directors Sean Penn & Oliver Stone, and actors Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro, and Tommy Lee Jones. Despite this, Daniels saw potential in it, admiring the script for it's honest portrayal. "Remained true to the world I know - the black world".
Daniels beef with Hollywood was always it's depiction of blacks. He hated the standard portrayals of black being over-sexed or laughable, and decided he should do something about it. Daniels left the entertainment management business to produce an interracial drama destined to become the anti-Hollywood classic known as Monster's Ball.
With a meager 2.5 million dollar budget, Daniels signed swiss born independent director Marc Foster fresh off Sundance's Everything Put Together. Next, he searched for two leads whom could play the unlikely pairing of a destitute roadhouse waitress and a racist prison guard. Halle Berry hammered away at Daniels until she was given the role, also agreeing to work for bare minimum pay.
Monster's Ball was nominated for two Oscars at the 74th Academy Awards for Best Screenplay and Best Actress. That night, Halle Berry became the first African-American woman to win the Best Actress statutette, also marking Daniels as the first African-American to solely produce an Acadmey Award winning film.
After the Oscar win, Daneisl saw a new day for black talent. "Blacks still have to go out and make it happen. I don't think things are going to be offered too us. We have to take it."
Shortly after he made he produced The Woodsman, staring Kevin Bacon and Mos Def in 2004. Then made his directorial debut in 2006 with The Shadowboxer, starring Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr.
2007 & 2008 proved to be busy for the trailblazer. He produced Tennessee, a tale of brothers, one terminally ill, and their trek to New Mexico to find their father. Mariah Carey co-stars in Tennessee as well as Precious, Daniels other endeavor that year. Precious is the story of an overweight girl in Brooklyn who is abused by her parents and pregnant with her second child. The film also stars Mo'Nique, newcomer Gabourery Sidibe, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz, and Paula Patton.
Daniels is known as an actor's director. Often taking risks with with casting such as Mariah Carey as a social worker in Precious, and Sean "Diddy" Combs as a prison inmate in Monster's Ball. In 2004, Daniels briefly dipped into politics, producing public service announcements to inspire people of color to vote. The project was requested by Harlem neighbor Bill Clinton, featured Alicia Keys and LL Cool J, and was launched in March of 2004.
"Material that is raw, with a powerful statements makes great film" - Lee Daniels (one of the greatest independent black filmmakers of our time)
AWARDS:
1 AFI Film Award Nomination (Movie of the Year, Monster's Ball, 2002)
1 Urbanworld Film Festival Award (Visionary Award, Monster's Ball, 2002)
1 Indpedent Spirit Award Nominations (Best First Feature, The Woodsman, 2005)
A common complaint about Hollywood is their lack of films dealing with minorities. Yeah, we get our occasional The Secret Life of Bees, Dreamgirls, and Notorious, which are good and a step up from the often "white only club" controlling the film industry. But sometimes we do need to dig a lot deeper to discover the truth. And the truth is that the film industry is oozing with black films, they all just don't make it to theatres. However, as Slumdog Millionaire proved (which was considered becoming a straight to DVD release) just because a film is an "indy" doesn't make it any worse in quality or content.
Below are four black "indy" films that you should be made aware of. They may not all get theatrical releases, but if you dig deep, you should be able to find a way to view them in your area.
A MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY
Medicine for Melancholy is a love story of bikes and one-night stands told through two African-American twenty-somethings dealing with issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority in rapidly gentrifying San Francisco—a city with the smallest proportional black population of any other major American city.
Based on the novel PUSH by Sapphire, Precious is about a teenage girl growing up in harlem. She is physically and emotionally abused by her parents and pregnant with her second child. The film is directed by Lee Daniels, co-stars Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, and Lenny Kravitz, and championed by both Oprah and Tyler Perry.
A GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK & SEXY
Press play on A GOOD DAY TO BE BLACK AND SEXY. A mixed tape of deftly arranged vignettes on Black Love, Sex, and Reciprocity. What you hear may be unrecognizable at first… Neo-realistic intimacy between black people found in rare grooves previously drowned out by the sounds of modern hook-ups and bougie preoccupations, a cacophony of mass-produced beats created with drum machine loops and software. A Good Day to be Black and Sexy is that dusty LP you find in the crates. But as soon as you put the needle to wax, all the forgotten lyrics return to your lips in this dreamy love sonnet to the beautiful and chocolate coated. The intro track is a prelude into the heavily sensual world of expectations - the rhythm that drives the film. Erotic moments are lullabies that turn into syncopated groves without notice. This record skips, and jumps to the hook of a Millie Jackson remix. An anthem belted out by a minx who knows her limits, but can’t resist testing the boundaries.
After years of dating white women, an unconventional "brotha" vows to try his luck with some "sistahs" of his own race. But when he falls for a self-described "half-Rican Canadian", it is possible he's found his soul mate? True, she isn't black - but her race is only part of the problem. For this longtime commitment-phone to settle down, he'll have to drastically change his ways.
The Modern-Day Micheaux Podcast Series: Dwayne Buckle
Tribute To Black Actresses
The Modern-Day Micheaux Podcast Series
A monthly discussion with independent, black filmmakers. Episode 2: A discussion with Dwayne Buckle
Black Film Controversy: X-Men's Storm
Will Smith Put on Blast
Ranking System
5 Stars = Not only a great film but spoke to me in an emotional way.
4 Stars = Good film that reaches exceptional status.
3 Stars = By no means a bad film, adequate or okay.
2 Stars =Close to being up to par, but slighlty missteps.
1 Star = Bad film missing the mark completely.
5 Black Fists = Uplifts or abolishes common misconceptions of blacks. 4 Black Fists = Positive portrayals of blacks, challenging or questioning stereotypes. 3 Black Fists = Adequate portrayal of blacks or black issues. 2 Black Fists = Poor depiction of blacks often relying on stereotypes. 1 Black Fists = Poor depiction of black soley relying on stereotypes. 0 Black Fists = Universe with no black people.
"The History of Sound" Hits Highs and Lows
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by Eurocheese
*Josh O'Connor and Paul Mescal in THE HISTORY OF SOUND*
Memories, like music, can take on new meaning as we sit with them over time.*
The ...
The Perfect Find
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Enjoy these first look photos of Numa Perrier's *The Perfect Find* starring
Gabrielle Union and Keith Powers.
After a high-profile firing, Jenna's fashi...
Horror Noire at International House 2/5
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Exhumed Films and Fangoria are proudly teaming up to present the
Philadelphia premiere of an exciting new genre documentary! Produced here
in the Philadelp...
Sundance Winner and Lee Daniels Film based on the novel by Sapphire about an abused teenage girl living in Harlem. Stars Monique, Paula Patton, Lenny Kravitz, and Mariah Carey.
Funny People
Has Judd Apatow finally reached the pinnacle of his potential?
Medicine for Melancholy
A love story of bikes and one-night stands told through two African-American twenty-somethings dealing with issues of class, identity, and the evolving conundrum of being a minority in rapidly gentrifying San Francisco—a city with the smallest proportional black population of any other major American city.
The Princess & The Frog
Disney's First Animation to star African-American Characters & set in New Orleans, starring Oprah Winfrey and Dreamgirl's Anika Noni Rose
Invictus
A biopic about Nelson Mandela. Can Clint Eastwood & Morgan Freeman do it again?
Inglourious Basterds
Quentin Tarantino remake of the 1974 WW2 flick starring Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Office's B.J. Novak, & Eli Roth
The Nine
An adapted Tony Award-winning musical about a film director and all the competing women in his life. Starring Seven Oscar Nominees/Winners (Daniel Day-Lewis, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Judi Dench) and Fergie
Julia & Julia
Can Amy Adams & Meryl Streep do it again? More important can writer Nora Ephron bring it with her first romantic comedy in over a decade?
On May 18th, 2009, Communications strategist David Magdeal spoke with Tanya Kersey on the "Inside Urban Hollywood" podcast. Working on the media campaign for Precious, this is what he had to say.
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