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Most filmmakers
dream of being recognized for their
work. John Singleton’ dreams have come
true. DaimlerChrysler has found him to
be deserving of the fourth annual
‘Behind the Lens’ award; honoring
achievement for his work as a writer,
director and producer of feature films.
Why was John chosen for
the award?
Frank Fountain:
The standards are quite
high. We look for an honoree whose
career expands for at least 15 years in
film and television behind the lens. And
John just made that. During that period
the honoree must have worked and had a
positive impact on the nature of the
industry. And also that person must have
provided access to African Americans and
other minorities entering the field. We
think that his contributions to the
overall industry and the representation
of African American life in a very
realistic way, we believe that he was
the absolute top candidate for
consideration this year. We think he
follows in the footsteps of earlier
awardees like Reuben Cannon, Gordon
Parks and Melvin Van Peebles. We think
John was a natural for this award.
And John…your
response?
John Singleton: I’m really
honored. The previous honorees are all
idles of mine. I interned for Reuben
Cannon when I was in college. Gordon and
Melvin were the only two brothers that I
could look to when I was a kid when I
had the aspiration to direct. They are
the only two people that I could point
to that had done it successfully.
Frank Fountain:
John, if you recall, the two
of us were the ones who presented the
first award to Reuben Cannon in 2002.
John Singleton: Reuben is a
close friend of mine, an advisor. A
confidant in many ways. It’s just really
good. I feel really honored. I’ve
learned from people before me how to
navigate this business. And if it wasn’t
for those people before me then I
wouldn’t be able to accomplish what I
have.
John, in your
15 year career, have you seen a
diversity of roles behind and in front
the camera for African Americans? And
are you happy with where we are right
now?
John Singleton: Yeah. In
front of the camera I think that there
is a huge difference from 15 years ago.
I think that there are a lot of people
working but the quality is not as up to
par as possible. The actors that came
before like Danny, Denzel and Morgan…all
of these people came from the theatre
and most of the black actors that are
working right now they don’t have
theatrical experience. They have
television experience or they have film
experience but that’s not to say that’s
not successful too but it says that they
are privileged to a force career in
working in television and film instead
of doing theatre. But behind the scenes,
I’ve got to say that, it is not a
novelty to be black and a male or be
black and a woman doing feature film or
television work. Some of the hottest
stuff done in film and television are
done by people of color.
John, you are
at a point now were you’ve begun to
produce films. Were do you see yourself
in the future of this business?
John Singleton: Well, what I
want to do is continue to do new films
but also finance them. And, you know,
Hustle & Flow was a great experience for
me but not only as a filmmaker
creatively but as a businessman too. I
couldn’t find anybody that would invest
in my film projects and so I had to go
and invest in them myself. It was a
great experience.
What do you
look for in a script that you may want
to invest in?
John Singleton: I look for
something that…a movie has to have a
reason to be made. It can’t just have a
good idea. Or a bunch of dialog and
nothing compelling about it. And I look
for real filmmakers. People who are
cinema files. They watch movies. A lot
of people in our generation, they grew
up on television. There’s a difference
between television and movies. There’s a
difference in trying to interpret
something in television than you would a
film. And the people that I’ve been
involved with… I guess my only 2 protégé
are Craig Brewer and Xelinda Yancy.
They’ve been pretty successful in what
they’ve tried to accomplish.
Do you become
overwhelmed with what you do?
John Singleton: No. I’m not
overwhelmed. This is what I planned for.
This is what I wanted in terms of my
career. I just really want to press on.
My worst fear when I did my first film
15 years ago was being…doing one film
and not being able to recover and do
anything else.
Are you
recruiting currently? And is Craig
Brewer in your camp or apart of your
organization?
John Singleton: Craig is a
part of me. He’s apart of my family.
Are you looking
to build an organization of filmmakers
under you? Is that how you are planning
to do things?
John Singleton: Yeah. There
are filmmakers that know they deal with
me they are going to learn from me. They
are going to be able to have a career
and learn something. And have a better
chance at success than being with people
who don’t really understand film.
Frank, when you
mentioned that John just made the cut,
what was the determining factor?
Frank Fountain: Age. We
wanted someone with experience who had
really demonstrated their craft in the
industry. And of course John is the
youngest film director in history to be
nominated for an Academy Award. Given
his age and our requirement of 15 years,
he’s been producing in the industry, in
the business since…when he was 20 years
old.
What was
DaimlerChrysler looking for in starting
this award?
Frank Fountain: We first
introduced the Behind the Lens award in
2002 to recognize and celebrate the
outstanding achievements of people of
color who work behind the scenes in the
entertainment industry. To deepen the
companies presence among the ethnic
diverse communities; particularly the
African American community. We noticed
that most of the…NAACP Image Awards and
some of the other awards did not
recognize and celebrate those
accomplishments behind the lens. We saw
that as a void and decided to put the
spotlight on it and decided to create an
award. And having done so in 2002 we had
a great reception in the part of the
industry and film community…so we have
continued it. With each succeeding year
it becomes even more prominent. And so,
we’re convinced that we’re doing the
right thing. It’s another example of our
commitment to rich into the community to
expose our young people to the career
path and opportunities that have not
ordinarily considered in one way to
highlight those opportunities is
certainly reaching out and giving that
award to someone who has this artistic
talent.
Can you talk
about the panel that determines the
honoree?
Frank Fountain: We have a
great committee that works with us on
selecting the honoree. That includes the
honorary chair Reuben Cannon. And
producer, writer, director Paul Hall.
And the President of BET Entertainment
Reginald Hudlin and Angela Ford here on
our team. And I serve as a co-chair. And
I think with the collective knowledge
and wisdom of this group of the
industry, certainly more so of the
others than myself, I think that so far
we’ve been doing very well on our
honorees.
Recipients of the award are chosen by an
advisory panel of industry
professionals. DaimlerChrysler will
present $25,000 to the charity of
Singleton’ choice. Singleton will
receive the award Sunday, October 23rd,
Los Angeles, California.
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