By Monice Mitchell
Photos by Robert Hale

DGA director-members Gina Prince-Bythewood and Stan Lathan with indie filmmaker Reggie "Rock" Bythewood at the HBFF opening-night party

The Second Annual Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF), held February 25-28 in Culver City, Calif., welcomed hundreds of filmmakers and screened 56 films - more than double the amount featured last year. DGA showed strong support by sponsoring two events during the festival's successful run.

On Thursday night, the Guild sponsored the opening-night party with the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Attended by approximately 450 people, filmmakers were impressed by Reggie "Rock" Bythewood's debut feature Dancing in September, which opened the festival. His wife, Gina Prince-Bythewood, who joined the Guild while directing her first upcoming feature Love and Basketball, was appreciative of the support shown to her and her husband. She also said she feels fortunate to have the protection of the DGA.

"There are a lot of benefits to joining the Guild that I wasn't aware of at first," said Bythewood, who is interested in becoming involved with the DGA's mentoring program. "A big one is the 10-week cut you get under the Guild and knowing that someone has your back covered and will be there if something goes wrong."

Assistant director H.H. Cooper understands Bythewood's sentiment well. His film The Arrangement, made under the DGA's low-budget agreement contract, won the HBFF's Jury Award for best feature. It also marks Cooper's first time as a writer and director.

"Being an assistant director gave me a great foundation," said Cooper. "I got to watch a lot of good directors work and when I directed my film, I had an idea of how to prepare and shoot a movie. I was able to write a script I knew I could do realistically on a tiny budget and I had an idea of how to achieve my vision and stay in budget." Cooper, who has 10 years' worth of experience as an assistant director and second unit director on such films as The Best Man, The Preacher's Wife and Jungle Fever, also noted, "the DGA was very supportive. They had resources and support that made the film easy to do."

Fellow assistant director Jono Oliver, who had also just made the move to directing and writing, shared a similar experience. His short film The Window, was also made under the Guild's low-budget agreement contract and won an honorable mention prize in the short film category.

"I did the film because I had a story to tell and to see what it's like to make the move from assistant directing to directing," said Oliver. "Because of my experience as a first assistant director, certain aspects of production - such as scheduling and dealing with crowds - were a non-issue. Oliver wants to concentrate on directing more films. "Assistant directing is rewarding in its own way, but there's nothing like telling stories. And African-Americans need to be in positions where we can tell more stories."

"Fortunately, the DGA and events such as the Hollywood Black Film Festival are helping to improve the reality of African-American written, directed and produced films," said veteran director Stan Lathan, executive producer/director of The Steve Harvey Show. "I think it is a good thing that there is more activity. As a director who has been around for awhile, I am being approached by more and more filmmakers who are not looking for a handout, but who have taken the initiative to find funding. Filmmaking is finding creative ways to find money and produce. And filmmakers who are good at doing that have a better chance in this business."

That sentiment was echoed at the DGA-sponsored panel discussion "From Action! To Cut! Director's Workshop" on Saturday at the Veteran's Memorial Complex. The discussion opened with a welcome by DGA Assistant Executive Director Elizabeth Stanley and featured directors Rusty Cundieff (Sprung and Fear of a Black Hat), Neema Barnette (Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story and Frank's Place), Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust and Subway Stories), Robert Townsend (Hollywood Shuffle and The Little Richard Story) and Bobby Mardis (Midnight Blue and Circle of Pain). The filmmakers spoke frankly and humorously about their experiences and shared pertinent information about pre-production, production, financing and politics with the 60 mostly novice filmmakers in attendance.

Mardis, who moderated the panel, gave some early advice to those who haven't gone into production on their films, because they can't afford the "perfect" stock.

"If you don't have 35mm, shoot 16mm. If you don't have 16mm, shoot digital. If you don't have digital, use a camcorder," he said. "But never don't shoot. It is always better to shoot than not to shoot."

Cundieff cited himself as a perfect example. His first short film The Other Class, put him $25,000 in debt and didn't lead anywhere. His second project only cost $600, was edited for free at a public access station and landed him the deal for Fear of a Black Hat.

"That just goes to show you that often times, the story is much more important than the look," he said. "As a filmmaker, the primary thing is your story."

And thorough pre-production gets you even further, added Dash.

"When you know you're shooting low budget - shooting 12, 16, 20 days - you can only shoot one or two takes to save film. You have to be very prepared, because you don't have the leisure of a 45-day shoot," said Dash, who by the time Daughters of the Dust was released already had 10 films under her belt. "You must make sure that your crew sees, visualizes and understands the film you want to make. You must communicate fully. And believe me, a lot of times when you think you have communicated, you haven't."

Townsend said, he tries to avoid miscommunication on the set as much as possible by totally preparing himself in pre-production. His tool - a production bible. In it, he lists all the intricate details of the script's characters, scenes and locations.

"As a director, you must know the world that your characters are inhabiting," said Townsend. "Before I even start shooting, I break down the script into a bible. The more prepared you are, the better it is. Because then you don't lose time, and time, as they say, really is money."

In television, Barnette said, "being a black female director is very different and highly unusual." And the time crunch and budgetary demands of the small screen makes her job that much more difficult.

"Producers look to see when a director gets her first shot off. So you have to have a plan and know all the answers to all the questions everyone is going to ask," said Barnette. She admits to using a few tricks of the trade when directing. "I've even gotten to the point where I called my director of photography the night before and told him ‘that even if you just shoot the sun coming up, shoot something,' because they really look at that. I plan every shot and I don't shoot what I don't want to see. Always remember that it's your film. It's your vision."

And the best way to protect that vision, the panelists told the audience, is to surround yourself with others who see the same picture. Barnette handpicks her crew whenever she shoots television. Cundieff uses extensive storyboards and listens to those around him.

"For filmmakers just starting out, the best thing you can do is build relationships with people wherever you are in your career. They will be more likely and excited to help you," he said. "Hire good people and do not be afraid to have them show you something new. The trick to directing is being confident enough in your vision and knowing when to take an idea when it works for you."

Sometimes those ideas may come from seemingly unlikely sources such as the transportation coordinator or a producer. Cundieff said he doesn't necessarily view the latter input as a negative.

"Once you get to the point where you have producers messing with you, that means you're making a movie," he joked. "So that's a good thing."

Townsend added that there is a fine line that a director must walk to retain creative control of a film.

"We're in an industry that is very small, so you're going to have to go back to these same people eventually," said Townsend. "And in the age of mergers, if you upset one vice president at one company, you're not only burning bridges with that company, but with five others that they are merged with. So you have to be diplomatic and choose your battles."

It doesn't hurt to know who is on your side, either, interjected Barnette. "When all else fails and nothing else works," she said, "call on the DGA."

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