Thursday nights mean one thing, dollar tacos at the Mexican restaurant, but back in the 80s, it was The Cosby Show. That show was my favorite back in the day, I wanted to be Theo and have a Gordon Gartrell. It was the only show that had an all-black cast that portrayed an upper-middle-class family, …
Second Round of Auditions
Last Saturday we had another round of auditions for our short film 2AM. There's a saying in filmmaking that 90% of filmmaking is casting. We can argue about percentage but what isn't debatable is the impact the actors make on the film. At the end of the auditions, I spoke to some of the actors …
Why am I Making this Film?
A prolific Chicago based producer I know asked me why I was making this film, he didn't want me to answer right there, he wanted me to be thinking about it. The why is important because it’s the fuel that helps you get through the process, when things get hard it pushes you to see things …
The Creator
creation krēˈāSH(ə)n noun the action or process of bringing something into existence. I’m a creator and so are you, it doesn’t matter what your "job" is. I believe that we are all like our Creator, each one of us is a small part of God and we are capable of doing amazing things. We are capable …
F%@$ Awards!
I hear a lot of people saying they want to win an Oscar. Don't get me wrong if I got an Oscar or Emmy nomination I'd be hard to live with. I would ask people to call me Oscar-nominated Soweto, kinda like a doctor is addressed. I would love to hear my mom say, "I …
First Auditions for “2 am”
Yesterday was our first day of auditions. I was talking to a filmmaker friend of mine about this part of the process. I told him I hate this part of the process; he's working on a feature with his brother so he gets it. The auditions are samples of what actors can do - but …
CineTech Chicago 2018
Last weekend there was a lighting education workshop here in Chicago called Cinetech at Cinespace, the biggest studio in Chicago. They shoot some television shows there, you may have heard of them, some show called Empire, I think that's on FOX, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Chicago Utilities, Chicago Med. and Chicago Public Utilities. Maybe the last one …
My Friday Five Dollar Experience
I really enjoy my Fridays — especially since I've started going to IFP Chicago's Filmmaker Friday event on the lot of Cinespace. That's the place where all of the big television shows are shot in Chicago, and going there always gets me amped about shooting a film. As the kids would say: "It's lit!" There's …
Exubia
Five years ago, I shot a short called Exubia. It was an idea that came to me as a pill that would make you happy forever; if such a pill existed, would you take it? I was really excited to make this film, and I was fortunate enough to get a producer to help me …
The Journey Begins – Writer/Director Discipline
We’re playing a long game, we can’t let these temporary things stop us from producing our work.
