Isn’t it Romantic?

Recently two essays   on the dearth and death of romantic comedies produced since 2000 appeared, "Why are Romantic Comedies So Bad?" and "Are Romantic Comedies Dead?".  A romantic comedy doesn’t explore the hardcore reality of grief, prostitution, mental illness, cultural pressure, familial relationships, class warfare, and racial and economic inequality. Methinks the essays missed the point that the genre is all about heighten reality where true love sweeps aside obstacles  for the hero and heroine to live happily ever after. The 2012 Best Picture Oscar nominee “Silver Linings Playbook” was mentioned as a successful example of the genre in both pieces.  Personally I love the movie but Bradley Cooper and Best Actress Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence   must be the two hottest people in Philly. If Bradley and Chris Tucker are typical mental patients, ladies go over to the nearest psychiatric hospital and sign out a guy today. That’s why the film is so engaging and you root for the couple to come together despite their mental health challenges and relationship history. Why more romantic comedies aren’t green light by studios is a good question. All the films mentioned below performed at the box office and some picked up major film awards.  Contemporary films have been produced that can stand the test of time based on the same classic romantic comedy plot formulas (“How to Marry a Millionaire”, “The Lady Eve”, “Roman Holiday”, “It Happened One Night”, “That Touch of Mink”, “Some Like it Hot”, “The Duchess and The Dirtwater Fox”, ”Heaven Can Wait”, ”Marriage Italian Style”  “For Pete’s Sake”).  The best ROMCOM plots are the most ludicrous just like in life. As time goes by, it’s the same old (great) story of hooker/gold-digger transformed by true love (“Priceless”, "Pretty Woman"), career girl falls for unlikely guy  (“No Reservations”, “The Proposal”, “The Artist”, “Leap Year”), Con artist falls for mark  (“Intolerable Cruelty”), in love with a commoner (“Maid in Manhattan”, “The Princess Diaries”, “Notting Hill”), true love triumphs over family drama (“Caramel”, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, “Saving Face”), commitment phobic player meets match (“Something’s Got to Give”, “A Good Year”, “Think Like a Man”), bad girl gone good  (“I can do Bad all By Myself”, “Raising Helen”), never too late for love (“The Exotic Marigold Hotel”) and time travel for soul mates (“Family Man”, “Kate & Leopold”)   Could the essays have focused on films and actors on the right track instead of calling out creative lovely talented actors and actresses  that coulda, woulda , shoulda?   Heavy is the Cary Grant mantle for George Clooney. Actor and director, producer of 2012 Best Picture Oscar “Argo”, humanitarian (“A Journey to Darfur”, “Not on our Watch”, “Hope for Haiti Now”) George is profoundly busy. Sigh. Darling we will wait for you. Let’s not give the genre a post mortem yet.  As long as there is date night, chick flicks that cares what it’s called, audiences will go to the Cineplex to see romantic comedies. I’ll be there with my big gulp soda, popcorn and Snowcaps. See ya at the movies.

SHOWBIZ GOES HIGH TECH

My bestie called to ask me about getting back into show business. She has national commercial credits and was an Elite fashion model. But a   lot has changed from the days when we went on foot to agent’s offices, checked our answering machines on a pay phone and picked up sides in person.  (Wow I am old) Show business, the last of the handshake businesses has gone high tech. Everybody has a smartphone or you can’t compete.  An agent or casting director should be able to communicate with you ASAP. Your phone should also have your headshot, résumé in PDF, composite and reel on point.   Producers and directors look at reels and resumes for talent round the clock thereby a website and/or web page is essential. For “Full Metal Jacket” director Stanley Kubrick placed ads for actors to submit audition tapes.  This has now become a standard industry practice.  Having a good   HD   handheld camera for audition submissions when requested or to create your own content is an advantage.

 Brette Taylor’s website is the perfect presentation of her work and contact info. Actress, singer and activist Carole Davis is a good example of utilizing the IMDB resume page for her credits and reel. Actress and songbird, Erica Gimpel uses her website to highlight her singing and songwriting with a link to her album on iTunes. Seasoned actor Tony LoBianco promotes and sells tickets to his one-man show, “Little Flower” about Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. Actress and photo journalist   Lia Chang features her   iActor resume the SAG/AFTRA online casting directory on her website. Luca Della Valle networks at Stage32 with upcoming directors , writers and producers.  

YouTube offers opportunities to showcase a professional reel and creative independent   productions. Multi hyphenate actress, director, coach and producer Rosalyn Coleman of Red Wall productions screens her classes, interviews and films. Actor and Director Jose Yenque post on Vimeo. Thespian Craig Bierko likes to mix it up on his YouTube channel @MrCraigBierkoVision.

From the comfort of your computer   submissions to agents and casting companies can be made at Actors Access and Backstage.com. Get over to Reality Wanted for the latest casting on a reality talent competition show. The SAG Foundation features   a variety of networking opportunities, casting workshops, on camera technique classes   and film screenings.  The legendary Actors Fund provides financial assistance, scholarships, health clinics, survival job information, employment skills workshops and affordable housing to professional actors.  The Conrad Cantzen Shoe Fund is still reimbursing performers in need for a pair of shoes.  Planning to produce your own theatre piece ART/NY has workshops for members on every aspect of theater production. Material for the Arts can provide props, costumes, and furniture for your production. If you’re writing a script, Writers Guild of America has registration online. For webinars, posts and examples on treatments, formats, and screenwriting from the master see John August.  Check out The Foundation Center for free access to an extensive online grants database for  artist during  Arts Funding Month. There are so many empowering opportunities for performers online to promote and enrich their careers. Break a Leg!

A CELEBRATION OF BLACK WOMEN ON FILM 2012

Last year I proudly blogged about Octavia Spencer’s Supporting Actress Oscar win for “The Help”. Happily this is the year of milestones and  giving major props to the woman of color actresses on film in 2012. Making history as the youngest Academy Award nominee newcomer Quvenzhane Wallis has charmed audiences and critics as “Hushpuppy” in “Beast of the Southern Wild”.  At 12 years old actress Amandla Sternberg is a seasoned veteran of television and film.  Amandla broke the color barrier winning the role of “Rue” in “The Hunger Games”. Starring as the lovely “Bronhilda” in “Django Unchained”, Kerry Washington turned a milestone with the lead in the Shonda Rhimes’ ABC hit show, “Scandal” as the first African American actress to star in a television series in 39 years.   Emayatzy Corinealdi’s feature film debut in “Middle of Nowhere” earned her a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. Honored by Women In Film as a Trailblazer, Viola Davis co-starred with Maggie Gyhllenhall in “Won’t Back Down“. Triple threat Tamara Tunie must be the hardest workingwoman in show business. Tamara continued her role as “Melinda Warner” on “Law and Order SVU” and a film role opposite Oscar nominee Denzel Washington in “Flight”. Ms. Tunie added directing a feature film, ”See You in September” to a resume that includes Tony Awards for producing Broadway hits, “Spring Awakenings“ and “Radio Golf”. Queen Latifah provided the voice of in “Ellie” in “Ice Age: Continental Drift”, co-starred in “A Joyful Noise” and produced the TV remake of “Steel Magnolias”. Her production company, Flavor Unit Entertainment has struck a deal with Netflix for a multiyear licensing deal. Playing six unique characters in a ring cycle plot about soul reincarnation; Halle Berry joined an A-list actor ensemble in “Cloud Atlas” directed by Tom Twyker, Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski. Octavia Spencer followed up her Best Supporting Oscar win with roles in independent films, “Smashed” and “Blues for Willadean”. S. Epatha Merkerson played a pivotal role in Best Film Oscar nominee “Lincoln” and co-produced and directed a documentary film, ”Contradictions of Fair Hope”. Fierce are these Black Women in the entertainment industry who have empowered themselves and self-actualize success in front and behind the camera. According to the AFL-CIO as of July 2012 there were 3,350 Black-female actors employed. The next generation of triple threat talents will have to seize every opportunity. For aspiring producers, writers and directors, there is Project Involve, Sundance Produces Lab, ABC Talent Development, NBC Diversity Initiative, CBS Diversity,Independent Lens and Withoutabox. As Black History Month begins let’s celebrate the women of color on film who embraced the challenges of directing, producing and diverse on camera roles in milestone achievements of a year past.

“Beloved, you are my sister, you are my daughter, you are my face; you are me.”

Toni Morrison

Black + Beautiful Vogue Cover Girls

The first black model to grace the cover of British Vogue was Donyale Luna in 1966.  Donyale went on to star in movies directed by Otto Preminger, Federico Fellini and Andy Warhol, before the end of her short tumultuous life.   The cover of Vogue is the pinnacle of any model’s career. The honor can lead to high-end fashion and beauty contracts, film, TV and commercial roles and entrepreneurial enterprises.  The first African American model on the cover of American Vogue was Beverly Johnson.  Her career achievements include film and TV roles, two beauty books and a successful hair product line.  Beverly is the star of a reality show on OWN, “Beverly’s Full House”. The second African American model to score a Vogue cover was Peggy Dillard. Peggy is now a successful real estate entrepreneur. Her Harlem salon, Turning Heads was on the vanguard of the natural hair movement.  Somalian beauty Iman is also a multi hyphenate talent. Iman is an actress, author and CEO of Iman Cosmetics. Many Vogue cover beauties of color pen their memoirs and campaign for important issues. Waris Dirie has a memoir and documentary, “Desert Flower” that details her escape from genial mutilation.  Her foundation is called Desert Flower Foundation. Beauty Alek Wek also wrote her memoir and is an ambassador for Doctors without Borders. Alek also designs a line of elegant handbags, "Wek 1933". Tyra Banks is a television mogul who started on “The Fresh Prince of Belair” as Will Smith’s love interest. Tyra is the CEO of Bankable Enterprises, which produces “America’s Next Top Model” and her successful talk show “Tyra”. In addition Tyra has found time to complete her Executive Business Education at Harvard School of Business.   Shari Belafonte has starred in several TV dramas. The model with the most Vogue covers to date is Naomi Campbell. Adding to her various endeavors philanthropy and acting, Naomi is the executive producer of reality show, “The Face” where aspiring models compete  to be the face of ULTA. The show will debut this week on Oxygen. Naomi is a coach with supermodels Coco Rocha and Karolina Kurkova.   Other models have established post Vogue cover careers in the arts. Louise Vyent is a photographer. Wanakee Pugh is a visual artist. The new cover girls are branching out like their history making supermodels of color. Chanel Iman has a website devoted to her accomplishments and philanthropy. Liya Kebede is the face of L’Oreal. Liya founded the Liya Kebede Foundation to reduce maternal, newborn and child mortality in Ethiopia and around the world. Noemie Lenoir has added film actress to her resume. Joan Smalls is the co-host of MTV’s House of Style.   Lana Ogilvie and Kiara Kabukuru have beauty campaigns with Cover Girl Cosmetics.  Now there is an online campaign to launch a Vogue Africa. Black + Beautiful Vogue cover girls are Semper Fabulous.

MONEY BOMB FOR FILM : CROWDFUNDING PLATFORMS

Hopefully gone are the days when filmmakers raised funds for their films by any means necessary: medical experiments (“El Mariachi”, Robert Rodriguez), credit cards (“Hollywood Shuffle”, Robert Townsend) and family and friends (“Kissing Jessica Stein”, Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen). Now crowdfunding platforms are the way to finance film projects through individuals on the web.  There are two types of crowd funding platforms for film; equity investment and donations. President Obama signed the JoBs (Jumpstart Our Business Startups) Act containing provisions for filmmaker’s to raise up to a million dollars in equity on the internet. But according to  Filmmaker Magazine, the crowd funding platforms created for equity film investment still has a few kinks to work out.   The most lucrative crowd funding platforms are through established web companies Kickstarter, IndieGogo and newcomer Seed & Spark enabling indie filmmakers to raise funds through donations. Oscar-winning "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "Being John Malkovich" screenwriter Charlie Kaufman raised a record $406K for “Anomalisa” his first animated film on Kickstarter.   According to Mashable, Indiegogo has had a good year too. Seed & Spark‘s Emily Best emphasizes the unique services her site offers film projects, “The goal of filmmaking is not simply making a film, but getting people to see it when its finished. Seed &Spark is built to leverage crowd-funding specifically for audience building and additionally to deliver finished films to those audiences. Filmmakers can fund their film, build cast and crew, and gather their community and keep them updated from pitch to premiere. Audiences can follow or fund film projects that speak to them. Audiences get unprecedented access to excellent independent content, and filmmakers keep 80% of the distribution revenue. Fair trade!”. 

Successful film funding campaigns utilize equal parts: planning, teamwork and incentives.  Set a realistic fund goal for the time period you select begin by calculating the amount your requesting   secured by the middle of your deadline. Make a budget for your incentives to have at several donation levels. Through a fiscal sponsorship contract with a 501(C) 3 organization such as Independent Feature Project or Women Make Movies, your project could offer to give donors a tax deduction for their support.  A great campaign involves a team effort with delegated tasks to blog, tweet or donate so make a list of who would be interested in your project and seeing it succeed. Cut a strong trailer; write compelling and personal pitch material and press releases. Utilize every bit of social media (Facebook, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest Twitter, Google+ LinkedIn) in support of outreach of your project.  Kickstarter’s Justin Kazmarek advises, “The most compelling rewards draw the backer into the project and offer a behind the scenes glimpse of the creative process along the way.”

One notable Indiegogo success is a documentary film, “Alice Walker: Beauty in Truth”. The director Pratibha Parmar of Kali Films Ltd. declares, “ The most successful part of our campaign was the tremendous amount of outreach we did, which helped us to create a longer term awareness of the film. We were successful because we pushed out on every front, facebook, twitter, regular blog on our website, interviews in online magazines. We had an enthusiastic response from many people to our teaser which got watched by over 13,000 people. It was exciting to see our support base grow internationally as our funders came from over 17 different countries. To get to be Project of the Week and then Project of the Month on Indie wire was a fabulous boost and then to go on to be selected as one of the top 12 Creative Campaigns of 2012 by Indiegogo was a great affirmation of all our hard work. It was a full time effort and there were, in the end only 2 of us doing it throughout the 3 month period so it was quite exhausting but worth it in the end. “


Producer Sara Murphy’s   film project, “Stories of the Unconscious” has a Seed & Spark campaign in progress. Sara observes, “As we are still in the midst of our funding campaign, this continues to be an enormous learning experience, but I have several observations thus far. 

I think the most important thing to remember during your crowd-funding campaign is to remain positive and keep moving forward. There are days and/or weeks wherein you will bring in way less than your goal, and this can be extremely demoralizing. You have to continue reaching out, brainstorm new ways of bringing people to your funding site, and take the opportunity to become very resourceful. 

Creating fun incentives as 'weekly specials' that go beyond your basic incentives can provide funding surges and also provide new possibilities to create 'buzz' about the project and the campaign. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. But by getting creative and targeting different demographics, you will increase your reach and hone in on your target audience.”

Preferably working on the creative process of a film, a filmmaker wears many hats and fundraising is an important one. In his book “Rebel without a Crew” Rodriguez financed his film with paid assignments as a medical experiment lab participant. Raising money on crowd funding platforms requires a great deal of sweat equity to succeed but it is less painful then being a hospital lab rat for pay.

The Barneys Warehouse Sale

The fashionista high holy week is upon us with the opening of The Barney’s Warehouse Sale on Feb 14- 24, 2013.  The sale is temporarily located at the Co-Op store at 255 W 17th Street in the Chelsea area of Manhattan.  You’ll be near Housing Works on 17^th St so if you have clothes to donate it’s good cause. Grab a coffee or tea for the long line outside. This sale is diva warfare, fatigue sets in and it’s cold in there.  Leave your handbag at home, you’ll only have to check it and retrieve upon leaving the store. Wear a jacket or cargo pants with lots of pockets. Best to carry your PDA, credit card(s) and ID if you plan to apply for a Barney’s card. Once you are inside and can start the designer sale scavenger hunt I suggest you pick two zones. Say shoes and coats and come back a second day for more shopping. The last day is the monster because everything is slashed to rock bottom.  Take your bestie and work the racks. A team effort always yields more. Skip the sensible purchases of an A-line skit or blouse you can get that anywhere. The exception is the Barney’s New York Co-Op Collection that has beautiful timeless designs   in quality fabrics.  Here you might be able to scoop up a coat, shoes or dress for under fifty bucks. This is the place to go wild.  Do get the Manolo Blahnik peep toe sling, studded Christian Louboutin pumps, silk and Giuseppe Zanotti or Prada Rosette sling backs. Splurge on beautiful red carpet ready gowns and dresses for sale by designers such as Dolce and Gabbana, Lanvin and Alexander Wang.   The lingerie is lovely enough for any modern day courtesan. There are great deals on high-end jeans like 7 for All Mankind and James. But know your size there are no dressing rooms at the sale. Plenty of ladies do strip down and slip on clothes behind racks but I wouldn’t advise it. Don’t forget your guy(s). The men’s department has beautiful Charvet, Lanvin and Brioni ties you can get for a song. If you hope to score the status bags of the flagship store’s first floor, they never make it to the big sale. Fuhget about it!   Please e-mail me if you know where they are for sale. Time to get in the very long checkout line.  The temptation to get out of line will be great to find one more thing to buy. Many have made that mistake and they never made it back. Use the time to edit your potential purchases. Be ruthless in your edit. If it needs alterations skip it.  Look at your potential purchase ask yourself, “What would Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Kate Moss, Michelle Obama, Carine Roitfeld (insert your style icon here) do? If you are going to splurge make sure the dress, shoe whatever is fabulous. Now you are done. You survived this so you can easily hit  Soiffer Haskin featuring individual designer sales weekly. It’s not the blood sport of TBWS but good deals.  When your done shopping, time to replenish over cocktails at Cafeteria or chocolate chunk cookies at City Bakery with your gorgeous spoils of shoe boxes and stuffed shopping bags in hand. Well done!

Black Women Directors Take the Helm

Indiewire.com posted an article by Melissa Silverstein “What Bigelow Effect? Number of Women Directors in Hollywood Falls to 5 Percent” on Woman and Hollywood citing a study by Dr. Martha M. Lauzen, Executive Director, Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film on the fall in women directors at the helm of feature films in recent years. We can all imagine the determination it took to kick through the glass ceiling for these talented women of color film directors. Dr.Maya Angelou (Down in the Delta), Euhzan Palcy (Sugar Cane Alley), Sanaa Hamri (Just Wright), Bridgette Davis (Naked Acts), Leslie Harris (Just Another Girl on the IRT), Darnell Martin (Cadillac Records), Dee Rees (Pariah), Gina Prince-Blythewood (Love and Basketball), Julie Dash (Daughters of the Dust), Nema Barnette (Civil Brand), and Shari Carpenter (Kali’s Vibe).  Actress hyphenate directors include Kasi Lemmons (Talk to Me), Troy Byer Bailey (Love don’t cost a thing) and newcomer Sallie Richardson. (Eureka).  For a more complete list check out www.sistersincinema.com. If you haven’t checked out the films of these talented women many are available on DVD, iTunes and Netflix. Surf their websites, and IMDB to keep up on upcoming projects. Director Ayoka Chenzira

has teamed with New York Times bestselling author, Oprah Book Club favorite and playwright  Pearl Cleage  to produce feature films of her novels at  The Pearl Cleage Project.  First Black Woman Sundance Best Director winner Ava Du 
Vernay  second feature film ( “Middle of Nowhere”) is currently in theaters. ”Middle of Nowhere” is receiving critical praise and industry awards.  Many of the women directors  have film projects are in the various stages of filmmaking: development, production, postproduction, marketing and distribution.  Independent sisters in film utilize Kickstarter and indiegogo to finance their films.  Dee Rees and her partner Neksia Cooper used Kickstarter campaigns during the various stages of production for her feature film “Pariah”. If you can’t contribute financially you can always give shootouts on blogs, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and Google +.  You can even post clips or campaigns with widgets or hyperlinks. You could reach out with a tweet, comment or e-mail. Ever-phenomenal woman Dr. Maya Angelou is on Twitter. @DrMayaAngelou. Many independent films rely on word of mouth and social media for advertising without access to the big marketing campaigns financed by the major film companies. They would appreciate the positive energy for their work in a tough field. Your support could be the push for the first African American women to win an Oscar for Best Director!

"MINISTER OF SELF DEFENSE"

Last year I remembered a documentary I saw produced by Antoine Fuqua called, "Bastards of the Party" about the Bloods and the Crips. The director, a former gang member felt the gang turf wars grew out of the restless generation that came after The 

Black Panther Party who patrolled to monitor police brutality during the civil rights era. I thought it was fascinating it got me to thinking about Huey P. Newton co-founder and Minister of Self Defense of The Black Panther Party. I started reading everything on his life and work. Truly a labor of love one book on Eldridge Cleaver (Eldridge Cleaver author of Soul on Ice and Minister of Information became a Republican ) would lead me to a book on Geronimo Pratt and on to a book about his lawyer Johnnie Cochran and so on. I read Alondra Nelson' book, “Body and Soul The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination” for her extensive research on the Party's healthcare activism. Tumbler is a great source for historical research. I found photographs by Stephen Shames, artwork by the Minister of Culture  Emory Douglas and the first copy of The Black Panther Party newspaper, "Who killed Denzil Dowell"? I had conversations with David Hilliard of The Huey P. Newton Foundation. Another great archive of The Black panther Party is It's about time by Billy Jennings. YouTube has an awesome archive of news footage including my favorite of Huey and William F. Buckley on "Firing Line". I’ve read FBI files and court transcripts of the famous murder trial of Officer John Frey that made Huey a cause celeb. I researched "The Glass House Tapes" at the Rose Room at the Schwarzman Building. I read Huey's poetry and letters. I felt it was a rich slice of American History that hadn't been told. I wrote a treatment and took a meeting with my entertainment lawyer Tom Selz .We strategized a game plan for an independent feature film. First I drafted a development proposal and he added the legal stuff.  HPN Prod. LLC was formed.

My frustration in finding a screenwriter led me to many profanity-laced tirades and to write the script myself. Generally it's not me to pepper my speech with motherf**er this and that.  I'm sure Tom Selz's wonders if I'm a hood rat.  But HPN's kick ass style has inspired my bitchassness. The first draft of the screenplay, "Minister of Self Defense" has been written.

 Not boring histories lesson but a portrait of Huey the man. There are many roles to cast talented African American actors.  I imagine Malik Yoba as Bobby Seale, Idris Elba as Eldridge Cleaver common as Geronimo Pratt and Daniel Sunjata as Huey P. Newton. My wish lists of A-list actors are Tom Hanks as Charles Garry, Maggie Gyllenhall as Fay Stender and Brad Pitt as Bert Schneider. The part of Elaine Brown would be any actresses dream role. Elaine Brown is a singer, activist, adventuress and first chairwoman of The Black Panther Party. Today Elaine campaigns for prison reform and Occupy Wall Street.

When I secure development funds I would hire a screenwriter to polish my script a Michael Genet, Kevin Arkadie or Richard Wesley. Much needed is a feature film director who shoots lean and mean like Mike Figgis, Bill Duke, Clark Johnson or Jim Sheridan. I want to make a great film; raw and edgy in high-def with love, family, incarceration, friendship, sex, courtroom dramas, shootouts and the cause.  Power to the People!

A Celebration of Octavia Spencer’s Oscar Win

You Go Girl!  Octavia Spenser won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Despite only 2% of Academy Award members are people of color and the “controversy” of playing a Black maid in a feature film, she won for us all. In the 1960’s many African American women cleaned homes for a living under the racist practices of the era.  Our people stepped up despite sitting in the back of buses and banned from sharing a meal or toilet with their white employers fortified by faith and hope for advancement of the next generation. We should be able to look at our history with an unflinching eye. 

The critics of the film should acknowledge how the film industry operates. Any controversy around the film is a factor positive or negative at the box office.  The commenter’s should take responsibility for the outcome and objectives of their criticism.  Octavia Spencer is a talented actress for hire. Now Octavia’s Oscar Best Supporting Actress win combined with the box office success of “The Help” makes her a bankable star. We should look forward to her next exciting career chapter.  This month Ava DuVernay  became the first African American woman to win a Sundance Award for directing, “Middle of Nowhere”.  Director Dee Ree’s “Pariah”, the coming of age lesbian film just won the Independent Spirit Award’s John Cassavettes Award. As Black History Month comes to a close let’s celebrate the diversity of voices with Octavia and all the African American women in film. There is still much to be done. Let’s not loose sight. To quote Stokley Carmichael, “It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations. I walk in the footsteps of giants”.

"THE BILLIONAIRESS"

The brilliant Mindy Kaling in her book, “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me??” does a funny riff on the  Seven Rom-Com Archetypes. Over the last two years I have been writing a Rom-Com, “The Billionairess”.  My screenplay is inspired by “The Millionairess”. When I went to see the movie "Nine" I was struck by the resemblance of Sophia Loren and Penelope Cruz. I loved the movie by the way. ...When I left the movie theater I sat in Starbucks and sketched out a film idea I had inspired by the George Bernard Shaw play "The Millionairess". While I was writing I thought about the archetypes I hoped to break and the ones I love. My heroine is very modern businesswoman. “The Billionairess” has her own jet, runs several corporations, lives at 740 Park Avenue and  turns  a rundown Chinatown café into an upscale boutique hotel in a New York minute. She has the best of everything. I like flipping the romance formula to be between a rich powerful woman and a poor independent man.  

 I would like Epifania to be a woman of color. According to Forbes magazine, the richest man in the world is Mexican Carlos Heidi Slim whos net worth is $69 billion dollars . My ideal leading lady would be Halle Berry, Penelope Cruz or Salma Hayek. Each actress is delicious in her own way but all three are beautiful, sexy, funny and smart. The actresses having an Oscar win or nomination adds a touch of class.

I have thought a moment or two about my favorite romantic leading men. Boris Kodjoe, Gil Marini, Joe Mangianello and Adam Rodriquez. If the leading men are not panty creamer’s it doesn’t work. The first charge a producer should make to the casting director of his or her Rom-Com film, “Don’t bring me men. Bring me giants”. Cynthia Heimel sums it up nicely in “Girls Guide to Chaos”. "All women are either girls, women, or men. And all men are either  men, boys, or hairdressers [...]”     

   

   

Speaking of archetypes why are Indian men always cast as geeks, manservants’ or sidekicks in mainstream movies? 

 For The Doctor I loved to see a Bollywood star. I  have been watching the films of Abhishek Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan. "My name is Khan" was very touching and timely film. I predict Abhishek Bachchan will be the new George Clooney. Master thespian  Naveen Andrews is fine. That is all. 

The challenge in writing the Rom-Com is to solve a romantic dilemma and take the audience on the fantastic unpredictable journey along the way. To quote Westley from  “The Princess Bride”, “This is true love – you think this happens every day?”