Keeping It Reel

At FIVE, Urban World is a vital piece of the indie puzzle.

Jul. 31, 2001

By Chris Koseluk

It's a moment Stacy Spikes will never forget. Maya Angelou's directorial debut, "Down in the Delta," was making its world premiere at the second annual Urbanworld Film Festival in 1998, and the renowned poet herself was onstage introducing it.

"If you've ever heard Maya Angelou, her words will make you cry. She will crush your bones," says Spikes, the festival's founder and chairman emeritus. "As she wrapped up her soliloquy, she said, 'There is nothing like an idea whose time has come, and Urbanworld's time has come.'"

The audience went crazy. And Spikes knew his little idea had hit it big.

As the Urbanworld Film Festival marks its fifth anniversary, it's well on the way to what Spikes and festival executive producer Joy Huang set as their goal: a "Black Sundance," a place where minority filmmakers can connect with financiers and distributors, showcasing their work in an environment that brings together representatives from the top cable-network and independent-filmmaking worlds.

"There really isn't anything else out there like this," Huang says. "A place where filmmakers can foster their work - turn their short film into a feature or turn their screenplays into films."

The festival, which runs Aug. 1-5 at the Loews State Theater and the Magic Johnson Harlem Theater in New York City, includes among its sponsors HBO, Sony Music, the Director's Guild and Tribeca Entertainment. It is open to the ticket-buying public, and more than 10,000 are expected to attend.

Major events include the first public screening of "Rush Hour 2" at midnight on Thursday and, on closing night, the premiere of "O," Lion's Gate Releasing's version of "Othello" set in a boarding school, starring Mekhi Phifer, Julia Stiles and Josh Hartnett.

In all, 61 works will screen, including 29 features. This year, in addition to its main program of offerings from the African-American independent community, the feature track includes a Latin and an Asian sidebar. Ten documentaries, 20 shorts and two works-in-progress will also unfurl. A screenwriting competition and panel discussions highlight the program, which will this year include a director's spotlight, with writer-director John Singleton.

To a degree, all of this overwhelms Spikes, a former film-marketing executive who founded Urbanworld out of frustration that there was no real showplace for minority filmmakers. So in 1997, Spikes rented the New York Academy for $300. "One screen, 35 movies - in hot, hot, hot August," Huang says. "We had the space with folding chairs. It was very guerrilla."

That first year, 2,000 people showed up, and they liked what they saw. "The second year, all those people came back and said, 'I brought some friends,'" Huang continues.

The buzz had begun. People like Jennifer Lopez, Wesley Snipes and Sean Combs were seen hanging out. Major players like Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracy Edmonds and Russell Simmons orchestrated events. Debbie Allen, Danny Glover, Samuel L. Jackson, Wesley Snipes, Carl Franklin, John Pierson and Laura Ziskin joined the advisory board.

And the studios showed support, allowing the festival to premiere some of the most high-profile black films of the last five years: MGM's "Hoodlum," Fox's "Soul Food" and "How Stella Got Her Groove Back," Sony's "Blue Streak," Miramax's "Down in the Delta," and HBO's "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" all debuted at Urbanworld, as did last year's sleeper hit, Paramount's "The Original Kings of Comedy."

"When you look at the list of films that have launched out of Urbanworld, it's kind of amazing," Spikes says. "And I'm not saying that Urbanworld is responsible for their success. I think that the movies are strong on their own. But as with any hot festival, it helps start the word of mouth, and the caliber of films has definitely added a level of weight and credibility for us."

Director Malcolm D. Lee, who unveiled his Universal Studios release "The Best Man" at the festival, says: "We did it primarily to get word of mouth going, and it actually triggered a big E-mail campaign, with people saying, 'Go out and see it opening weekend and support the film.' And the result - we were No. 1 opening weekend, and I think Urbanworld played a big part in that."

Despite the studios' participation, mainstream distributors have been slow to mine Urbanworld's filmmaking talent pool. To counter that, Spikes has started his own Urbanworld Films distribution outfit (see story below). "I was getting angry, with these films just sitting there and not seeing the light of day."

Citing a New York Times report that said African-Americans spent $1.5 billion dollars a year at the domestic boxoffice, and the Latino community $1.2 billion, Spikes says it's only a matter of time until the major players catch on.

"That's almost $3 billion dollars - almost 50% of the entire boxoffice take. How can the studios say they're not an audience? Of the 400 or so films the studios release every year, maybe 12 are black films, and none are Latino."

Yet MTV Films' "Save the Last Dance," featuring hip-hop music and an interracial romance, opened at No. 1 and went on to earn a stellar $92 million stateside. "Hollywood right now is very similar to the music industry in the rock era," Spikes notes. "Nobody ever thought hip-hop would come along and put those guys out of business. At some point, the studios are going to have to wake up and realize that the African-American and Latino cultures are the fastest-growing segments of the population."

Some cable networks are stepping in and picking up the slack. "Urbanworld Film Festival provides a welcome platform for filmmakers who might otherwise get squeezed out of the mainstream marketplace," says Larry Aidem, president and CEO of the Sundance Channel, who adds that the cable network will be at the fest scouting material this year. "In that sense, Sundance Channel and Urbanworld share a programming mission. There's a natural fit."

Not surprising, the Independent Feature Project (IFP) has had a longstanding relationship with Urbanworld, scouting titles for its screening programs and getting a heads-up on candidates for the IFP's Gordon Parks Independent Film Award for outstanding screenwriting and directing achievement by emerging black/African-American independent filmmakers. "We intersect in a lot of places," says Michelle Byrd, the IFP's executive director. "If you're connected to Urbanworld, the IFP welcomes you."

When Tracii McGregor, executive editor for the hip-hop Web site

The Source.com, became a first-time filmmaker, her first stop was Urbanworld, where she is competing this year. "It immediately came to mind because I was at the first one. I watched it grow," McGregor says. "I'm blown away by what they do."

McGregor's 20-minute documentary, "Joe's Gotta Go," chronicles last year's tumultuous mayoral election in Selma, Ala., in which political kingpin James Smitherman was ousted in favor of the city's first black mayor, James Perkins.

"I know a lot of young people travel from all over to come to this festival," McGregor continues. "The kind of work they present here is representative of this generation."

Though Urbanworld started out as a celebration of independent black film, Spikes is thrilled it's become an arena where such diverse elements converge.

"It's like being in Manhattan - down one block is Little Italy; the next block you're in Chinatown; walk another block, Soho. That's Urbanworld's make-up," Spikes says. "It's all these things merging together into what a festival should look like. It's much more representative of people than what Hollywood looks like."

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built mm 8/2001