Still, black cinema cannot be neatly divided into two camps, the Perryists vs. the Lees; there are other influential black directors and producers, among them Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”), John Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood”) and Darnell Martin (“Cadillac Records”), the first black woman to have a major studio release. And then there are the independents – black filmmakers who add their voice to the black film vernacular by raising their own funds and negotiating their own distribution deals.
One such filmmaker is Ava DuVernay, head of a publicity firm that has worked on more than 100 film and television projects, including “Dreamgirls” and “Invictus.” Last year, DuVernay directed three documentaries that were broadcast on BET and TV One. This year, she completed a feature film, “I Will Follow,“ which she wrote, directed and financed. The film, which stars Salli Richardson, received a thumbs-up from critic Roger Ebert and was released in AMC Theaters. It grossed $11,500 per screen on average, showing at 22 screens in 15 cities, so she was able to recoup her investment quickly.
DuVernay embraces the DIT – or Do It Together – concept. She helped create an organization other filmmakers can join — the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement. A small group that lends its creative talents to build grass-root support for indie films.
Also, instead of selling the DVD rights, she packaged and distributed the film on her own. “I made more money than the deals I was offered,” she told a blogger. “Companies take your DVD rights for 20 years. We made back our money in one year doing it on our own. We sold it to small hip hop and record stores. Then we got into Netflix and iTunes. We did get a Showtime deal that I orchestrated.”
Working in this fashion is perhaps the best way to circumvent the studio system and get your film out to audiences. DuVernay continued: “I work to make my films and to self-finance them. They’ll have small budgets – the price of small cars. It’s really low budget filmmaking. A lot of people are doing it well.” Her goal is make one movie per year.
But getting a film produced and financed is difficult, particularly in this economy. “There aren’t that many black people that have significant amounts of disposable or investable cash, giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to films that may or may not make some money,” said Touré.
When you examine the economics of black film, the Tyler Perry juggernaut is a major success. He puts black actors and film crews to work, no mean feat in a depressed economy. Those who don’t like the product must either balance the Perry imagery with their own cinematic creations, vote with their wallets, or lodge complaints –but as we all know, complaining certainly won’t stop the Perry show.
