Filmmaking
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Black Panther II – What about Azari?
If ever an actor embodied a role, it was the late great Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa in Black Panther.
Chadwick Boseman was and will always be thought of as Black Panther for many. Chadwick was also excellent portraying James Brown. I must also mention Nelsan Ellis, who died at the the young age of 39. Nelsan portrayed Bobby Byrd to Chadwick’s James Brown in the film Get On Up.
Chadwick’s stellar acting as Jackie Robinson in the film 42 deserves mention as well. Sadly, Chadwick’s life was cut short by cancer, a disease that claimed my mom a few years ago. Marvel announced that the role would not be recast for Black Panther II, which is a fitting tribute to Chadwick’s legacy.
So, how can Marvel honor Chadwick and continue T’Challa’s story? Well, how about introducing his son Azari, the child T’Challa had with his ex-wife Storm?
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If U can write a book, U can write a screenplay
I’ll say that again. If you’re an author and you’ve written a book, you can write a screenplay, or a script.
The skill set isn’t completely the same, but if you’re willing to put in the work and learn what it takes, then there’s no reason that one or more of your novels can’t be turned into a script.
Instead of setting up a whole new site I’m going to split this one into two. One will be for the books I write, the other will be a page that branches off with copies of popular screenplays to give budding screenwriters examples to draw from (the scripts will not be housed on my site. For instance, the screenplay for Beasts of the Southern Wild can be found here:
Direct link to PDF: http://screenplayexplorer.com/wp-content/scripts/BOTSW.pdf
2013 Best Picture nominee Beasts of the Southern Wild featuring the youngest nominee for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role, Quvenzhané Wallis In addition, I’ll put up movie stills and film excerpts from my journey into independent filmmaking. It’s important that readers understand that I was already into filmmaking before I started writing and releasing books.
But my ebooks were/are instrumental in acquiring the funds I needed for digital film equipment.
I’ll also share my research on outlets to show independent productions. It’s best to start small and build an audience, and my first post will be on the variety of outlets now available to submit your work.
Congrats to Taraji P. Henson and Director/producer Lee Daniels for Taraji’s Emmy nomination in the role of Cookie Lyon:
Taraji P. Henson, looking fierce and fabulous in a promo pic for the upcoming season of EMPIRE -
Taking that next step: Filmmaking
First, I have to say this never would’ve been possible without the proceeds from my books. So I have to give a great big grateful THANK YOU to all those who’ve bought (and continue to buy) my novels.
In addition to writing, I’ve also been moving into the ranks of independent filmmaking. It’s something I truly love to do and I think more minority writers may need to take that step.
For anyone who may be interested in more diversity on screen via independent filmmaking, I’ll list the equipment I’ve acquired after careful research, especially for a filmmaker on a budget. This has always been a major part of my platform as there are more avenues for independent works to be seen, so now is the perfect time.
For me, everything starts with the written word. From there I’m able to give the characters their own unique personalities and world build. The promos and GIFS come next, then the book trailers, so film is simply an extension of all the other things I love to do.
Not every ebook I write will turn into a film. But each book I write helps me become a better author.
To be continued . . .