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CNN Live At Daybreak

Black Film Festival: Forum for Filmmakers

Aired June 19, 2003 - 06:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And right now I'm joined by a Hollywood trailblazer in his own right. Actor, writer and director Robert Townsend is a speaker at the American Black Film Festival which is under way in South Beach, Florida. The festival provides a forum for independent Black filmmakers, something Townsend knows a lot about.
Good morning to you.

ROBERT TOWNSEND, ACTOR, WRITER, DIRECTOR: Good morning. How you doing today?

COSTELLO: I'm fine. Are you awake?

TOWNSEND: I'm barely awake, but I'm here -- I'm here.

COSTELLO: Well tell us about this festival, not many people know much about it.

TOWNSEND: The festival has been going on for seven years. It's -- for five years we were in Acapulco, and this is our second year in Miami, and it's going on. This year we're honoring Russell Simmons, we're honoring Gabriel Union. And Bill Duke, the actor/director, is having actors boot camp and he trains all these actors kind of like the Actors Studio.

COSTELLO: The actors boot camp, what do they -- how do they put you through your paces in actors boot camp?

TOWNSEND: Well, you know I mean Bill takes it very serious and he pushes the actors really hard. It's kind of like the Actors Studio in New York. It really encourages actors to work on their craft and pushes them really hard. And so it happens for two days, it's real intense. Last year, Chris Tucker came down and spoke to them about comedy. And each year different people come -- you know comes down to talk about, you know, what goes on.

COSTELLO: And if they don't say their lines right, it's 400, what, sit-ups, pushups, something like that? Tell us about the independent filmmakers that appear at your festival every year and what are the hot independent films this year?

TOWNSEND: There's a lot of different films. But what it is is that it encourages filmmakers from all over the country to come here and a lot of them have made it with DV cameras. A lot of the films this year, "Annie (ph) Be Real" is one of the hotter films that everybody's looking forward to seeing. But there's a lot. I don't know all of the names of the different films, but there're workshops that go on about writing, directing, producing. And it's really -- the festival is really about encouraging, you know, performers of color to go after their craft and to work at the top of their game.

COSTELLO: Do you see positive signs that things are getting better for African-Americans in Hollywood?

TOWNSEND: I do. I mean, you know, like you had those statistics up there about, you know, the Oscar winners. I mean you know when I see, you know, Denzel getting two back to back, I think it sends a message. It's encouraging. The same thing with Halle, you know, winning, and then of course Sidney Poitier. But I think there's always room for more.

COSTELLO: That's true, but there's a movie out, "2 Fast 2 Furious," that's directed by a black director and it made a whole bunch of money. That's a good sign, too.

TOWNSEND: It's a very -- I mean John Singleton directed "2 Fast 2 Furious" and it was a wonderful film. And I think -- and the same thing with F. Gary Gray doing the Italian story, you know, the "Italian Job."

COSTELLO: Yes.

TOWNSEND: I think it's a different time and there's a lot more opportunities, but I mean there's always room for more.

COSTELLO: That's true and you don't see the small independent film by African-Americans being released in the United states, although you don't see many small independent films at all being released in the United States.

TOWNSEND: Well, you know I mean in Los Angeles, I just flew to Miami, but I was at the Independent Film Festival and they were honoring "Hollywood Shuffle" this past week. And they're another organization that encourages those young filmmakers, and a lot of different films were shown there as well.

COSTELLO: All right. Robert Townsend, thanks for joining us this morning. And I know you're going to have a lot of fun at South Beach, because what could be a better place to hold anything than South Beach?

TOWNSEND: No, we're looking forward to it. We just want people to come down and check it out. And like I said, we're going to be here for the weekend and so, you know, there's still tickets available if you want to come to any of the screenings. If you want to come to actors boot camp, Carol, you're welcome as well.

COSTELLO: I'm scared. Thanks so much for joining us this morning and waking up early with DAYBREAK.

TOWNSEND: No problem, thank you very much.

COSTELLO: No problem. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com








Aired June 19, 2003 - 06:49   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And right now I'm joined by a Hollywood trailblazer in his own right. Actor, writer and director Robert Townsend is a speaker at the American Black Film Festival which is under way in South Beach, Florida. The festival provides a forum for independent Black filmmakers, something Townsend knows a lot about.
Good morning to you.

ROBERT TOWNSEND, ACTOR, WRITER, DIRECTOR: Good morning. How you doing today?

COSTELLO: I'm fine. Are you awake?

TOWNSEND: I'm barely awake, but I'm here -- I'm here.

COSTELLO: Well tell us about this festival, not many people know much about it.

TOWNSEND: The festival has been going on for seven years. It's -- for five years we were in Acapulco, and this is our second year in Miami, and it's going on. This year we're honoring Russell Simmons, we're honoring Gabriel Union. And Bill Duke, the actor/director, is having actors boot camp and he trains all these actors kind of like the Actors Studio.

COSTELLO: The actors boot camp, what do they -- how do they put you through your paces in actors boot camp?

TOWNSEND: Well, you know I mean Bill takes it very serious and he pushes the actors really hard. It's kind of like the Actors Studio in New York. It really encourages actors to work on their craft and pushes them really hard. And so it happens for two days, it's real intense. Last year, Chris Tucker came down and spoke to them about comedy. And each year different people come -- you know comes down to talk about, you know, what goes on.

COSTELLO: And if they don't say their lines right, it's 400, what, sit-ups, pushups, something like that? Tell us about the independent filmmakers that appear at your festival every year and what are the hot independent films this year?

TOWNSEND: There's a lot of different films. But what it is is that it encourages filmmakers from all over the country to come here and a lot of them have made it with DV cameras. A lot of the films this year, "Annie (ph) Be Real" is one of the hotter films that everybody's looking forward to seeing. But there's a lot. I don't know all of the names of the different films, but there're workshops that go on about writing, directing, producing. And it's really -- the festival is really about encouraging, you know, performers of color to go after their craft and to work at the top of their game.

COSTELLO: Do you see positive signs that things are getting better for African-Americans in Hollywood?

TOWNSEND: I do. I mean, you know, like you had those statistics up there about, you know, the Oscar winners. I mean you know when I see, you know, Denzel getting two back to back, I think it sends a message. It's encouraging. The same thing with Halle, you know, winning, and then of course Sidney Poitier. But I think there's always room for more.

COSTELLO: That's true, but there's a movie out, "2 Fast 2 Furious," that's directed by a black director and it made a whole bunch of money. That's a good sign, too.

TOWNSEND: It's a very -- I mean John Singleton directed "2 Fast 2 Furious" and it was a wonderful film. And I think -- and the same thing with F. Gary Gray doing the Italian story, you know, the "Italian Job."

COSTELLO: Yes.

TOWNSEND: I think it's a different time and there's a lot more opportunities, but I mean there's always room for more.

COSTELLO: That's true and you don't see the small independent film by African-Americans being released in the United states, although you don't see many small independent films at all being released in the United States.

TOWNSEND: Well, you know I mean in Los Angeles, I just flew to Miami, but I was at the Independent Film Festival and they were honoring "Hollywood Shuffle" this past week. And they're another organization that encourages those young filmmakers, and a lot of different films were shown there as well.

COSTELLO: All right. Robert Townsend, thanks for joining us this morning. And I know you're going to have a lot of fun at South Beach, because what could be a better place to hold anything than South Beach?

TOWNSEND: No, we're looking forward to it. We just want people to come down and check it out. And like I said, we're going to be here for the weekend and so, you know, there's still tickets available if you want to come to any of the screenings. If you want to come to actors boot camp, Carol, you're welcome as well.

COSTELLO: I'm scared. Thanks so much for joining us this morning and waking up early with DAYBREAK.

TOWNSEND: No problem, thank you very much.

COSTELLO: No problem. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com