New Filmmakers Given Assist by Basketball Greats

New Filmmakers Given Assist by Basketball Greats

99 Ways Entertainment Joins Forces with NBA Players Starting Second Career in Film, Then Pays it Forward, Hosting Five-City Tour to Teach Business to Young Directors

DETROIT, Feb. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Concerned about the number of aspiring African American filmmakers struggling with lack of access to capital and training, 99 Ways Entertainment, a new film company telling urban stories, is working to break down barriers for young directors and producers. The firm will host a star-studded screening of its latest feature, MVP, an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, at February's NBA All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas. The screening is a kick-off of its "Make it Happen Tour," which will bring panel discussions on filmmaking to five major cities across the U.S. in conjunction with VIBE Media Group. MVP, a film by award-winning director-writer Harry Davis, was produced by a team including basketball greats Charles Oakley and Kevin Edwards who, in building their own second careers as producers, aim to build 99 Ways into the "Def Jam" of independent film companies.

To get its own stories distributed 99 Ways has brought together a dynamic mix of music and film stars together with creative financing by NBA players, doing an end run around the traditional channel of seeking pick up by a separate film distribution company. Its first feature-length docudrama, Gangstresses, starring singers Mary J. Blige and Lil' Kim, was produced for $25,000. Released straight-to-video, it spent 12 weeks on Billboard's Top 40 Video Sales, earning revenues in excess of $1 million and garnering the Independent Film Project (IFP) Best Directorial Debut award for Davis. Six years later the film, which was also featured in pop culture venues such as BET, The Source and Interview Magazine, is still selling in the U.S. and internationally.

The film company grew out of their studio, The Reel Deal, which attracted an eclectic group of underground artists who were able to use their facilities for free. Mos Def, Lil' Kim and Talib Kweli are but a few of today's artists who honed their skills in The Reel Deal's laboratory. Soon Davis and The Reel Deal embarked upon their true goal: using the artists it developed to create original work as its sole source of revenue. To that end, it released the documentary In Nataki's Name on PBS and, later, Gangstresses.

99 Ways, which pairs director Davis with writers-associate producers LaDonna Graham and Alan Alden Thomas, is also the creative force behind MVP and the forthcoming feature-length film, Black Butterfly. In addition to taking MVP to the Sundance Film Festival as an official selection, 99 Ways Entertainment earned an IFP Gordon Parks Award nomination for MVP. MVP stars Wood Harris, best known as elusive drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO drama The Wire. With a cast that includes Roger Guenveur Smith, N'Bushe Wright, Obba Babatunde, Jamie Hector (best known as the ruthless drug dealer Marlo on HBO's The Wire), rapper Christian "Trick-Trick" Matthis, Melle Powers and Kevin Jackson -- and an extraordinary screenplay by Davis, Alan Alden Thomas, and Greg Pak, the crime story depicts the spectrum of black life in Detroit in a way that no other film has.

99 Ways Entertainment, together with its media partner the VIBE Media Group, will launch its Make It Happen Movie Tour in Las Vegas during the NBA All-Star Weekend. The Tour will feature screenings of MVP, coupled with workshops and panels on the film industry led by national and local figures involved in the film industry; the workshops will cover topics such as entrepreneurial opportunities in film, film financing, writing, and directing. This year the Tour will travel to Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, D.C. and Atlanta.

"Our youth need to know that their dreams of filmmaking are within their reach. There are tools and knowledge to be had and we're trying to do our part to clear the path," said Davis.

Source: 99 Ways Entertainment

CONTACT: Cheryl Duncan, of The Terrie Williams Agency, +1-201-332-8338,
or cell, +1-917-981-1842, cheryl_duncan@earthlink.net, for 99 Ways
Entertainment

-------
Profile: intent