LatinHeat is proud to feature Louis Perego Moreno’s PRIME LATINO MEDIA. Perego, known as TIO LOUIE interviews East Coast Multimedia-Makers through in-depth and insightful interviews. Welcome PRIME LATINO MEDIA!
In the Latino media and entertainment community, I have always championed that through shared values and talent the only way to get ahead is by sticking together. “Bienvenidos” to the debut column in Latin Heat, but more importantly welcome to being part of an extended family through PRIME LATINO MEDIA, an east-coast-based network that connect, promote and advance the careers of proven multimedia-makers and actors. PRIME LATINO MEDIA Salón is New York’s only monthly gathering of Latino multimedia-makers and actors in which live interviews, between cocktails, feature gems in our industry who are narrative and documentary filmmakers, television and digital media producers, programmers, casting agents and actors. Join us in a living room conversation as the spotlight shines on featured guests who share their pearls of wisdom on the road traveled and goals yet to attain.
(L-R) Directors Rashaad Green and Reinaldo Green (Blackfilm.com)
Meet brothers who firmly reinforce that two heads are better than one and based on their respective successes have formed a production company, Green Brother Films. Rashaad Ernesto Green is best known for his acclaimed feature film about a transgender youth in the Bronx, Gun Hill Road nominated for the Grand Jury Prize when premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. This paved the road for directing episodic television in January of this year in the NBC television show, Grimm. Then his younger brother, Reinaldo Green, while still at the NYU Film School produced a short in Africa, Stone Cars that was selected as one of 16 from 1,600 international submissions premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Here’s my interview with the two.
TL: Rashaad, one of the most difficult tasks for Latino filmmakers is breaking the glass ceiling to direct national prime time episodic television. What are your 10 cents when guiding those in our industry who want to attain the same results you achieved?
My advice, in order to be given that shot, is that you have to do something that is exceptional. Either a short or feature film that has won awards at festivals. That will be your calling card. I definitely urge you to do something on the narrative side.
TL: Reinaldo, how did you go about making a short film set in South Africa?
I had gone to Capetown to shoot a documentary six months prior that was totally unrelated to this short. I was to follow a group of teaching artists funded by a U.S. organization who teach theater and literacy to locals outside of the U.S., such as India and other countries. They were going to South Africa and my role was to follow them and demonstrate how they were impacting lives. I had previously been to Egypt, but this was my first time in South Africa. I followed them for three weeks as they worked with 20-30 students. I spent eight-hours a day in the township of Capetown and got to see how they lived their lives on a day-to-day basis. I had never experienced poverty of such depth in my life. If you stand on a hill you can see for hundreds of yards these corrugated tin shacks. I was inspired by how happy these kids were in spite of their circumstances. I felt more sorry for people in the U.S. than I did for them. I was left feeling that if these kids could live like this with holes in their clothes and other depravities, who am I to complain. Then in my second of a three-year program at NYU’s film school, I had to make a short film and I could not get those images out of my head. I had to make a narrative project and I could do it on whatever and wherever I wanted. I was the only U.S. student to shoot a foreign film in a country that was not his native country. If I had not made this documentary, I would not have met the girl that played the protagonist in my short film, plus I would not have gotten the support of community leaders that I befriended who got me access to areas that would have been risky. Once I earned the blessing of the local community organizer, he helped identify areas to shoot and organized casting.
TL: Rashad, why did you form a production company with your brother and as the older one how does it work?
My brother is my best friend. He hated his corporate job as Director of Talent, Acquisition & Diversity at AIG. When he saw the life I was leading in affecting people with my heart and traveling, he felt it was a much more engaging life. Then he applied to film school. The plan was always to work together, because I firmly believe that “two heads are better than one.” We’re still figuring out how it’s going to work. Thus far, I have been eager to help. I would give my life for my brother. Any time he needs help I give it to him. I am pretty direct with everybody. I think that’s true when it comes to my brother and I tell him how I feel.
TL: Reinaldo, how was it writing the screenplay and what inspired you to touch on the underlying theme of a young, black woman’s potential rape in South Africa?
There’s a threat to their lives where the characters live. Survival is paramount and everyday could be their last. Most of the people living there live under that belief. Here, most people are planning for the future. There they are just trying to get through the day. The boys taunting her threaten to rape her and add a layer of tension to the story, but the issue is much deeper. They want things that she has, like her cell phone. That’s the gist of the story. Everyone has a different take on the film. Psychologically she feels like she is under threat for rape in a male-dominated society where women are second-class citizens. But I saw strength coming out and rising over tyranny and questioning what is status quo. Why not show a woman who takes it upon herself when to lose her virginity?
TL: Rashaad, what have you learned from your younger brother in your craft and what do you want to do with your joint production company, Green Brother Films?
Reinaldo has a different way of going about doing things than I do. I am the one who is very precise and careful. Rei is looser and utilizes more improvisational technique and still renders wonderful results. I’ve been influenced by all of this. I want us to make great films together. He’s my best friend. It would not be as joyful if I had to go it alone. We have a lot of stories to tell. The next one is BIG MAN, an aging power lifter in the South Bronx who wants to break the world record in bench pressing. So far, Tribeca is very supportive and we were just accepted into Project Forum for the Independent Feature Project (IFP) taking place September of this year.
TL: Reinaldo, why is community important to us as filmmakers and actors?
I was a teacher. All of the jobs I have had led me to where I am today. Filmmaking is a community endeavor. My father raised us to share. When you make a film you’re working as a team. Everything I have done and gotten in my life has been with some sort of support. Whether you are on stage or behind the camera, it’s about sharing and it is imperative to have the community behind you. For young filmmakers, think about what you want to do. Then think about the people within your own reach and how you can align them with your project. You have to be proactive about tapping into these people. You have to think about your resources and how do you attain your goal. When you help someone, they help you. Filmmakers should reach within their own circle. It took me going to Capetown to tell a local story. It’s tapping into what we know within our own power and then tapping into community.
TL: Rashaad, what would you do differently with the distribution and marketing of your feature film, Gun Hill Road?
I would take more time. It was very stressful. I felt that we had to rush everything in search of a distributor. I was blessed to have that journey and opportunity. I would not be where I am today had I not gone through that. Next time when I’m in a similar position, I would do a more intensive background check on the buyer. In regard to marketing and outreach, I had assumed that the LGBT community was going to embrace the film because of its theme. But I was hoping for more support from the mainstream community. It was hard to compete with mainstream films – beyond the independent circle.
TL: Reinaldo, as a storyteller, how has becoming a new father enhanced or altered that capability?
It’s a combination of both. Children provide the most in regard to inspiration. My son is not even two months old and I feel deeper than I have before. It is an emotional vulnerability that I had never even tapped before. That in of itself taps into deep places in sharing our deepest and darkest fears with the world. This has been an inspiration and hope it will be reflected in my future writing and work. It’s also taxing, but also leads me to seriously consider more than ever what I am doing and what kind of work I want to do. People make films for all sorts of reasons – some make it for money-making purposes. I want to make them now in leaving a legacy for him that is universal and has a common draw, but is socially relevant. Fatherhood enhances the art. From now on whatever time I spend on anything has to be relevant.
TL: Rashaad, describe the logistics of shooting an episode of GRIMM for NBC valued at $4-5 million and how it enhanced your career as a filmmaker?
The assumption is that everything takes place in LA. But our shooting was set in Portland, Oregon for six weeks. Then afterwards as my contract stipulated, I went to LA for four days of editing to deliver the Director’s cut, which is recognized in the industry as the first cut – before the Showrunners get their hands on it. Then they rip it to shreds. But at the end of the day, this production and opportunity got me officially into the Directors Guild of America (DGA).
Lastly, the question was raised to both brothers. How do you navigate the waters as filmmakers and storytellers who are half African-American and Latino? Rashaad slyly smiled and then jumped in, “I celebrate and take advantage of both.” I said, “It’s like double-dipping?” “Absolutely,” he said with the widest smile on his face.
TIO LOUIE/Louis Perego Moreno
Executive Producer of PRIME LATINO MEDIA
An interactive content producer and educator who for the past 32 years has owned Skyline Features, a bilingual (English and Spanish-language) multimedia and educational production company developing documentaries, television programming and advertising commercials featuring Latinos, Blacks, Women, Urban Youth and LGBT.
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