Streetwise

In the early 90's, drug-related crimes in Washington, DC were so common that the city earned the notorious title of "murder capital" of the United States. Independent Filmmaker Bruce Brown captured this violence as purely as anyone could while providing an entertaining film with a very low budget.

After years of homespun roles, I was fortunate to play a small role in this film, and am still amazed that they pulled it off. As Bruce often said "this ain't Hollywood, it's Hardly Making It." But he did it, and the film was seen in theatres across the U.S., and at film festivals. Now available at Blockbuster Video across the country, the film has been seen by hundreds of thousands of fans.

We await the sequel very soon as it has been shot, and should bring more true grit from the streets of DC.

I normally despise low budget films, but this one was surprisingly good. It is a story about drug dealers in Washington D.C. who do everything they can just to stay alive on the streets. The story was so well told that it really didn't matter how bad a lot of the acting was. Since it was so realistic it was like someone followed real drug dealers around with a camcorder and watched them commit their crimes.

If you want to see what it's like in some of the toughest neighborhoods in this country, please watch this movie. It has a lot of disturbing elements to it, but it's still very good.

I am originally a native of the Washington, D.C. area and I wasn't fortunate enough to catch the first showing in theaters, due to military obligations, so I went to Blockbuster's and bought a copy of the movie. I found it to be a real good and entertaining, although it was real graphic. I also loved the fact that Mr. Brown used people that are locally renown to act in the movie. People like James Funk of Rare Essence, Tony Fisher of Trouble Funk and DC Scorpio. DC Scorpio was a serious scene stealer and showed some serious acting capability. All three people I have grown up from the District listening to their music, from high school to military until very much now. I can't wait to see the sequel.

I was at the premiere for this movie at the Lincoln Theatre. It says it came out in 1998, but I am almost certain that I saw it back in 1995. I'm a little biased because I love low budget films and I love me some 'Chocolate City'. If you spent 400 mill on a movie, if it's anything less than the biggest movie ever made then you've failed as far as I am concerned. I don't exactly know how to sum up "24/7" (that's what it was called when I saw it), but I will say this. I was about 16 or 17 years old when I saw it and I can honestly say that even though I saw Menace II Society, Boyz In The Hood, Thug Life in DC, etc... this movie single handedly stopped me from ever wanting to become a drug dealer. Which says a lot since I was a totally different person when I saw this movie; half the age I am now. The funny part is that it wasn't the graphic violence, the language, music, or the bad acting (by the way, Henson has always been an award winning actress, she acts ghetto good, first movie I have ever seen her in), it was the intimacy. The movie feels so real you feel like one of your own family members got killed. The low budget-ness of the movie is what makes it so effective. I didn't even know about Divided City until now and I can't find a place that sells it. Streetwise will always go down in my book as one of the absolute best depictions of hustlin in DC movies. I'd rather watch this over and over again before I even think about watching some of these stupid movies these young go go bands put together (I call it TCBS). 40 year old men acting like thugs is pathetic.

I was fortunate enough to audition for and land a part ("Tom Tom")in this independent film that was shot on a budget of less than $300,000, and distributed independently. I learned alot about the process, and therefore am far less critical of the final outcome than I would be as an outside observer, although I am always critical of work that I am involved in.

Bruce Brown and his staff did an incredible job of pulling this off despite political and industry red-tape. We opened to over 2,000 fans at the historic Lincoln Theatre in Downtown DC. You are talking about an independent African American film maker in our Nation's Capital attempting to produce a film about Black on Black crime, and drug dealing that is taking place on the front steps of the White house. This during a period where DC had become known as the Murder Capital, and we were still recovering from the Mayor Marion Barry scandal. It is hard enough to get a film on screen already.

Many of the actors were first time performers, although I think it has been repeatedly overlooked that several of us were either professional theatre performers, or accomplished musicians. Looking at the credits you see Big Tony of Trouble Funk who are a world-wide reknown Go-Go band with hits like "Drop the Bomb", DJ Kool ("Let me clear my throat"), James Funk of Rare Essence Band, and currently Proper Utensils band, DC Scorpio (Stone Cold Hustler, Beam Me Up Scotty).. Although, these artists may not be household names to contemporary fans outside the metro area, they definitely hold their own in front of a camera.

I think a fan would have to try to make a movie themselves to fully appreciate how good this effort actually came out. We're talking about buying your own cameras and equipment, obtaining licenses to film, or shooting around them, dealing with cast members who disappear during filming, etc.

I also would say that those who expect what they see from a multi-million dollar film may be the most critical. I have experienced that from my own peer group, but all in all, the response has been fantastic.

I would like to thank all the fans, and especially BlackPlanet.com for their support.

I hope to participate in forums on this movie, so join me there, or email me. I do my best to keep up with responses, personally.

You can rent "Streetwise" at Blockbuster Video, or buy it online at Amazon.com

Be on the lookout for the upcoming sequel, entitled "Divided City." The production team is currently wrapping up shooting.