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::EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW::
LE
Newsletter - September 18, 2003
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Interview with Rudy Langlais, Feature Film Producer - Chapter
I
While there is just so much more to know about
Rudy Langlais' successful journey to
Hollywood than this article could hope to reflect, the impression that
stands out the most about this man is his gracious and unassuming spirit.
Rudy is a statuesque and compelling figure who is a quiet observer of the
activities around him. At the same time, his laugh can fill a room! His
ease with himself is apparent as he radiates that assurance around him.
Admittedly, I felt a little out of my league interviewing Rudy and I only
hope that I do this partial account of his journey justice.
Rudy Langlais
has a love affair with language. It’s not long into a conversation with him
that you sense that this man has an intense passion for literature
and knowledge about literature.
I initially met Rudy on the set of his most recent project,
Redemption -
the
Stanley 'Tookie' Williams Story",
directed by our mutual friend, Vondie Curtis Hall. Rudy’s
filmography reflects a consistent inclination towards biographical
accounts, namely
Who Killed Atlanta's Children?
(based on Rudy's true story in which
Gregory Hines played him in the film),
The Hurricane, and
Sugar Hill.
Redemption is the story of Stanley Williams, founder of the Crips
gang. Of this project, Rudy says that the theme of Redemption is not
dissimilar to the theme of
Sugar Hill and it's based
on the idea that “I must believe in a man's
ability to redeem himself from the villainy of his past”. Deep.
Rudy states that biographical accounts are the most difficult to work on, as
they can take years to complete and no one initially believes in them. He
mentioned that the hardest thing about any movie that you care about is that
it is emotionally draining. “The ideas of
the story matters so much that the journey to realizing the ideas is about
laying it all out there – feeling every moment of it, living every moment of
it, caring about every moment of it,” explains Rudy in his
resonating bass voice.
Rudy’s journey began in his birthplace of
Basseterre,
St. Kitts.
His middle class family ultimately moved to Florida to pursue the American
dream. Initially, the American dream meant becoming become part of the vast
plantation system in northern Florida as plantation workers - picking
cotton, peas and beans. Rudy also worked in a bottling plant and thus was
his introduction into America.
Rudy had
been a sports writer but made his transition into news in 1978 by
becoming the City Editor of the Village Voice in New York. Rudy was
the first Black editor (or minority editor for that matter) at the Voice,
almost in contrast to the paper's liberal reputation. Rudy’s objective for
the Voice was to allow minority writers to write about themselves,
instead of having White writers simply write about minorities. Rudy
is a pioneer that changed the face of the Village Voice which had previously
been a closed club to minorities.
He eventually chose to switch gears and moved out of publishing and into
movie production.
Rudy was introduced to the
film world by none other than
Norman Mailer,
an American author and innovator of the non-fiction novel.
Mailer
agreed to write a screenplay for
Rudy which led to his
first Hollywood "development" deal.
The transition was made easier as there are many similarities between being
a producer and an editor. Rudy's criteria for working on a film is "What is the idea?". He is always seeking a big idea
and if it is a radical or controversial idea, then all the better.
I asked Rudy to describe the duties of an Executive Producer. Rudy answered
that the best description of producer that he has ever heard is
"a film is like a body that is always trying to die and it's the producer's
job to keep blowing life into it every day." He further explains
that this may mean everything from financing to keeping the various
competing interests moving in the same direction, putting out fires, keeping
focus on what you're doing. If focus is lost with many other visions coming
into view, it may result in a different movie than what the initial idea
was. Everyone has to see the same movie, understand the same vision and
then keep drawing it back to what that is.
Rudy wanted his first movie project to be based on The Rosy Crucifixion, a
trilogy of novels including Sexus, Plexus and Nexus by Henry Miller –
a “sexy tale”, says Rudy. It is autobiographical and tells the story of
Miller's first tempestuous marriage and his relentless sexual exploits in
New York. Rudy said that he chose this movie because Miller wrote the best
line about falling in love - "To fall in love with a woman means to break
every bond except the most terrible bond of all which is the fear of losing
her."
So, he asked
Norman Mailer
if he would write the screenplay who enlisted Milos Forman as the
director. Rudy then went to LA to raise money to finance his screenplay,
although he never intended on moving there. The ideal scenario for him was
that he wanted to make movies from New York yet continue to tap his literary
relationships in New York. The biggest issue with LA for him was that he
felt that LA (Hollywood) would not be open to making films based on serious
literature.
Ultimately however,
Rudy did relocate to LA.
Thank goodness, because the
films he has worked on are incredible true stories that have heightened our
awareness of human nature and frailty. They have taken us along on
someone's journey and opened our hearts. If you haven't checked out
his films (some of which are listed above), please do so. You won't be
disappointed!
I thoroughly enjoy Rudy's presence and
if so blessed, I will be updating you on his next project currently on the
horizon. It is the
Bob Marley
story, which I believe will be filmed in Toronto. |
Rudy Langlais with Mario van Peebles at the 2003 Planet Africa party
Rudy Langlais with Leah Hanes at ReelWorld
Film Festival Reception |
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::LANGFIELD
ENTERTAINMENT:: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS WITH A CANADIAN TWIST::
