Michael Davis: Once You Go Black, Part 3

Michael Davis

Master Of The Universe, Lord Of All Media, Most Interesting Black Man In the World, Sexiest Man on Earth, Mentor, Writer, Artist, Producer & Uppity.

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12 Responses

  1. Joe Nazzaro says:

    Michael, I would be curious if you’ve had meetings where the money people basically said, ‘We love the idea, but do the characters have to be black?’ immediately following that up with reasons why THEY’RE not racist, but OTHER PEOPLE are. MInd you, I think Hollywood executives can sometimes be color blind in terms of sheer stupidity; I remember Guillermo del Toro telling me about an early meeting he had for the first Hellboy, where they said, ‘We love the story, but does he have to be red?’ As if that was going to make a difference in marketing the film somewhere.

    • Joe-I HAVE had those type of meetings. I was asked if Static Shock had to be Black. I’m with you regarding Hollywood and their stupidity. I don’t think they are Hollywood racists I think Hollywood on some level believes what they hear if they hear it often enough.

      Black does not sell’ is just as popular as ‘It’s not what you know it’s who you know.’ It’s all bullshit.

  2. John Ostrander says:

    “Black doesn’t sell” is dogma and dogma is where thinking goes to die. In anything. Dogma is easier than thinking because it simply needs to be repeated mindlessly. Thinking is work.

  3. Doug Abramson says:

    Wait, what does PhD stand for then?

  4. Mark Turner says:

    ‘I think the problem is not that black doesn’t sell Mr. Hollywood but rather you don’t know how to sell black.” You’ve hit it on the head once again Michael, now the trick is to find a way to get around this. I know for a fact that there are stories just as epic, powerful, and have the potential to earn as much as any “Avengers” or “Lord of the Rings” (as examples) with people who don’t look like Mr. Hollywood either as the focus of the story or pulling the project together. Who can find these stories, make them happen and make Mr.Hollywood eat those words?

    • Tyler Perry makes Hollywood eat those words every film he does. I can’t stand his movies but I have nothing but respect for him and how he has bitch slapped Hollywood.

      • Joe Nazzaro says:

        I feel the same way; I just don’t understand Perry’s movies at all (especially Medea) but God bless him for finding a loophole in the Hollywood system. I’m sure the powers-that-be don’t understand it either, but if Perry can make a film for X amount of money that makes Y amount of profit, they’re probably happy to let him do what he does with a minimum of interference

        • I’m with you Joe. I don’t get it and I tried to watch more than a few of his movies but I was left with a “WTF?” kind of reaction.

          THAT said-he’s the real deal and when I meet him I’ll be happy to tell him that.

      • Mark Turner says:

        Came across this one today, you might find it interesting. Check it out.
        http://youtu.be/B4P3eLblmtw

  5. Reg says:

    mOTu, if you looked like my woman I’d kiss you for this. This is SO ON POINT. On EVERY level. Re: Heaven’s Gate…that’s a black (npi) hole of loss, and although Cimino took a UFC level career beatdown, there were 292 westerns at either the box office or DTV market last year.

    Re: TP’s movies…(albeit extremely limited) …he’s exploited a niche in the BLACK and Latino (to a lesser degree) market that’s allows him a couple of private islands, several monster cribs and a private jet. And that pales to what Hollywood has pulled in from his movies. Between 2007 and 2011, four of his movies pulled in a worldwide gross of almost…”One Biiilllliooon dollars.” Seems the ‘Blacker the movie, the greener the ROI.’

    A PHD once said…”I think the problem is not that black doesn’t sell Mr. Hollywood but rather you don’t know how to sell black.”

    Boom. There it is. Now if only Hollywood has ears to hear.