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4C
MOVIES
A young director brings friendship
and filmmaking together in The Wood
HOLLYWOOD
The Wood isbased on writer/
director Rick Famuyiwa’s vivid
memories of growing up in the
middle-class African-Ameri
can neighborhood of
Inglewood, California which
he and his boyhood pals fondly
refer to as The Wood. The
ensemble comedy, starring
Taye Diggs, Omar Epps and
RichardT.Jones, opensin the
aters nationwide on July 16.
Famuyiwa originated the
story idea several years ago
when a friend of his announced
hewas getting married and he
and Famuyiwa found them
selves reminiscing for hours
about the good old days.
Says Famuyiwa, “Twohours
later, we were still talking.
You can’t help but look back
when you reach milestones in
your life. This conversation
started the wheels turning in
my head about how these mo
ments of recollection and sen
timentality would be a good
subject for a film.”
Mike (Epps) and Slim
(Jones) never thought they’'d
see the day their man Roland
(Diggs) would strut down the
aisle to get married. Neither,
apparently, did Roland, who
ducks out just hours before
the ceremony and turns up at
the house of his high school
sweetheart, Tanya (Tamala
Jones). Though he adores his
fiancee (Lisaßaye), Roland
sees the impending nuptials
as a separation from his pals
who have always been closest
to him.
Famuyiwa attended USC
where he was a liberal arts
major with a concentration in
political science and pre-law.
He also played basketball as
an undergraduate before
switching to USC’s School of
Cinema-Television tomajorin
film. The 25-year-old director
says one of the things that
spurred his interest in film
making was seeing Oliver
Stone’s epicJFK. When I saw
JFK, I realized what a major
impact films can have on
people and I wanted todo that
with my own films.”
In 1995, during his senior
yearat USC, Famuyiwa wrote
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Writer/director Rick Famuyiwa (left) and Omar Epps (middle) on the set of The Wood.
and directed his critically-ac
claimed thesis film Blacktop
Lingo, a 12-minute short film
about basketball. In 1996 the
film was one of only 29 films
selected from 1,500 submis
sions to be screened at the
Sundance Film Festival and
earned Famuyiwa the distinc
tion of becoming the first un
dergraduate from USC toever
have a film shown there.
After graduating in 1996,
Famuyiwa teamed with his
former USC film school pro
fessor Todd Bord and worked
on the story for The Wood.
Famuyiwa submitted the
screenplay to the Sundance
Institute’s screenwriters and
directors lab, which helps in
dependent filmmakers de
velop features and line up fi
nancing. He attended the lab
in the summer of 1997. At the
time, Famuyiwa was working
at the Beverly Hills Niketown,
selling sneakers by day and
writing his screenplays at
night.
USC professor Todd Boyd,
who mentored Famuyiwa
while he was a film student in
his department and later col
laborated with him on the story
of The Wood, says, “Ithastruly
been one of the most gratify
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ing experiences of my life to
watch Rick direct this film and
have it all come so naturally
for him.”
Famuyiwa says interest in
The Wood represents a shiftin
the marketplace toward new
representations of African-
American life.
“It was important to me to
reveal the Inglewood that I
grew up in,” says Famuyiwa.
“Inglewood is a middle-class
community where people care
about their families and want
the best for their kids, just like
any other city. It has suffered
from a lot of misconceptions,”
says Famuyiwa adding that
like so many places in the
world, “negative elements are
only asmall percentage of daily
life.”
In choosing the three actors
to portray him and his two
best friends, Famuyiwa paid
close attention to their chem
istryand actingrange. “These
guys are all great actors and I
knew I could put them all to
gether and their personalities
would mesh.”
Their camaraderieis evident
on screen and extended off
screen as well. “It’s been a
great experience working with
these guys,” says Richard T.
Jones.
Famuyiwa describes his de
but feature as a coming-of-age
story. “I think everyone can
relate to it because it’s about
experiences everyone has to
go through. Adolescence can
be a rough time: there’s hu
mor and pain in the experi
ence, and friendship means
everything during that period
of your life.”
Omar Epps says it was im
portant for him to be a part of
a film that reflects a positive
image of African-American
culture. “There are two sides
toeverystory,” says Epps, “and
the young, urban film genre
has constantly shown only one
side. Now we’re telling the
otherside about family, friend
ship and love.”
Love is not what’s scaring
Roland (Diggs) from his plans
tomarry Lisa. It’s the age-old
‘guy thing’ — fear of commit
ment.
“Roland suddenly has sec
ond, third and fourth thoughts
about marriage, wondering if
he’s settling down with the
right person at theright time,”
says Diggs. “He runs off to try
to sort things out, and Mike
and Slim find him and try to
bring him back. I think every
man can relate to the situa
tion. Youknow you’ve met the
right woman, but you're still
wondering — what if ...”
Filming in Inglewood gave
Famuyiwa a new perspective
of his boyhood home, and an
even deeper appreciation of
neighborhood ties. “It waskind
of weird because we shot at
the school and a convenience
store right around the corner
from where I grew up,”hesays.
“Between takes it would hit
me that I was back home, but
looking at it with a much dif
ferent eye. People came up to
me who I remember from back
when I was a kid, running
around with my friends. It
was a great experience.”
Music plays a prominentrole
in The Wood in helping to de
fine the ‘Bos era. Culling from
what many describe as hip
hop’s ‘golden age’—the period
of time directly preceding rap
—the film features seminal
beats and lyrics from some of
the industry’s front runners
including Run DMC, Eric B &
Rakim, Whodini, Heavy D and
Biz Markie.
“The film useshiphop asthe
soundtrack of these guys’
lives,” explains Famuyiwa.
“This is the music they grew
up with. Hip hop was so new
when they were growing up
and it waschangingasrapidly
as they were.” From Adidas
and gold chains towearingred,
black and green, and African
medallions a few years later,
Famuyiwa says trends
changed as quickly as their
lives.
The film also includes such
R&B classics as “If This World
Were Mine,” by Luther
Vandross and Cheryl Lynn and
“Ready or Not,” from After 7.
“I wrote about what I re
membered growing up,” says
Famuyiwa. “I thini its a uni
versal experience.”
Just as art imitates life in
The Wood, so too can life imi
tate art. This summer, 25-
year-old director Rick
Famuyiwa will marry hislong
time USC sweetheart Glenita
Mosley becoming the second
guy in the trio to take that
nuptial plunge. And thenthere
was one ...