(Originally published on Kickstarter on June 21)
First of all, thank you all for pledging to make this movie happen! I'm so overwhelmed with the positive response this has gotten, and I'm forever grateful.
Something interesting I've noticed so far... Since I launched this project last Thursday (16% already in only 5 days!), I have gotten so many emails and posts on Facebook from people telling me that they too are white alligators. I love this. I've inadvertently coined a new phrase! Let the white alligator be our symbol for anyone who falls outside "the box"!
This brings to mind something a very wise man once said to me (okay, it was Larry Fleming, nutritionist extraordinaire, during a Little Lads cooking class, and he addressed the entire class, but whatever...). He said that in this country, the consumer controls the product. Yes, at the time he was encouraging us to demand true whole wheat bread with no nutrients taken out and replaced by wood chips for fiber...but the lesson was that he was encouraging us to demand what we want, and take no substitutions! If we want to truly see a change in this country, hell, let's demand it! Yes, I dare write that films can change the world. This is why I do what I do. Let's demand more acceptance of minorities in lead roles. Let's make movies where we're all actually equal, and the asian isn't stuck always playing the best friend. Let films be an actual slice of life, where we have every age, race and creed comingling on screen, just as we do in real life. Quick poll: Has anyone ever said when meeting a "minority" (which is actually the majority, let's face it, this is America), I'm sorry, you don't fit into what I think my intended demographic wants, so I can't actually converse with you. Answer: I think not. All of these Hollywood rules are all of a sudden sounding ridiculous, aren't they?
I'll leave you with this: a friend wrote to me saying that my film sounded a lot like Hollywood Shuffle. I looked the film up. I had never heard of it. It came out in 1987 and made quite a bit of money, putting Robert Townsend on the map, and some argue, started the indie movement. I read about the film, and he was saying the same exact thing I'm saying. Twenty-four years ago. How long does it take a society to learn a lesson? I guess we'll find out...
First of all, thank you all for pledging to make this movie happen! I'm so overwhelmed with the positive response this has gotten, and I'm forever grateful.
Something interesting I've noticed so far... Since I launched this project last Thursday (16% already in only 5 days!), I have gotten so many emails and posts on Facebook from people telling me that they too are white alligators. I love this. I've inadvertently coined a new phrase! Let the white alligator be our symbol for anyone who falls outside "the box"!
This brings to mind something a very wise man once said to me (okay, it was Larry Fleming, nutritionist extraordinaire, during a Little Lads cooking class, and he addressed the entire class, but whatever...). He said that in this country, the consumer controls the product. Yes, at the time he was encouraging us to demand true whole wheat bread with no nutrients taken out and replaced by wood chips for fiber...but the lesson was that he was encouraging us to demand what we want, and take no substitutions! If we want to truly see a change in this country, hell, let's demand it! Yes, I dare write that films can change the world. This is why I do what I do. Let's demand more acceptance of minorities in lead roles. Let's make movies where we're all actually equal, and the asian isn't stuck always playing the best friend. Let films be an actual slice of life, where we have every age, race and creed comingling on screen, just as we do in real life. Quick poll: Has anyone ever said when meeting a "minority" (which is actually the majority, let's face it, this is America), I'm sorry, you don't fit into what I think my intended demographic wants, so I can't actually converse with you. Answer: I think not. All of these Hollywood rules are all of a sudden sounding ridiculous, aren't they?
I'll leave you with this: a friend wrote to me saying that my film sounded a lot like Hollywood Shuffle. I looked the film up. I had never heard of it. It came out in 1987 and made quite a bit of money, putting Robert Townsend on the map, and some argue, started the indie movement. I read about the film, and he was saying the same exact thing I'm saying. Twenty-four years ago. How long does it take a society to learn a lesson? I guess we'll find out...
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