Off Days: What are Those: Another Infamous Weekend Wrap-Up

Friday:
I chilled with Keenon and Rod for a minute while they were editing Just the Two of Us. There will be another showing of Keenon and Rod's masterpiece on April 3 at 7 PM at Studio on the Square. Later, Rod and I met Derrick Engleberg, the lead in Spin Cycle, at Nappi by Nature. Nappi By Nature, on Winchester, is a barber and natural hair shop owned and operated by Powwah and Phuchah. They are a married couple. Powwah is also a very powerful spoken word poet and clothing designer. Phuchah makes hats, bags, and sings in two bands, Finga Pop and Potlikor. They are real DIY-type people. Powwah cut Derrick's hair because Rod wanted his character to have a haircut for the rest of the movie. Derrick began growing his dreads for spiritual reasons, but agreed to the cut for the good of the movie. I feel like that was an unwritten agreement between Rod and Derrick. Now, we all HAVE to play our part. It was interesting to watch. Rod documented the experience because he wants to document the entire Spin Cycle experience. After that, we called it a night.

Saturday:

First, I attended Gridiron Reharsal for the play "Waltzing In Memphis". I felt like I had a good rehearsal. Next, I picked up Keenon Nikita (Poor and Hungry, director: Just the Two of Us) and we attended the Lil'Film Fest at the Media Co-Op. It was sponsored by Live From Memphis, which is a website that has comprehensive news on music, film, and the arts in Memphis (www.LiveFromMemphis.com). Filmmakers Sarah Fleming and Chris Reyes are the principal coordinators for Live From Memphis/ Also in attendance was Morgan Fox (Dollars and Signs, Blue Citrus Hearts), filmmaker Edward Phillips (Grim Sweeper), John Pickle (Pickle TV, Importance of Being Russell), Location scout David Merrill (Black Snake Moan), and my fellow cast and crew for Arrogant Dead People: Jon Sparks (www.jonwsparks.blogspot.com), Jen Morris (Delusions, Divine Manipulation of the Threads), Travis Stone (Ray, Divine Manipulation), Ms. Sparks, and Joseph Smith (Delusions, Divine Manipulations). Others on hand were Lina Fritsche (Delusions, Divine Manipulations), Carole Rowland (Mail Call, Oz's Lion), Lavita Brooks (Divine Manipulations, Survivor), and my fellow castmate from Imagine, Morris Chism (Imagine, The Tank). Rod Pitts' short Imagine wound up winning. Everybody started leaving before the votes were counted. I told LaVita that I wanted to be there in case Rod won. I got up, took the $100 dollar prize from Sarah, and made a short speech. Some of the other filmmakers were telling me that they would get us next time. That's the attitude I want them to have! Let's step our games up! Keenon, LaVita and I went to Rod's job and presented him with the money and congratulated him. Not only did Rod get money (which he will spend on film equipment), but Imagine is automatically entered into the Indie Memphis Film Festival in
October. Shout out to Rod and my Pittstop Productions family: Morris, Learyn Wilde (Survivor, Just the Two of Us), Jason Dancy (Survivor, Just the Two of Us), April Hale (Survivor, Just the Two of Us), and Shantrece of Memphis 10s (www.memphis10s.com). I played The Spectre, a death-like character. I didn't speak, and I wore a skull mask. I spoke in Arrogant Dead People, and it didn't win. I am happy for Rod, he's my film mentor, big brother type figure, all-around decent dude. It just bruised the ego a little bit that I couldn't win for the one that I'm seen and talking in. Shout out to my parents, Lillian and Crossett McGhee, for attending. They each voted for one of my films. Love ya, parents! Shout out also to Lin Workman, creator of the comic Bushi Tales, and the creator of Muley the Mule, Kevin. They had a funny short where the Muley character was playing Clark Kent and Superman. They also know actor/comic book creator Martheus Antone Wade (www.toshigawa.com).

Later, Rod, Keenon, and I had our "victory celebration" at Yum's. Hey, we're independent filmmakers. No champagne this time. Keenon got on me about not hustiling enough. He thinks I should do something with my spoken word/hip-hop ability. He's right. I'm just not the best multitasker. After dropping off Keenon, Rod and I went over Derrick Engelberg's house and shot a scene for Spin Cycle. Rod, Derrick, and Andrea, a newcomer, shot in a tight space, so my sound skills were not needed. I sat and watched the Soul Train Awards. I felt pretty useless, and a little jealous. I want to be a lead! I want to do scenes opposite cute girls! Maybe some day. We called it a day after that.

Sunday:

Rod had planned to include me in Memphis 10s shoot, but Shantrece vetoed him because the girls would be in their "unmentionables". So, I waited in the car while Rod showed her how to work his camera. Again, feeling useless. At least the sky was pretty. Afterwards, we met at the U of M law building to shoot scenes for Spin Cycle. He mainly shot with Javon Jackson (Divine Manipulation) and Derrick. We found someone to play a psychiatrist and I played my Film Geek character as a patient. Again, I didn't speak. At least I did fake like I was crying. Yay. Rod got a brotha feelin' like Charlie Chaplin around here. Later, we shot at Billiards on Highland, and were joined by April Hale, her brother who raps under the name Buckwild, and Nataki Caver (Just the Two of Us, What Goes Around). It was a good day of shooting, and I did my thing as a soundman. It's hard doing sound when you're an actor, though. I was jealous! Eric and Jovan got to dress nice and were opposite beautiful women. Again, I wonder what that's like. Around 4PM, I left location and drove to my side of town for choreography and song rehearsal for Waltzing in Memphis. I really need to learn these songs and the choreography!

Tonight, I'm playing hooky from play rehearsal to attend the premiere of Divine Manipulation of the Threads. It starts showing today around 1:30, but most of the cast is attending the 7:35 showing tonight. This should be cool! It's showing from March 27-March 30 at Studio on the Square. That's just pretty cool for an indie film! It should be a celebration. Be easy, readers.