"Dope" filmmaker Rick Famuyiwa was influenced by Inglewood, Hip Hop and John Hughes movies. Author Jillian Lauren and her Weezer bassist husband share tales of a rock 'n' roll tour life with their young son. E3 Day one: Star Wars and virtual reality. Is Jeb Bush a "Die Hard" fan?
'Dope' combines Inglewood, hip-hop and John Hughes movies
Rick Famuyiwa, writer and director of the new movie "Dope," draws his story from his experiences growing up in Inglewood, listening to hip-hop and watching John Hughes films. Through his film, Famuyiwa works to redefine the mainstream and better understand the diverse audience the film attracts. He talked about it with the Frame in front of a live audience after a screening of the movie.
Product of Inglewood
A great deal of Famuyiwa's inspiration comes from Inglewood. It was childhood home, as well as the birthplace for his ideas and his self-discovery. Inglewood is the focal point of the film through the eyes of the protagonists and Famuyiwa.
"Inglewood for me was where I really found my voice — found sort of the core group of friends that I still have to today," Famuyiwa says. "It was the basis of my first movie, 'The Wood.' I was at a point in my career where I really wanted to revisit and redefine what I was doing as a filmmaker. I felt like Inglewood, being the place where I originally found my voice, would be the place where I could sort of redefine my voice."
However, the characters in "Dope" are not just representative of people living in Inglewood. While their experiences are specific to that world, they touch upon universal ideas of not fitting in. The feeling of not fitting for Famuyiwa is something he's experienced a lot.
Growing up, Famuyiwa could see parallels between the way he felt and characters in John Hughes films. That is why he believes that "Dope's" audience might be able to capture some of that too.
"I grew up watching a lot of John Hughes films like 'The Breakfast Club,' 'Sixteen Candles,' 'Weird Science' and 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' and I just felt like even though they were mainly set in middle class suburban Chicago, I could relate to these kids," Famuyiwa says. "My friends and I would quote lines from the movie, be silly and act crazy off of those films. I felt like, well, if we were able to connect to these kids in a way, why can't those kids from suburban Chicago connect with Malcolm, Jib and Diggie?"
Redefining the mainstream
Famuyiwa says he understands the diverse audience the film draws. He says that people watching the movie and its protagonists can see that these people could come from anywhere.
Famuyiwa does not consider the mainstream to be suburban and white. He says that thinking about the mainstream that way means labeling everything else as "other." Famuyiwa says his mainstream is more representative of America.
"That was part of the motivation for making the movie. It was, we could redefine things that are mainstream. I think when we talk about what is normal and mainstream in cinema, it always looks one way, which is white and suburban. But somehow when we talk about kids of color, who are from Inglewood or the south side of Chicago, we start to call it 'niche' or 'other.'"
That wasn't what Famuyiwa wanted to do.
"We have all these labels for it. You know, like 'urban films,' which always kind of tripped me out. Any movie set in a city is an 'urban film.' All these labels seem to come about when you talk about people of color. So I feel like we're sort of moving into what I call the new mainstream, which is what this room looks like, and what America looks like. I think film needs to start reflecting that, or it's going to become a dinosaur."
Despite having what appeared to be a great start, Famuyiwa still had difficulties producing his film.
"When we took this film out, I had met Pharrell Williams early on in the process, who read a treatment that I had of the script, come on board, want to do the music and be an executive producer. I met Forest Whitaker on our family wedding and we struck up a real bond and friendship. When I was thinking about who would get this as a producer, he had just finished doing 'Fruitvale [Station],' and I felt like it would be the perfect opportunity for us to work together, and he did too."
That gave Famuyiwa and his collaborators a sense of confidence, he says.
"We felt like, 'Man, we got a pretty good package.' I mean Pharrell is involved, and he's just coming off 'Happy,' and that is huge. Forest Whitaker is involved, and we have a great script — and nobody said yes. I mean, at least not to the script as I wanted to make it. A lot of them said, 'If you change this and don't deal with all the drugs and violence...' Keep them happy — the 'happy' world that they live in."
Famuyiwa says the people helping to dictate what kind of films get made don't understand the diverse audience they're speaking to.
"I mean, it looks like this. Really. when I was writing this. I was and am convinced that the audience that's out there is much different than what the studios think they are and what the networks think they are. I think the networks are slowly starting to figure it out, because now they can produce things at a rapid and quicker pace than the film side can."
Diversity is baked into what America is, Famuyiwa says.
"I think just the basic understanding that we are a multicultural country — it started that way, that's just sort of the basis of who we are. We all came here, whether by force or by choice, from somewhere else. It's always been the clash and celebration of that that has made America what it is and made America unique in the world. So, it's always curious to me that you would think in some ways that the best way of celebrating that is reflecting and showing it across the world, but for whatever reason, and we know that there are a lot of them, that has just looked the other way."
Famuyiwa says that all is changing now. Hip-hop has become an international language, and the relationship has grown from one between white suburban kids and kids in Inglewood to an international one.
"I firmly believe that there was a shift that has been happening for many generations — that is sort of manifesting itself now — that people from different walks of life could connect. We have a common language, we have a common pop culture that was driven by hip-hop that started in the '90s but is continuing now. So you can have a joke about the Bloods and Crips here, and also in France, which is surprising. I mean we were sitting at the theater in Cannes, and people were laughing at Jaleel and knew exactly what that meant. That is hip-hop and that's how hip-hop became the sort of common language that we all speak."
Hopefully, Famuyiwa says, with a firmer grasp of who the audience is, labels like "black cinema" will disappear. Assimilating these labels will help to create film with different perspectives, he adds, making movies as diverse as their filmmakers without needing to uphold arbitrary boundaries.
"'Black cinema' — I don't even know what that means. It's just cinema. When Paul Thomas Anderson makes a movie, we don't just say it's 'white cinema.' I mean, 'What is that going to do for white cinema and white filmmakers everywhere?' Nobody says that. Somehow when it's a film with black characters, it becomes 'black film' and 'What is this going to mean for black culture?' It's going to mean if you like it, you like it, and if you don't, you don't. So those labels are just always ridiculous to me. I'm a filmmaker. I'm going to speak and tell stories from my point of view, but I'm a filmmaker, and that's how I see myself."
"Dope" is set to be released June 19.
Weezer's tour life: Rocking out while changing diapers at the after-party
There's a lot of clichés when it comes to the rock star life: thousands of adoring fans, exclusive after-parties, traveling around the world... changing your son’s diaper on the tour bus?
Jillian Lauren is the author of the new book “Everything You Ever Wanted,” where she writes about her journey on the road with her husband Scott Shriner — the bassist for Los Angeles's own Weezer. They're also on the road with their adopted son Tariku. In the book, Lauren reveals the not-so-glamorous lifestyle for a traveling rock-and-roll family, and how their son has affected their life both on and off the road for the better.
The Frame talked with the couple about what it’s like when the night’s big encore is your kid asking for another bedtime story.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS:
What was tour life like before you adopted Tariku?
Shriner: Well now, before I adopted Tariku, I'd get on stage and my lovely wife would hand me a sandwich, a towel. She's like, "You're such a stud. Let me give you a back rub..."
Lauren: I know it sounds like he's being a little sarcastic, but he's not!
Shriner: It was really what it was like. And then, it went from that to, basically, all day chasing my son around parking lots with trucks and all kinds of mess. And I'd get off stage and I get handed this baby, 'cause [Jillian] would just be done.
She's like, "All right, I've been chasing him around for two hours while you're up there goofing around. So here, take him. I'm going to have a drink." So then I get off stage, covered in sweat, exhausted... like nothing. Here's a kid.
What are some challenges people don't know about when touring with a family?
Lauren: Well so much of life on the road is the minutiae of every day living, and handling it in this very contained space. Of course, with a kid there is exponentially more minutiae. Trying to give a baby a bath when there's no bathtub.
There's just a grody shower that the entire NHL has just been in, and I'm trying to hold him up, not trying to touch his precious little feet to the gross bottom of the shower. So it's stuff like that you don't think about in advanced. It was hard when he was little. It's really fun now.
What does your family do on the off-time on tour?
Shriner: Once in a while, we get a couple days off in between stops. But I was thinking of when we were on tour and we had two or three days off in Cleveland and we decided to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Lauren: Which has a big lit up, giant Weezer "W" hanging over the gift shop. So we were like, "Oh, Weezer. We're so welcomed here." But Tariku at that time was having some very challenging behaviors, and he was a bolter. You'd put him down somewhere and he would run. So this is why tour was so challenging when he was young.
So we were in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and then we were in the room that had John Lennon's piano on a platform in the center of the room. And I really just turned my head for a second and the next thing we knew, he was under the ropes and banging away on that piano.
It must have been 15 security guards came running, and I ran for Tariku and threw him over my shoulder, and Scott was standing in between us and the security guards. He was like, "Wait! We've got it. We're on our way out. It's OK! Don't touch my son!" And they paraded us out and we walked out right under the Weezer sign. We got 86'd from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Shriner: For being very rock and roll. For just going up and playing the piano.
What is Tariku's favorite Weezer song?
Lauren: "The Good Life" was his very first favorite Weezer song.
Shriner: Yeah, and he loves "Tired of Sex." He has no idea what it is or why you would be tired or what sex is or anything.
Lauren: I just wonder what his friends' parents must think that we're listening to songs like "Hash Pipe" and "Tired of Sex." You know, he's a rock baby. What am I gonna do? It's his dad's band.
Does your family like being on the road?
Shriner: It's a great life. It is really amazing. So in it, it can sometimes seem hard.
Lauren: The touring life isn't for everybody, but it's always been for us.
Shriner: It's part of our spirit.
The band, and family, are currently on tour around the U.S., and Lauren’s book, “Everything You Ever Wanted,” is out now.
E3 2015: Augmented reality Minecraft, 'prosumers' and a new 'Star Wars' game
We talk a lot about movie blockbusters on this show — there’s a new one with some big dinosaurs in theaters, if you didn’t hear. But video games are an even bigger part of leisure time spending, and it’s a business that’s drawing a lot of dollars from other forms of entertainment.
One estimate predicts that global video game sales will exceed $110 billion this year. Global box office business this year should be around $37 billion, and that’s a third of video game revenues.
This week in downtown Los Angeles, thousands of video game developers are gathering for the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo — or E3, as it’s known. Gamers are eagerly awaiting the latest news from developers like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, and to find out how the industry plans to embrace virtual reality hardware.
covers the videogame industry for the Wall Street Journal and spoke with the Frame’s John Horn.
Interview Highlights
How big is E3 and who’s there?
“It’s massive, and pretty much every game company you can think of is here. Particularly consoles... but there’s also a really big section devoted to mobile and online gaming this year. And of course, the big one that everyone cares about the most: virtual reality."
Is there any sense of what direction the companies that are creating content for virtual reality are going?
“It’s a little too early for that, to know exactly what types of games. There have been a number of demos that we’ve seen. They’re a lot like experiences you would get at a theme park... almost like a ride. But we don’t really know a lot of the details on what games are going to come out.”
What game are you looking forward to?
"I would like to check out that Star Wars game...
"Certainly 'Halo,' and if I could see that 'Minecraft' demo that they did with the HoloLens up close, that would certainly be a nice perk.”
What is HoloLens?
“HoloLens is augmented reality, which is a little different than virtual reality... It’s using hologram technology, which is something that’s a 360 degree immersive experience. But it’s different, and it’s really something you kind of have to see for yourself.”
How many people will be attending?
“We’re talking about 50,000 people at E3. And this year they’re bringing in about 5,000 ‘prosumers.’ And if you’re wondering what a prosumer is, you should be, because it’s a made-up word. It’s really a combination of "professional" and "consumer." And these are people who have significant social media followings and they’ve been invited by ESA — which is the governing body of E3 — to come and really spread the word about what’s going on here on their social media channels. And they have a lot of influence on other consumers, so their voices really matter a lot. In fact, some people might argue that their voices matter more than that of journalists like myself.”