WEBVTT 1 00:00:01.159 --> 00:00:05.080 You are now listening to the Someone's Favorite Productions podcast Network. 2 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:09.519 Whoa whoa, whoa whoa? 3 00:00:09.599 --> 00:00:12.279 Ohoa, Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'm ready. I'm ready. 4 00:00:13.320 --> 00:00:16.600 Welcome to Split Your Head, a biweekly podcast hosted by 5 00:00:16.640 --> 00:00:24.600 me Bob that covers the gamut of all things horror, exploitation, cult, underground, experimental, transgressive, bizarre, 6 00:00:24.719 --> 00:00:27.239 and indie. I've been fortunate enough to connect with some 7 00:00:27.280 --> 00:00:30.600 of the most groundbreaking and upcoming filmmakers, writers. 8 00:00:30.160 --> 00:00:30.800 And artists. 9 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:33.679 Don't expect a typical interview. I love shooting the shoot 10 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:36.880 with my guests and stumbling on surprising topics that literally 11 00:00:36.920 --> 00:00:40.479 split our heads. From spider comedies to nihilistic sleeves, a 12 00:00:40.600 --> 00:00:43.920 comfortable art house to genre classics forgets my brain buzzing 13 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:46.799 and cracking wide open like a watermelon full of blood 14 00:00:47.280 --> 00:00:51.880 that I would like to share with your emails now 15 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:54.479 part of the Someone's Favorite Productions Podcast Network. 16 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:59.079 Hi Mom, Hello there, and welcome back. 17 00:00:59.359 --> 00:01:01.079 What is this place that's connected? 18 00:01:01.240 --> 00:01:03.079 It's connected, that's corrected. 19 00:01:02.799 --> 00:01:04.719 I've reached the number that has been disconnected. 20 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:09.879 Hello there, everyone, and welcome back to the disc Connected. 21 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:12.439 You won't know this, but this is actually take two 22 00:01:12.519 --> 00:01:16.959 of a conversation with mister Mike Dennis and Sam Furstenberg. Gentlemen, 23 00:01:17.200 --> 00:01:18.599 thanks so much for doing this again. 24 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:25.400 Oh qu sure, wonderful. We love to be on your show. 25 00:01:25.560 --> 00:01:29.280 It's wonder We are here to talk about a movie 26 00:01:29.280 --> 00:01:32.319 that I've been anticipating for a long time, and that 27 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:35.799 is Riverband. Sam, you are the director of Riverband. Can 28 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:37.519 you tell us what Riverband is? 29 00:01:38.480 --> 00:01:44.519 Correct? Riverband is a very very unique, interesting movie. I 30 00:01:44.599 --> 00:01:48.959 wouldn't say it's a provocative subject. It deals with the 31 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:55.439 racial injustice in the segregated South in the nineteen sixties 32 00:01:56.200 --> 00:02:00.840 during the height of the civil rights movements, so it's controversial, 33 00:02:01.000 --> 00:02:06.200 it's different. It has a twist and turns in it 34 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:13.439 which are I don't want to to get your older spoilers, 35 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:19.879 and fantastic ending, really unexpected ending. The star of the 36 00:02:19.919 --> 00:02:23.560 movie is Steve James that I worked with him in 37 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:27.159 American Ninja one and American Ninja two, also in another movie, 38 00:02:27.800 --> 00:02:31.719 Avenging Force, and the co star is Margaret Avery, the 39 00:02:31.800 --> 00:02:37.360 leading lady Margaret Avery from the color Purple and so overall, 40 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:42.439 and there is some other great great actors, great performances, 41 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:48.439 interesting subject and more or less it tells the story 42 00:02:48.479 --> 00:02:53.319 of three soldiers, three black soldiers who are coming back 43 00:02:53.360 --> 00:02:57.080 from Vietnam to the South, to the Deep South. They 44 00:02:57.120 --> 00:03:00.759 are not from the South, they are from Chicago, from California, 45 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:04.840 and they witness the injustice. They see what's happening in 46 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:08.599 a small town which is called Riverbend, and and they 47 00:03:08.639 --> 00:03:12.759 want to correct. They decide to correct the situation, the 48 00:03:14.080 --> 00:03:17.560 bigotry which is going on in the town, and the 49 00:03:17.599 --> 00:03:20.080 way they know to do it is a military way, 50 00:03:20.159 --> 00:03:23.879 the way they they learned in being in the military 51 00:03:23.879 --> 00:03:30.039 in Vietnam. And the rest of the story is the 52 00:03:30.159 --> 00:03:35.120 unrevealing the evolution of what has happened in this little town, 53 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:42.319 which they take the lead in helping the locals to 54 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:46.960 resolve the problem. That's as much as I can reveal 55 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:47.800 for now. 56 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:52.719 Well, on that note, Mike, can you share why you're 57 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.439 here and you got stuck with the project for one 58 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:58.000 that you've been working on for years, stuck in a 59 00:03:58.039 --> 00:04:00.360 way that it's a it's a mission and that you've 60 00:04:00.400 --> 00:04:02.479 been longing to accomplish for a very long time. 61 00:04:02.560 --> 00:04:05.919 I think it chose it chose me somehow. The serendipity 62 00:04:06.080 --> 00:04:09.719 is incredible and that's what's been keeping us going but 63 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:15.479 basically Riverbend. It was a movie that you know, I 64 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:20.879 was dangerously It was never exploited on any physical media 65 00:04:20.879 --> 00:04:24.160 outside of VHS, right. It never played on cable TV, 66 00:04:25.439 --> 00:04:28.319 it never made it to laser disc, it didn't make 67 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:32.040 it to DVD. So during the pandemic, or a little 68 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:36.120 bit before I started, I had a brick and mortar 69 00:04:36.759 --> 00:04:40.160 screening series I ran for sixteen years in Philadelphia, and 70 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:44.720 we never ran Riverbend there. But I after I closed 71 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:48.399 shopped there, I decided I'd start putting rarities from my 72 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:52.120 collection on YouTube, and one of them happened to be Riverbend. 73 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:59.040 And maybe about three months later, I got an email 74 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:02.279 from Sam First and and I'm thinking, oh, this is 75 00:05:02.279 --> 00:05:06.120 gonna be a cease and desist, you know, he says, 76 00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:08.879 I said, because the subject line was I'm Sam Personverg, 77 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:12.199 director of Riverbend. And I opened it up and said, no, 78 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:14.279 you're doing the movie a great service. Thank you for 79 00:05:14.319 --> 00:05:17.639 putting it up and sharing it. It was independently produced 80 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:21.079 and it needs to be seen by as many people 81 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:21.759 as possible. 82 00:05:22.279 --> 00:05:22.480 Right. 83 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:25.800 So, and what Sam didn't mention is that this film 84 00:05:25.879 --> 00:05:28.439 is unique in the sense that it shows black people 85 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:33.199 teaching one another, how to stand up against their oppressor, right, 86 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:36.600 So that automatically interests me. My YouTube channel is all 87 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:40.519 about black empowerment, and I was just curious about how 88 00:05:40.519 --> 00:05:43.839 the film got made, so we started setting interviews with 89 00:05:43.920 --> 00:05:48.000 Sam Me and Charles Woods, who actually turned me onto 90 00:05:48.040 --> 00:05:51.839 the film in the first place. And in the process, 91 00:05:51.920 --> 00:05:55.839 while we were talking, a thirty five millimeter print of 92 00:05:55.879 --> 00:05:59.560 the film shows up on eBay and I didn't know what. 93 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:01.360 I didn't know what to do, but I knew it 94 00:06:01.399 --> 00:06:05.399 was a rare circumstance or instance, so I put a 95 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:07.920 bit on it won it. It was in South Africa, 96 00:06:07.920 --> 00:06:12.040 of all places, and it literally took about three or 97 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:15.279 four months for it to show up at my house. 98 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.079 It was packed in a cardboard box with all kinds 99 00:06:18.120 --> 00:06:20.680 of tape on it and everything, and it sat under 100 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:24.240 my desk for a good six or eight months, and 101 00:06:24.279 --> 00:06:28.480 then I decided I should get the scanned and see 102 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.319 see what the quality is, you know, and maybe we 103 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:35.800 can show it around. And we did that and the 104 00:06:35.879 --> 00:06:38.639 scan was it was The print was horrible. I mean, 105 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:41.000 Sam can take it from there, you know. 106 00:06:41.000 --> 00:06:44.759 But yeah, it was a print that was thirty five 107 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:47.720 millimeter print. The way we used to see movies, and 108 00:06:47.800 --> 00:06:52.800 maybe it was to run through screening machines hundreds of time. 109 00:06:53.639 --> 00:06:58.120 You know, not all projectors are good. Some projectors scratches. 110 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:03.639 It was heavily scratch and dirt. You know, when there 111 00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.240 is dirt on the print, it shows immediately in the 112 00:07:06.800 --> 00:07:12.199 in the digitized copy. But there is a process of cleaning. 113 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:17.959 Mike Michael found somebody who who knows the technology of cleaning, 114 00:07:18.360 --> 00:07:22.839 and the digital copy was cleaned from all the scratches 115 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:26.839 and from all the spots, the dirt spots, which was amazing. 116 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:34.079 But to our disappointment, we found out that six scenes 117 00:07:34.120 --> 00:07:37.639 were cut out of the print, either to make it 118 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:41.120 short for any other reason that we don't understand, probably 119 00:07:41.160 --> 00:07:44.319 to make it it's longer than ninety minutes. And you 120 00:07:44.360 --> 00:07:48.240 know in theaters the best, the best movies for timing 121 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:52.120 is ninety minutes. So six scenes were missing, and we 122 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:56.000 couldn't scan that. The quality of the VHS that existed 123 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:01.360 is very very i can say, very poor quality, very 124 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:05.560 poor visual quality. So we tried, Michael tried to transfer 125 00:08:05.639 --> 00:08:08.920 from the vhs, but it looked terrible. It was very 126 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:13.000 poor compared with the with the fantastic at the time, 127 00:08:13.040 --> 00:08:16.399 it was two K resolution of the transfer to dig 128 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:22.279 the digit digital transfer and suddenly those scenes. So this 129 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:25.800 was the fate of this and we went Michael Wright. 130 00:08:25.839 --> 00:08:29.600 We went to few festivals with this digital premiere. 131 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:35.159 That's a serendipity. So Craig Rogers everybody watching those you know, 132 00:08:35.200 --> 00:08:40.600 who was part of Deaf Crocodile Video label. He did 133 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:44.399 the initial restoration of the thirty five minuilimeter release print 134 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:47.440 that was cut, and we premiered that in Denton, Texas 135 00:08:47.440 --> 00:08:53.159 in January of twenty twenty four, right so at the 136 00:08:53.240 --> 00:08:58.639 Denton Black Film Festival. And it was there that we 137 00:08:58.720 --> 00:09:02.320 met Valerie Van who was one of the original producers 138 00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:07.039 and her nephew Marcus, who plays the Sun in the movie. 139 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:10.200 And if it wasn't for them, we would not be 140 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:12.519 here talking about a Blu ray release or anything like 141 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:17.480 that because they helped us secure the rights and access 142 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:22.840 the original interpositive and internegative and original thirty five million 143 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:26.799 sound elements as well. So what we have now that's 144 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:30.519 gonna premiere in February around in theaters around the country, 145 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:36.440 starting in New York and Philadelphia, is a pristine six 146 00:09:36.600 --> 00:09:43.639 K restoration done by Austin Squittieri of Real Revival. Wow. 147 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:51.440 Out of the four original producers, which one of them 148 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:54.399 was the writer Sam Vince wrote the script to this movie, 149 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:59.120 only one is still involved with us is Hillary Vance. 150 00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:02.919 She was one of the producer. She helped the wife 151 00:10:02.919 --> 00:10:06.879 of Advance, and she helped him in writing I remember 152 00:10:06.919 --> 00:10:11.240 at the time, and thankfully she's still here. We still 153 00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:15.639 you know, even for the screening in Texas, we managed 154 00:10:15.679 --> 00:10:19.000 to found we found the stunt coordinator of the movie. 155 00:10:19.440 --> 00:10:24.039 He lives in Texas, Mike, Mike Shank. He came to 156 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.159 the screening later on. For later screening we got some 157 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:31.279 of the cast members. Michael will tell you about it. 158 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.480 So there are pretty still many people. We found the 159 00:10:34.679 --> 00:10:38.840 original composer of the music, he's from Texas. So still 160 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:43.519 pretty many people who are involved in making this movie 161 00:10:44.200 --> 00:10:47.960 are still around. And as we advance, we find and 162 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:51.320 we make connection with more and more of them. So 163 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:55.720 this is very nice. Just sadly enough, the writer, the 164 00:10:55.799 --> 00:10:58.399 brain behind the story, he is not with us anymore. 165 00:10:58.679 --> 00:10:59.720 He passed away. 166 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:02.519 Steve of course also Simmons. 167 00:11:03.080 --> 00:11:05.960 I don't think we went into the serendipity there as 168 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.279 much as we probably could have. What what happened in 169 00:11:08.360 --> 00:11:10.440 Denton because it sounded like I was just playing for 170 00:11:10.519 --> 00:11:12.440 us to meet up with Valerie. But that's not exactly 171 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:13.279 how it went. Right. 172 00:11:14.200 --> 00:11:17.919 Well, I mean we started to thank God for YouTube again, right, 173 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:22.000 So we started doing like little promo pieces to advertise 174 00:11:22.039 --> 00:11:26.399 the Denton screening, and Marcus Coleman happened to see one 175 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:29.559 of them and told his aunt Valerie, Hey, they're bringing 176 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:32.639 Riverband back to Texas. You know you want to go? 177 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:36.559 And the and Harry and and Linda Edie at the 178 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:40.039 Denton Black Film as well. They were so gracious they 179 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:44.120 provided accommodations for them to come to Texas and be 180 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:47.480 with us on very short notice. But we hit it 181 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:51.159 off right away, So that that was the serendipity. 182 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:55.480 Yeah, because we will For a long time, we were 183 00:11:55.559 --> 00:11:59.759 looking more Wiz was more Michael. He was looking for 184 00:11:59.799 --> 00:12:03.840 the event says for all the producers and could not 185 00:12:03.960 --> 00:12:08.639 find they just disappeared. Eventually he made contact with the 186 00:12:08.720 --> 00:12:12.679 other two producers not with Valor Events, and one day 187 00:12:12.720 --> 00:12:18.879 I'm getting an email from Valeri Events. So she found 188 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:22.600 us eventually, after a long process. Michael really put a 189 00:12:22.639 --> 00:12:25.399 lot of energy into trying to find her, but couldn't, 190 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:29.759 and because he moved a few addresses and telephone different 191 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:33.759 telephone numbers, and suddenly she found us. So that's how, 192 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:37.679 And it was only a few days before the screening 193 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:38.440 in the festival. 194 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.679 But Ryan, get this one though, This is even more 195 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:45.279 incredible how things connect, right. I mean, I really believe 196 00:12:45.320 --> 00:12:47.840 in what they said the power of the universe and 197 00:12:47.879 --> 00:12:51.799 when you start to like take a step forward, things 198 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:57.440 that happen. So after Denton and there was a premiere 199 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:02.159 screening of a movie called Naked Acts, which was going 200 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:05.440 to be at the Lightbox Film Center, and I teach 201 00:13:05.480 --> 00:13:07.879 it as a black film that I was very much 202 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.960 aware of, and so I made an extra credit assignment 203 00:13:11.320 --> 00:13:13.960 for my students at Temple University to attend, and we 204 00:13:14.000 --> 00:13:17.480 got free tickets to go, and you know, the majority 205 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:20.480 of the class came and I filmed the Q and A, 206 00:13:20.759 --> 00:13:26.960 which is on the YouTube channel. But what happened. I 207 00:13:27.000 --> 00:13:32.320 happened to be sitting next to Dennis Doros of Milestone Films, 208 00:13:32.559 --> 00:13:35.279 and at the end of the screening, I happened to 209 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.840 tell him about Riverbend and the fact that we just 210 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:40.639 did a premiere but we had a release print. We 211 00:13:40.639 --> 00:13:43.519 couldn't find the negative, and there was you know, we 212 00:13:43.559 --> 00:13:46.159 couldn't go any further. And he said, well, you know 213 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:49.879 I have this organization Missing Movies dot org. Let me 214 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:52.440 make a few phone calls. And this was on a 215 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:56.240 Wednesday night, I think by Friday said, I found the negative. 216 00:13:57.159 --> 00:13:58.240 It's a photo kem. 217 00:13:58.679 --> 00:13:59.919 The original negative. 218 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:05.840 Yeah. So we had to go through some legal maneuverings 219 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:08.279 to be able to access the negative and all the 220 00:14:08.320 --> 00:14:11.000 thirty five millimeters elements. But again, you know, if I 221 00:14:11.000 --> 00:14:13.960 didn't bring my students to the screening and happened to 222 00:14:14.000 --> 00:14:16.720 talk to Dennis, we wouldn't be here today. 223 00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:22.080 So Milestone is a company that has put out some 224 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:26.200 incredible underseen black cinema already. So it's literally just people 225 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:29.279 lifting each other up through this entire process. And I 226 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:32.200 love to hear that Milestone is one of those companies 227 00:14:32.240 --> 00:14:34.799 that I feel like people are still sleeping on in 228 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.720 many different ways that they'll mention, hey, this movie's never 229 00:14:37.720 --> 00:14:39.840 gotten attention. Then you find out Milestone put out that 230 00:14:39.879 --> 00:14:42.399 one and five others from the same director, and you're like, well, 231 00:14:42.440 --> 00:14:43.600 come on, they're out there. 232 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:45.960 They have all the Charles Burnettes. 233 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:50.759 Yeah exactly. Yeah, Sam, you are somebody that is known 234 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:54.159 for a lot of different movies. You're known for, of course, 235 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:56.960 Break In Two, known for the Ninja films, known for 236 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.960 a lot of very different style movies than this one. 237 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:03.399 So what originally got you into Riverbend? 238 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:11.080 In a way, luck, I was, as you mentioned, I 239 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.679 was involved. I kind of my career led me into 240 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:21.399 action and especially especially martial art action movies Revenge of 241 00:15:21.440 --> 00:15:25.799 the Ninja and Ninja Tree American Ninja. But in between 242 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.480 I made some other movies like Breaking to Electric Google 243 00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:34.279 and later on others. And I directed another action movie 244 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:38.399 which was not martial art, which is called Avenging Force 245 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:42.559 with Steve James and Michael Dudikov, the two stars of 246 00:15:42.600 --> 00:15:46.039 American Ninja. So by now I already made three movies. 247 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:49.399 I had a chance to work to direct Steve James 248 00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:54.639 in three movies, and one day I was approached. My 249 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:57.679 agent told me that someone is interested in me as 250 00:15:57.720 --> 00:16:01.000 a director and they will send the script. And this 251 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:03.480 script arrived. It was called at the time, it was 252 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:07.480 called Night of the Eagles, not the Riverbend, and yeah, 253 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:10.240 they had a different name. So I read the script 254 00:16:10.360 --> 00:16:14.360 and wow, I was so excited that that's really interested. 255 00:16:14.919 --> 00:16:20.159 You know, social issues and historical in the South in 256 00:16:20.240 --> 00:16:24.440 the sixties. And you know, even I grew up with 257 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:28.200 these kind of movies to kill American Heat of the 258 00:16:28.279 --> 00:16:30.360 Night and those kind of movies that I grew up 259 00:16:30.360 --> 00:16:34.679 with those movies. I I got very excited, so apparently, 260 00:16:34.840 --> 00:16:39.840 I think, and not strangely but untypical. This movie was 261 00:16:40.679 --> 00:16:45.320 privately financed. It was not a company that financed the movie. 262 00:16:45.360 --> 00:16:49.879 It was private money that financed the movie. So they 263 00:16:50.039 --> 00:16:53.519 approached me through the agent they looked for me, I guess, 264 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:57.679 those four producers and they approached me to an agent 265 00:16:57.720 --> 00:17:02.000 that I had at the time. Apparently probably, I would say, 266 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:05.200 because I worked with Steve James for the three times 267 00:17:05.240 --> 00:17:08.279 and they were interested in Steve James. So I think 268 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:13.519 that's how Destiny My Path and the Path of Riverband 269 00:17:13.799 --> 00:17:18.200 crossed and each other and and and got together. I 270 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:22.079 was very excited when I read this script, really interesting. 271 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:26.480 I really wanted to direct it. Eventually they liked me. 272 00:17:26.559 --> 00:17:29.799 I like them very much, the producers. They want me 273 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:34.039 to help in bringing Steve James into this project. I 274 00:17:34.119 --> 00:17:36.599 knew it's not going to be any problem to bring 275 00:17:36.640 --> 00:17:39.839 Steve James. He would love this project. Because I read 276 00:17:39.880 --> 00:17:46.640 the script and I knew you, but this was a 277 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:50.039 matter of luck. But I knew that he would like 278 00:17:50.319 --> 00:17:54.279 There was no question leader military Steve, Steve, how he 279 00:17:54.359 --> 00:17:58.680 wanted to his image to be and and what what 280 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:02.680 Mike is alluding to. It was okay. When we made 281 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:10.319 the movie Avenging Force, Steve plays a black politician in 282 00:18:10.440 --> 00:18:13.799 New Orleans who is running for office and there is 283 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:17.000 some white supremacy group, but they don't like the idea. 284 00:18:17.160 --> 00:18:23.000 Eventually they assassinate him, and Steve really didn't like the 285 00:18:23.079 --> 00:18:25.599 idea that he dies in the middle of a movie. 286 00:18:26.359 --> 00:18:29.400 I read everything with Chuck Norris. Jack Norris never made 287 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.519 any movies that he will die. 288 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:34.960 But Steve really didn't like the idea that he but 289 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:37.599 but this was the story, you know, the whole premise, 290 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:41.640 the whole idea, who the stories that they assassinate this politician, 291 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:44.880 they don't want him. 292 00:18:44.920 --> 00:18:48.599 And he always told me, you owe me. I'm doing 293 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:51.599 it for you. I'm doing it for you because I 294 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:56.200 know we made American, but you owe me. And so 295 00:18:56.359 --> 00:19:02.480 it happened that the chance came that I could repay Steve. 296 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:04.599 I have something for you. You know, I owe you. 297 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:07.519 You always mad, but when you read the script, he 298 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:10.759 will accept it. That's it. I don't owe you anymore 299 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:16.039 after this movie. So, so everything came together perfect. It's 300 00:19:16.079 --> 00:19:19.440 not going to say some universal powers bring everything together. 301 00:19:19.519 --> 00:19:20.160 We don't know how. 302 00:19:21.599 --> 00:19:25.839 Mike Steve is Steve's icon obviously in a lot of 303 00:19:25.880 --> 00:19:28.480 different ways. Can you can you share who Steve was? 304 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:30.920 For everybody that has never seen a Steve James film. 305 00:19:31.039 --> 00:19:33.599 Well, I mean, you know, my first introduction to Steve 306 00:19:33.720 --> 00:19:37.119 James was not in American Ninja or neither Martial Arts 307 00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:41.759 or action cannon films. It was first Hollywood Shuffle and 308 00:19:41.799 --> 00:19:44.000 then later I'm going to Get You Sucker, where he 309 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:47.720 plays Kung Fu Joe and I you know, but he's 310 00:19:47.880 --> 00:19:51.880 he was a very versatile actor who got to start 311 00:19:52.119 --> 00:19:54.559 going all the way back to education at Sony Carson. 312 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:57.960 He has a very small appearance there in nineteen seventy four, 313 00:19:58.039 --> 00:20:02.279 I believe it was, And he worked until nineteen ninety 314 00:20:02.319 --> 00:20:06.640 three when he died at a very young age of 315 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:11.960 pancreatic cancer at age forty one, I believe. But he's 316 00:20:12.000 --> 00:20:16.519 probably best known for his collaborations with Sam Furstenberg and 317 00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:21.440 you know, but you'll see him pop up in small 318 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:24.880 parts in lots of movies like Brother from Another Planet, 319 00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:27.480 to Live and Die in La He worked with William 320 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:32.519 Freakin quite a bit as well as Sam and Weekend 321 00:20:32.559 --> 00:20:36.599 at bernice'e two. He has a memorable little scene or 322 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:40.720 two in there, so you know, just gone too soon. 323 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:44.519 A lot of people feel like, a he should have 324 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:49.079 been the next American Ninja when Michael Dudkoff left a 325 00:20:49.079 --> 00:20:51.319 lot of people believe that he would have he should 326 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:53.119 have taken over the franchise. 327 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:58.400 And or its the next American Action hero in a 328 00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:01.000 way outside the the Ninja franchise. 329 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:04.680 Yeah, or or that he would have been the next 330 00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:10.559 person to be the black action star, which Snapsen eventually 331 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:14.519 became Michael dry White eventually became all those people that 332 00:21:14.559 --> 00:21:19.559 we recognize now. Will Smith even stand on the shoulders 333 00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:21.000 of Steve James. 334 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:25.200 I heard, Mike and Ryan I heard I heard two 335 00:21:25.240 --> 00:21:29.160 weeks ago. Very interesting story. I didn't know. We had 336 00:21:29.160 --> 00:21:33.880 a screening of American Ninja in Atlanta two weeks ago, 337 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:36.960 and the reason we did it because the producer of 338 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:41.960 the movie American Ninja, Gideon Amir, lives in Atlanta and 339 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:44.720 works in Atlanta, so we decided to do for the 340 00:21:44.759 --> 00:21:48.279 anniversary screening and while I was talking with him, and 341 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:52.480 we were talking, and he reminded me that he suggested 342 00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:55.920 Steve James for the part because he saw him in 343 00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:01.599 the movie The Mask. M hm, he said, he told me, Gideon, 344 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.599 the producer, said the minute I saw we were either 345 00:22:04.680 --> 00:22:07.480 in the middle of writing it or whatever. And he 346 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:10.119 said he told me that the minute he saw him 347 00:22:10.240 --> 00:22:12.759 on the screen in the movie The Mask, he knew 348 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.359 that he would be Jackson in America Ninja. He's the 349 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:19.279 right guy to be Jazing. So I didn't remember that 350 00:22:19.319 --> 00:22:20.559 Steve was in The Mask. 351 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:25.079 All right. So Riverband has been making a name for itself, 352 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:28.559 mostly because of Mike pushing it out there for everybody. 353 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:32.640 But over this last six months or so, it's really 354 00:22:32.680 --> 00:22:36.079 getting a name. And the big thing is you just 355 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.839 had the like West Coast premiere in LA for the 356 00:22:38.920 --> 00:22:42.000 first time. Tell us about the event, because when we 357 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:44.519 first heard this was happening, I never expected to hear 358 00:22:44.559 --> 00:22:46.119 by all the Davis involved. 359 00:22:48.119 --> 00:22:53.160 Neither, But listen, we found out the story. There is 360 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:58.559 a whole story how the negative was found, detective story. 361 00:22:59.240 --> 00:23:02.599 Mike just him about it, but that's a that's a 362 00:23:02.680 --> 00:23:08.079 technical And then there was another little operation to somehow 363 00:23:08.119 --> 00:23:12.000 to get the rights because the people who owned the 364 00:23:12.079 --> 00:23:16.720 rights the company went bankrupt. The owners of the company 365 00:23:17.119 --> 00:23:21.680 all passed away and the rights. It's a complicated issue, 366 00:23:21.680 --> 00:23:24.160 but the rights were lingering in the earth, the rights 367 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:27.440 to the movie neither here nor other. You cannot show 368 00:23:27.480 --> 00:23:30.480 the movie without permits. No theater will show a movie 369 00:23:30.519 --> 00:23:34.000 without permits. And there was nowhere to bring the permits from. 370 00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:37.599 But anyway, Michael had a lawyer and they untangled it 371 00:23:37.799 --> 00:23:42.920 and eventually we got the right. And then then parallel, 372 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:46.200 we found out that the movie never had a screening 373 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:49.039 in the West Coast. It had few screening in the 374 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:52.240 East Coast, but never any screening in the in the 375 00:23:52.279 --> 00:23:57.759 West Coast. So Michael purred out. We purred out together 376 00:23:57.839 --> 00:24:01.079 with the American Cinema Tech, and we decided, together with 377 00:24:01.119 --> 00:24:06.640 the American Cinematic to present the first premier, the West 378 00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:10.440 Coast premiere that never happened four years ago, to do 379 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:13.880 it now four years later. So this was the premiere. 380 00:24:14.519 --> 00:24:19.079 And luckily enough, three of the actors lives in Los 381 00:24:19.079 --> 00:24:23.960 Angeles and the representative of Steve James's daughter, So let's 382 00:24:23.960 --> 00:24:28.920 say four actors are living in the Los Angeles area. 383 00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:37.039 Of course Margaret Avery, the lead, Alex Alex and the 384 00:24:38.279 --> 00:24:42.880 two co stars of SI and Debbie James, the daughter 385 00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:47.400 of Steve James. So Michael made it most of the 386 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:50.640 connection to all of them, and they all came to 387 00:24:50.680 --> 00:24:55.079 the screening and Michael tell us the surprise the actors 388 00:24:55.079 --> 00:24:56.880 who came, and the surprise we had the. 389 00:24:56.920 --> 00:25:01.799 Serah deputy again, you know, so I mean the other 390 00:25:02.079 --> 00:25:06.200 was Alex Morris and Julius Tennant were the two other 391 00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:09.920 soldiers that along with Steve James in the movie. And 392 00:25:10.160 --> 00:25:14.200 by coincidence, you know, Julius Tennant happens to be married 393 00:25:14.200 --> 00:25:19.200 to Violet Davis. And we knew we're going to do 394 00:25:19.240 --> 00:25:21.119 this premiere and I said, well, we have to give 395 00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:25.440 Margaret Avery her flowers, right, And I had somebody else 396 00:25:25.759 --> 00:25:31.480 in mine to like another actor woman actor to present 397 00:25:31.519 --> 00:25:34.920 the flowers, but they were not available. So I went 398 00:25:34.960 --> 00:25:39.759 to my friend, you know, chat GPT, and I literally 399 00:25:39.799 --> 00:25:43.720 typed in. I said, of all the talented black actors 400 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:48.799 in America, who has most followed in the footsteps of 401 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:54.119