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Brooklyn’s Finest, starring Richard Gere and Ethan Hawke, took over part of Brownsville, Brooklyn last summer.  Blocks of trucks took up residence and big-name actors became a common sight.  Ahsaan, in his late twenties, had never shot anything before being hired on Brooklyn’s Finest.  He was trying to film a documentary about Brownsville when he stumbled into this amazing opportunity.  “I actually got into filmmaking in North Carolina.  Blue Ridge Motion Pictures has a training program in Asheville, North Carolina.  I have a background in music, and I’ve been on a lot of music video sets and I used to write, that was initially my background.  But there was a lot of politics with the music industry that I disagreed with, in terms of the way music was going, so I just left that alone and moved down south, and I started getting really interested in film, so I took initiative and started reading and studying up and found this opportunity to go to this one year training program at Blue Ridge Pictures.”

When the training program was finished, he moved back to New York and went through the Made in NY Production Assistant Training Program, which is a non-profit program run in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting.  It trains people from diverse backgrounds for entry-level work on film and television sets.  “It’s definitely an entry-level foot in the door, because New York is really competitive, and that was a great opportunity.  People from all diverse backgrounds are in the program.  People who just graduated from NYU are in the program, so that tells you that the New York film industry is competitive.”

After completing the training program, Ahsaan worked as a production assistant on a lot of commercials, and on the remake of The Taking of Pelham 123 starring John Travolta and Denzel Washington.  But he was anxious to get to work on his own project, something that had been germinating for some time.  After spending a couple of years researching the history of Brownsville, he was in pre-production on his Brownsville documentary when he heard that Brooklyn’s Finest would be filming in the very housing project where he grew up.  He sought out the super from the building, hoping that he would be able to get a little footage of the movie being filmed and work it in to his documentary.  Little did he know that it would end up leading to a life-changing opportunity.

“Seventy percent of the locations that [Brooklyn's Finest] was shooting in in Brownsville is the Van Dyke Houses…that’s the public housing I grew up in.  I knew everybody.  I knew the superintendent, I knew the tenant association.  So I asked could I talk to the superintendent, his name was Stan Ridges.  He was the superintendent of public housing at Van Dyke.”  Sadly, Mr. Ridges died in a motorcycle accident, not long after shooting had finished.  He never got to see any of the finished movie, and Ahsaan regrets that he hadn’t gotten around to interviewing him on camera.

Mr. Ridges already knew about Ahsaan’s documentary, and he introduced Ahsaan to John Langley, one of the producers on Brooklyn’s Finest.  “I actually only wanted to get some footage of them shooting the movie, it wasn’t my intention to get hired on the movie.”  But Mr. Langley saw bigger things for Ahsaan and brought him into the fold of the production.  “Originally I was just hired to do behind-the-scenes footage, but I pitched them the idea – I wanted to do a social commentary documentary about what happened when this movie came to Brownsville.  Considering how Brownsville is, this was really big for a lot of people, and I wanted to capture that.  It changed a lot of people’s lives, and I’m one of them.”  Ahsaan reflected on his luck for a moment and repeated, “And I’m one of them.”

The production gave Ahsaan a Sony DSR 500 to shoot with.  When producers John Langley and John Thompson found out that Ahsaan didn’t have a computer to edit on, they gave him a powerful laptop and a copy of Final Cut Pro.  He got to keep it all.

Ahsaan’s documentary gives a broad overview of the movie’s impact on the neighborhood as a whole, but he also zeroes in on a few key people and follows them throughout.   He’s still not done shooting.  He wants to do some more follow-up interviews with some of the locals to find out what’s happened to their Hollywood dreams since the movie left.  “Some of them continued, and some of them went right back to what they were doing before the movie.  Because some of these guys were ‘on the corner’ guys who had no aspirations ever to be in a film.  They were cast, and some of them really took off, really shined.  Some of them are going toe-to-toe with Ethan Hawke in the movie.  It’s a story that needs to be told, because it’s things that people don’t get to see all the time.  It’s inspirational.”

Ahsaan said that everyone was excited initially that a movie was filming in Brownsville.  It’s not a common filming location.  “It was a moment of calm in Brownsville.  You have rival factions that stayed calm because it was something positive going on.”  But as the production went on, some people started to get tired of it – they wanted their parking spaces back, they wanted free access to their buildings again.  It didn’t take long for the neighborhood to become jaded about having stars in its midst (although when Wesley Snipes was on the set, everyone went crazy).  But they did appreciate that the production was trying to build a relationship with Brownsville, that the filmmakers weren’t just taking what they needed from the neighborhood and running away.  The production is fixing up a neighborhood park, and director Antoine Fuqua formed the Antoine Fuqua Youth Program (Ahsaan in on the advisory board and helped interview the potential participants), which is mentoring three neighborhood kids and teaching them how to be filmmakers.  And Ahsaan is keeping on top of things, making sure that the program stays alive, making sure that the production keeps its promises to the kids.  “The kids got a chance in December to go up to [the post production studio] where they were editing the movie and see what happens in post production.  They’re going to start shooting short films in a couple of weeks.”

I got to view a trailer for the documentary, and at one point someone says that the neighborhood was in neutral during filming.  I didn’t know what that meant.  Was it luck?  Was there some kind of agreement between the gangs?  Or did everybody just instinctively realize that something special was happening?  “Unfortunately what was going on in Brownsville, prior to them coming with the movie, it was like madness.  [And when the movie came] everybody kind-of agreed to be in neutral, because it was an opportunity.  Everybody could eat off of this situation – let’s not be warring out here, because we’re gonna be messing it up.  There were guys who normally wouldn’t even be on the other side of the neighborhood that was over there because of the movie, and everybody was like ‘It’s cool, it’s cool.”

Granted, everything wasn’t sunshine and roses all the time.  The production had the Nation of Islam provide extra security.  Within the fold of the movie, everything was cool.  But outside of the production, for some people who hadn’t had an opportunity to be involved, it was business as usual.  A production assistant got jumped running an errand, passersby sometimes threw things.  But for the most part, things were really laid back.  “A lot of guys that were in the movie were very influential, and that helped… There was a lot of street politics going on.  A lot of people who were ‘known’ in the neighborhood were in the movie.”

I asked Ahsaan if anyone from the neighborhood would be involved when the movie comes out, maybe doing some press or attending the premiere.  He wasn’t sure, but he hopes so.  The production was in Brownsville for about two-and-a-half months, and he’s hoping that when the movie comes out, the neighborhood gets excited again.  In the meantime, besides trying to finish the Brooklyn’s Finest documentary, he’s gone back to work on his original Brownsville documentary.

As we wrapped up the interview, I asked him if he had any final thoughts.  “There’s a lot of raw talent that can be mined.  People just want an opportunity.  You give people an opportunity, you’ll be surprised what you get out of them.  Because I don’t think any of the producers thought I was going to do what I did, honestly.  They gave me a shot, and the shot was all I asked for.  I would have did it for free, that’s the truth.  I would have did it for free, just for the shot.”

Ahsaan told me that he hopes to do for Brownsville what Spike Lee did for Bed Stuy.  “We have talent.  We have stories.  We have stuff to talk about.  We just needed an opportunity.”

Originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn

Four teenagers from the Brownsville neighborhood where much of Brooklyn’s Finest is being shot are getting a similar chance to learn about filmmaking, but they’re not just hanging around the set: they’re actually being mentored by Mr. Fuqua. Mr. Fuqua chose four kids, based on their essays, to participate in the Fuqua Youth Film Program. They received high-tech camera equipment and instruction on how to use it, and were given assignments to complete. They got to meet with Ethan Hawke and Mr. Fuqua, and have been on the set learning how movies get made.

Below are three of the four participants in the Fuqua Youth Film Program. Shown L-R: Bryan Martin, Ethan Hawke, Lea-Sym Feyjoo, Antoine Fuqua, and Terrell Brown (not pictured: Marcus Underwood). [Photo credit: Phil Caruso]

Everyone Filming In Brooklyn spoke with was really excited about this program. They all wanted to give something back to the community that has embraced this production.

Mr. Fuqua was especially enthusiastic about giving back to the community, and about the importance of filming this movie in Brooklyn. Mr. Fuqua was able to take a few minutes during a break in shooting and speak with Filming In Brooklyn.

FIB: You could build a bodega set, and you could build a small apartment on a soundstage, and have complete control of the environment. Why was it so important for you to get into the actual spaces?

Antoine Fuqua: Well, it’s the details. You can’t build the details. You can try but you can’t really capture the details of the people, of the energy…It affects how I film, it affects the actors’ behavior, when you’re in the real environment, when you really can interact with the people who live here, it makes a big difference in what comes off emotionally on the screen.

FIB: And do you find that the crowds that gather to watch you, are they ever a distraction, or do they really just juice everybody up?

Antoine Fuqua: I mean they’re both, honestly, they’re both. They’re a good distraction. They’re always going to be a distraction because there’s some people who you’re getting in the way of their everyday life, and that’s to be expected. They’re just trying to go to work, or take care of their business. And we’re really in the way. But they juice everybody up because the majority of the people so far have been amazing. They’ve just been helpful and excited about it, you know, really cheering us on out here. And I’ve had a lot of guys come up to me and say, keep doing what you’re doing, thank you for shooting here, really appreciative. So, it’s been great.

FIB: The four teens that you gave the cameras to, are you going to follow that long-term? Are you going to see what they’re doing with those down the road?

Antoine Fuqua: Yeah, we’ll follow them long-term, absolutely. I mean, I did the same thing in the jungle, in South Central [L.A.] when I did Training Day. I took some guys with me and one of them went on and did the documentary Bastards of the Party, it was on HBO that I produced, and a few others been in a couple movies, so I always follow through with these guys. I like to stay in touch, see how they do. That’s part of the reason I’m here is to hopefully inspire other young people who don’t get to see it that often. Maybe they could find a love of filmmaking.

FIB: You’ve said about Training Day that L.A. was a character in the movie. Do you feel the same the way about Brooklyn?

Antoine Fuqua: One-hundred percent.

FIB: Could this have been done anywhere else?

Antoine Fuqua: No. Trust me, I’ve had financiers say, well, could you shoot it in Detroit? Or could you shoot it in Canada? I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t have done the movie. I would not have done the movie.

[At this point in the interview, Mr. Fuqua had to pause, because all sorts of commotion had broken out next to us, at the red light. A car was blaring hip-hop music, and as soon as the light turned green and that sound faded, it was replaced by an angry driver swearing and honking his horn repeatedly, trying to move along the drivers who had slowed down to see what all the people and lights and cameras were doing there under the El tracks.]

Antoine Fuqua: See? You can’t- You can’t get that in- This is Brooklyn. Brooklyn style.

Originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn

Filming In Brooklyn is very used to seeing jaded residents of neighborhoods like Carroll Gardens, Fort Greene, Williamsburg, and Dumbo complain about all of the negatives that accompany a film or TV shoot. Those parts of Brooklyn, with their beautiful rows of brownstones, picturesque bridge views, cute shops and restaurants, and Manhattan vistas, do get the bulk of the on-location shoots that occur in Brooklyn. It’s not unusual to see two or even three productions filming within blocks of each other, their trailers and trucks taking up blocks of valuable parking spots, their crews and equipment blocking the sidewalks. Those residents have largely gotten over the excitement of seeing stars in their midst.

Antoine Fuqua and Richard Gere under the tracks in Brownsville:

So, it was nice to see an entire neighborhood react with curiosity and excitement to a production moving in. People of all ages crowded around to see what was going on. A young man pointed across the street nonchalantly and said “Yeah, that’s Richard Gere over there.” An old man walked up to a production assistant and said “I’m ready for my close-up. Where do you want me?” And rather than keep residents far back and under control, Brooklyn’s Finest has gone out of its way to include the people of Brownsville in the process. Many of the extras live in the neighborhood. Several speaking roles went to locals. Many days, the crew sets up extra chairs and headphones so that neighborhood kids can listen in as scenes are being shot. And everyone we spoke to had great things to say about the reception that Brownsville has given the production.

Screenwriter Michael C. Martin (pictured above) told us that the neighborhood has been “incredibly cool” about hosting the production. Sitting in the shadow of the Van Dyke Houses, he related how he grew up ten blocks – two subway stops – from where they were shooting, and was excited to be there as part of the production, inspiring others in the neighborhood to follow their dreams.

Many local businesses have been used in scenes, and an apartment in the Van Dyke Houses was a key location. The Van Dyke Community Center was used repeatedly as the meal spot for the cast and crew. According to Nick Bernstein, the locations manager, donations were made to neighborhood organizations and parks, and the production will be installing grills at the Van Dyke Houses as a way of saying thank you.

Filming this production in Brooklyn was very important to all involved. Producer John Thompson mentioned that just a few years ago, economics would have prevented this movie from being made. However, he explained that New York State recently tripled its tax incentive for productions filming in New York State. Added to the tax incentive that the City of New York provides, filming in New York has become not only possible for many productions, but preferable. Previously, many TV shows and movies set in New York would do most of their filming on an L.A. soundstage, and then come to NY to shoot just a few days on location. But according to the L.A.Times, shows such as Life on Mars, Ugly Betty, Kings, and Fringe will be doing all of their filming in New York this season.

According to Thompson, the new tax incentives can represent the entire difference between a project making money or losing money. And in the case of an independent film company, which doesn’t have the finances of a huge studio to fall back on, the incentives can make a project like Brooklyn’s Finest possible. “Everybody would prefer to film an entire movie in New York City, not Toronto.”

Coming up on Monday: Antoine Fuqua speaks with Filming In Brooklyn

Originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn

Here’s the bodega as they get ready to light it.

All of the equipment had to be relocated from across the street.

This is Mr. Gere’s stand-in, taking Mr. Gere’s place during the lengthy lighting process.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get inside during the shoot, because it was cramped in there and absolutely nobody was allowed in who didn’t need to be there. But here’s a peek inside during the set-up (that’s director Antoine Fuqua second from the right, in the baseball cap).

It was during this set-up that Mr. Fuqua took the time to answer some questions for Filming In Brooklyn. We’ll be posting that interview tomorrow Monday.

Originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn

When filming wraps up, the cast and crew will have shot 40 days on location in Brooklyn, with another two days in a Brooklyn studio and a small number of days outside of Brooklyn.

Filming In Brooklyn was able to speak at length with several of the talented people responsible for this film, and we’ll be posting our interviews soon. First, some pictures from the set.

Director Antoine Fuqua, discussing a scene with Richard Gere. Mr. Gere plays a cop near retirement.

During our time on the set, we saw a scene being shot from a couple of different viewpoints. Mr. Gere’s character, standing near his cruiser, hears a gunshot from inside a bodega and runs into the building.

Here’s the crew, kitty-corner from where the action is taking place.

Mr. Gere, waiting for shooting to start.

Up next: inside the bodega.

Originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn

Until then, here’s a little preview:

See you tomorrow!

Originally posted on Filming In Brooklyn