Man
Feature Film World!
James
Brown was once
dubbed “the hardest working man in
show business”. But
there is one
man today who
can be hailed
as the busiest
man in the independent feature
film industry. Walk
into any
neighborhood Blockbuster Video
Store and you
will find at
least four of
his titles on
the current
release shelves. With such
films like,
Pressure,
Harlem Shake, Lost
Money and
Snitch in New York
still riding high
on the video
rental chart it's
no wonder why
Juney Smith of
Mattie Films can be
considered
one of the
most
prolific
filmmakers to hit
the home video market
in recent years.
Smith is not
just content
with making one
picture a year
like most
independent filmmakers would
be lucky to
do, no that's
too small of a goal for
him. Combining
his unique
filmmaker suave along
with a
dedicated crew of
professionals, Smith's
tireless energy
allows him to
conjurer up the amazing
number of at
least three completed features
a year. If any
of
our readers out
there know what
it takes to
just finish one movie,
the scripts,
the financing,
the casting,
preproduction, post-production,
the editing and
music scoring,
then you’ll be amazed
at the fact
that Smith has
a hand in
it all. All
of Smith’s films
have been
written produced and
directed by him
and along with
his partner, Valera Drummond
of DC Productions, they then
go onto
securing the deals
that brings
these films to
your local
video store.
A
native of New
York,
Juney was not
always interested in
the movie business.
Early in his
life he was
consumed with hopes
of playing
professional basketball until
one of his
professors at Long
Island University
suggested he give
Theatre a try. Of
course like most
of us who have
had the pleasure of
performing on stage and
in front of
an
audience, Juney
quickly caught the acting
fever. From that
point it was
bye-bye for
basketball and hello
to the world of
entertainment. After
college Smith went
onto winning
numerous high-profile
acting gigs in television
and features. With
credits like, Mash, Hill
Street Blues, Law
and Order, Lethal
Weapon 2, Good
Morning Vietnam and Bye-Bye Love,
you'd think that
he would be
content with just being an
actor. You see,
Juney was never a
man to rest
on anything. While
most actors were
sitting around in Hollywood
waiting for "The
Call", he was
always busy. He
was the first
African American Actor
to independently open
up his own
acting training and
performance centers,
The Renaissance Drama Company
in Queens N.Y.
and while living in
L.A., he
joined up with
our LTG Founder, Reed
R. McCants to
form the Rainbow
Connection and
the Rebirth Drama Company,
both of which
were important staple
for theatrical
training and performance throughout
the 1980. Kim
Whitley
(Next Friday, Oh Drama), AJ Saunders (A Different World) and Tommy
Ford (Martin) are among some of the
actors who received their first acting lessons from
Smith
and McCants.
Despite all of his accomplishments as an actor and a teacher of theatre, Smith felt that his thirst for the entertainment business couldn't totally be fulfilled unless he had a crack at making films. “I didn't wanna spend the rest of my life waiting around Hollywood for that "big break". I also realized, as an African-American, the chances for success would be more difficult to obtain particularly since we have no real control in the industry. I felt I had to learn everything about the filmmaking process, says Smith. He went back to school and learned the about filmmaking at New York University and when he was finished, he felt he needed to jumped into his first feature (The Nation a dramatic rendition of the history of the Nation of Islam) right away. Upon completion of his first flick, Smith was totally bitten by the filmmaker bug and hasn't looked back since. Eight years and twelve films later, Juney now lives back in the city he was raised, New York and is extremely happy to be doing what he loves. “It was always my goal to come back here (New York) and make movies” Juney says. “I wouldn't have it any other way.” We at LTG concur with Mr. Smith, without people like him who are committed to bringing alternative entertainment by any means, viewing audiences would continue be left with the limited choice and waiting for Hollywood to truly diversify."
Click Here to Read LTG's One-on One Interview With Juney Smith