Keepin' It Reel
by Clive Arno

Alright my beautiful brother and sisters, it's time to drop some knowledge in your ear. Or as Dolemite would say "Tell you about some people who was through with it before we knew what to do with it." ...You dig?

Do you want to explore the roots of rap, see the original gangtas? and mack daddies, or enjoy some Kung fu action?

Then let's go back, way back. Back into time. . .

To a time of afro picks, bell bottom pants and platform shoes.

James Brown sang about being black and made people proud, and all Aretha Franklin wanted was r-e-s-p-e-c-t.

Everyone had "a plan to stick it to the man", and Players Magazine ran a pictorial featuring Pam Grier that found a home between the mattresses of every adolescent and on the wall of garages thoughout the land.

My brothers and sisters, I'm talking about the films of the: 70's

If you love them, hate them, or love to hate them, it's these films that have laid the track and made it all possible for future generations of Black film makers.

Yes, the decade of "blaxploition" everyone was ashamed of is back in style. Movies like Boogie Nights and Jackie Brown are making everything old new again. While some of us are just rediscovering the 70's, there is a group of people that never left it.  The Xenon Entertainment Group.

In 1986 S. Leigh Savidge attempted to distribute a tape featuring two young comedians, himself and Jay Leno.

This business endeavor was less than successful.

However, adversity being the mother of invention, this venture gave Mr. Savidge insight. He realized the need for marketing, distribution and support for independently produced films and visualized a market niche of African-American filmmakers.

S. Leigh Savidge came up with his own plan to stick it to "the man!"

Utilizing most of his own money, with $17.000. one title, two phones and  no distribution network. a new and culturally significant video label, Xenon Entertainment was founded. He went to the cult films of the seventies and acquired the mother of all African-American hero films "Dolemite". The films? star, Rudy Ray Moore was the first X-rated comedian, aka The Grinder and The Sweet Spot Finder, He created the character and the film. As the company's first title Dolemite was one of the original blaxploition movies, Rudy Ray Moore would do most of his material in rhyme backed by music, earning him the title "Godfather of Rap". He would have a big influence on future comedians and generations to come, being sampled and referred to from The Fugees and Dr. Dre to the Beastie Boys, KRS-one, Ice-T and any rapper with a hit record.

Early on we had no distribution system, no video library, no history and no pedigree. All we had was enthusiasm and a drive to succeed.? said Savidge on starting his company. "The obstacles were almost infinite! There is no mechanical, set way to acquire films. You've just got to be tenacious, and navigate through a hell of alot of sources."

But on the success of this blockbuster, and "By offering a good, fair deal to some directors and producers who were cheated early on in their careers." Savidge said on acquiring Dolemite and other films. He then began building the company with films of that genre one movie at a time.

It's impossible to think of any  films of this genre without getting around to "Sweet Sweetback's Baadassssss Song". This film written, directed, and starring Melvin Van Peebles helped define black cinema and provided Earth, Wind and Fire with their first album. Pioneering the use a soundtrack as a marketing tool, Isaac Haye's Theme from Shaft, Curtis Mayfield's Pusherman and Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man was soon to follow.

Melvin Van Peebles was the first widely recognized Black film maker in United States history. His groundbreaking and controversial film became the first Black-directed film to receive wide theatrical exposure. In an interview on this legendary film, Mr. Van Peebles once said: "I see a need and I supply the need." On creating Sweet Sweetback's.... "From the time I was growing up in the mid-thirties, I never saw any representation of black people that looked like anybody I knew. That's why I decided to make films, it was time show us rising out of the mud and kicking some ass."

Dig it man, whether fighting to keep a crime syndicate out of the neighborhood, or running million dollar prostitution rings and exposing crooked cops. Now we were the heroes, and my black brothers and sisters kicked ass. On the box office success of Mr. Peebles work, Hollywood rushed to create films that it felt would appeal to the Black audience. While Shaft and Superfly were produced by major studios, many of the 70's black movies were distributed by small independent companies. Though these films often blended camp with stereotypes, most of the critics agree that these films influenced many of today's filmmakers.

Spike Lee would go on record as calling Mr. Peebles the "Godfather of modern black cinema". Quentin Tarantino's films are sprinkled with themes referring to the 70's, including his newest, "Jackie Brown"  starring Pam Grier. Tarantino called Grier "the queen of women".

It about time my sisters got their props, but tell me something I did'nt already know my brother. If any of you youngbloods doubt Pam Grier's queenhood, that back issue of Players is still available.

Fourteen years later, and acquiring shareholders such as Melvin Van Peebles. " More than almost any body else we encountered, Melvin understood what we were going through in building Xenon. It was only natural for us to approach him for guidance and ask him to take an interest in the company. He was generous enough to help us through the troubling situations that came along. The relationship with Melvin has flourished since then." stated Mr. Savidge. Xenon Entertainment Group now houses the largest catalogue of black films under one roof. A catalogue of cultural diversity ranging from Tupac Shakur to Mahalia Jackson. Proving there's a global marketplace for cinematic diversity, Xenon continues to set precedents by making these films available to audiences in the U.K. and for the first time ever, taken the top-selling five urban titles and converting them to DVD.

On the other side of the world, in conjunction with Eastern Heroes/Hong Kong Connection, Xenon has access to over 100 martial arts video titles. Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat and the mega-selling Wu Tang collection series. (does that name ring a bell to any fans of rap) The Kung Fu genre has always maintained a huge following. These films have tremendous action sequences and feature some of the best martial artist to ever appear on the big screen. Big trouble in little China, Blade, and The Matrix all owe a tip of the hat to these films.

Dig man, check out the films starring Chow Yun Fat. This brothers' gunplay makes "Desperado" look like a love story.

At offices in Santa Monica, Savidge has surrounded himself with people who share his vision and passion for films. Stephen Housden is a prime example of this commitment at Xenon. Stephen was a high school drop-out who has had several different, and interesting jobs over the years. This "wonder boy" as he would be called and continued to be called around the office, was admitted to UCLA without taking a high school equivalency test. After graduating with a bachelor's degree, he became the Vice President of Acquisitions and Productions at Xenon Entertainment.

"Fortunately and unfortunately"  He sighs, "the decision of what gets accepted at Xenon falls on me. I view all the films to see if it is something we want to handle. We are still in our infancy, we live and breath by the work we put out."

My brother, they're some who might say you are exploiting the exploited.

Stephen in defense of that statement. "There was no conscience effort to capture the Blaxploitation genre, it was an effort to capture the independent filmmaker. It's funny, Dolemite and Sweetback was not "black exploitation" films. This was not a major studio saying: "We're going to make a film for Black people". Rudy Ray Moore used the money he put together from his comedy albums, which he also produced himself, to make Dolemite. Melvin Van Peebles, out of necessity, out of sheer will produced his own movies."Baby, you've got to know your past, to make it in the future.

"We also have a series that embraces the films of the 30's and 40's." Stephen speaking of the Black Heritage collection. "They're great pictures that were made for segregated theaters, movies such as Bronze Venus and Juke Joint. These are films that an effort should be made to see. There are many films that we have that are just hard to find. They just have to be asked for, more than likely we have it."

Peep this my brothers,  seventeen new shows on network T.V., with no minorities.This has not gone unnoticed at Xenon Stephen says regretfully.  "There is a greater demand for our films and filmmakers. It is a step backward to be sure, six or seven years ago, you could take any black cast make a movie, and because people want to see themselves on screen it will be a hit. Those days are gone, the market is too big. There is no "black audience". There's no one film for all people. It has to be quality work, something we can all be proud of, but there is a big market for this genre?.

Xenon soon discovered that an abundance of African-American filmmakers are reluctant to work with major studios because their work tend to be "mainstreamed". Not so at Xenon, They provide complete artistic control of their work and continues to consult with them through the marketing of films and videos. Developing a excellent relationship with their filmmakers by managing their expectations fairly, conservatively and realistically.

Xenon Entertainment Group has the opportunity to work with classic African-American directors such as Melvin Van Peebles and Rudy Ray Moore. Leigh and Stephen have a great appreciation of  70's urban films. Stephen on the future: "We also have a feel for the young African-American filmmakers who are up-and-comers in the entertainment industry".

Taking their cue from film pioneers like Melvin Van Peebles and Rudy Ray Moore, a growing number of Black film makers and artist are choosing to raise independent financing and produce films "outside the system". Tired of major studio releases that, in the words of Alma's Rainbow director Ayoka Chenzira, are about "urban Black pathology".  artist from Brooklyn to L.A. are creating films on modest budgets that depict the richness and dynamic nature of black life, depiction's that serve to counterbalance the steady drumbeat of negative imagery often found in media created for a mass audience.

Two of the most promising prospects in a recent crop of young, black filmmakers is Barry Bowles and Mandel E. Holland. "Q: The Movie" is the first effort produced, written, and directed by Barry Bowles. Also "The Other Brother" a film written, directed and produced by Holland and will be released by Xenon Entertainment in the year 2000.  Xenon Entertainment helped make their dreams a reality while allowing the film's original vision to remain intact. That is something that happens infrequently at larger studios. "We understand that a filmmakers ability to speak is linked to the distributor's ability to build a platform for their work to be seen". "It's interesting" states Stephen. "There seems to be way of thinking that a good film cannot be commercial and a commercial film cannot be good. Between the two there are great films and great movies." "I find that Hollywood makes films that the public wants to see, and the independent filmmaker creates what he want to see. A film and the director are just like a artist and a painting. He "paints" his vision and hopes the rest of us sees it. You can't think about what someone else wants, just be true to what you want."

Xenon has played witness to and assisted in an emergence of Independent Black Cinema.  When questioned on his success and future success, Mr Savidge replied:

"Older people love our films because they are able to recall times past from a fresh perspective. Younger people can draw inspiration from and appreciate the contributions and history of these films".

Clive Arno.
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