3BC:
Please give us a little background information. Where are you from? Are you siblings or married?
Linda:
Rayce and I met in Kansas City, Missouri when we both came to work at a startup Fox News station. I came from Rhode Island as Weekend Anchor/Reporter and Rayce came from Oklahoma City as Senior Producer in Promotions. We fell in love and also realized that we had a wonderful chemistry working together. We won an Emmy for the first project that we did together. Rayce shot and edited and I wrote and produced the story. We've been married for seven years and have a five-year old son.
3BC:
Did Rayce always want to be a director, and you a writer?
Linda:
From the moment that I met Rayce, he has talked about nothing else but directing movies. He started his career as a camera operator at a NBC affiliate in Oklahoma City. He worked his way up to shooter, editor, producer, and then writer. For Rayce, the next logical step was making movies. I've always been a writer. I have made my living as a writer since I graduated from college, but my focus was in news. I also always planned to write novels, and still do. However, it was Rayce who truly inspired me to try screenwriting. I fell in love with it and haven't looked back since.
3BC:
Who and what inspired you to be a writer and Rayce to be a filmmaker?
Linda:
As a writer, I'm inspired by people who I consider to be wonderful storytellers, like Tina Andrews, Maya Angelou, and Victor Villasenor, just to name a few. As a Director, Rayce is inspired by the Carl Franklin, One False Move, Devil In A Blue Dress, and One True Thing. Rayce is big on letting the story breathe and allowing the actors to flex, but he also knows when to pull everything back to find a happy medium. That's a rare gift.
3BC:
Was Flight of the Bumble Bee, Rayce's directorial debut? If not, what other scripts have you written or films you've directed?
Linda:
Flight of the Bumble Bee is Rayce's first short film and feature. Right after we finished the short, we continued shooting and turned out a "mini-feature". That version of the film recently won the Grand Jury Audience Choice Award at the 2002 Hollywood Black Film Festival. Rayce's directing background has primarily been focused in television advertising and promotions, commercials and music videos. As a writer, I've written for several reality television shows and in my private time I've written several features and hope to go into production on one of them, called Justice in the very near future.
3BC:
What are the pros and cons of working together in terms of your different approaches to writing and filmmaking?
Linda:
First the pros. Rayce and I have a wonderful synergy and we feed off of each other very well. He can create visually what I put on paper. I trust that his vision, even when I can't completely see it, will bring the project to life in dramatic ways. The main thing is that we trust each other, and we work together and not against each other. As far as the cons go, the main con is that we are both passionate people and when we believe in something, we believe in it. So, we have gone toe-to-toe many times on ideas, and sometimes he's right and sometimes I am. Ultimately, we work it out and the creative process is the winner in the end.
3BC:
Where did the idea for Flight of the Bumble Bee come from?
Linda:
This is funny now because it falls back on your question about the pros and cons of working together. The idea for the story just truly came to me one day while I was at work. I don't quite know what sparked it (except God), but I immediately outlined the story from A to Z. I was so excited and I called Rayce and explained the idea. Well, he was less than impressed. Because he thought it was offbeat and morbid, it just sat for a while. Then we were blessed to have our business partner, Craig Smith, purchase the Final Cut Pro Editing system. We then got a hold of a Canon XL-1 camera, lights and microphones. Rayce wanted to begin work on a feature project that we'd been nurturing, but I kept telling him it was too big. So, I went back to the story of Flight of the Bumble Bee, and he finally listened to my idea. Because Freez Luv, the lead actor, was at our house, we shot a test with the camera. Rayce was so impressed at the look the camera gave him that the "test shot" became one of the opening scenes in the movie.
3BC:
For those who have not seen Flight of the Bumble Bee, please give them a little background on the movie's premise.
Linda:
In a nutshell, Flight of the Bumble Bee is the story of Mod (Freez Luv), a thug trying to go straight. He learns a powerful lesson in life when a low life gangsta gives him Ox (Cecilie Davis), an abused woman, as temporary payment for an outstanding debt. Through their unlikely union, the two discover what it truly means to believe in yourself. Both Mod and Ox believe they are dumb and that they are losers, but after growing to love and understand each other they both come to realize the greatness in themselves. The story is best summed up by the quote, "A bumble bee should not be able to fly, but the bumble bee doesn't know it."
3BC:
From conception to completion, how long was the project?
Linda:
Once we began shooting we weren't able to go straight through because when you're broke you have to juggle a lot of balls to stay afloat. I was working and our actors were working as well. Freez Luv was actually in the movie Showtime with Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro. He'd work on the Showtime set during the day, then our set at night or on his days off. Cecilie Davis was auditioning and doing the "waitress thing," so it was always a challenge to schedule everyone. In order to get finished we finally had to commit to shooting late into the night for about a week. So all in all, it took about a month to shoot. If we'd been working on a straight schedule, we would have finished shooting in about a week. We had a very small, multi-tasking crew. Vernon Paggett, the actor who played Bone, is Rayce's brother, and we had one other cinematographer, Trey Whitaker. We worked like crazy to get it done. The incredible thing was the story truly began to take on a life of it's own as we continued shooting.
3BC:
How did you learn about the Black Filmmaker Showcase contest?
Linda:
A good friend of mine, Doreene Hamilton, knew that we were shooting the movie and she told me about the contest at Showtime. We got the film finished just in time to meet their entry deadline and shipped it off.
3BC:
Did any of the guidelines for the contest hinder your creativity?
Linda:
My only concern was the time limit. The rules said thirty minutes or less, and we were afraid that we'd be disqualified because we came in at 32:40 minutes. Because we couldn't figure out what to cut, we submitted it as is and we won.
3BC:
Since Flight of the Bumble Bee is only 32:40 minutes, do you feel you were able to tell a complete story? What else did you want the viewers to know about your characters?
Linda:
I think for a short, you got a well-crafted story that showed you characters with depth. I think we did a good job of bringing the viewer into their world and making viewers care about what happened to them. I also think this story is so outside of what is typically expected of many black films. When you first watch it, you don't really know where this story is going. You may think that you do, but you really don't. Most people are pleasantly surprised and also may see a little bit of Mod and Ox inside themselves. Ultimately, these two characters want what everyone wants -- to be needed and loved. In the end, they finally understand that love only comes when you love yourself.
3BC:
Speaking about your characters, why the names Mod and Ox? Was there a special meaning behind those names?
Linda:
In the short version of Flight of the Bumble Bee you don't really get a detailed explanation of the character's names. Mod's real name is Mohammed Odysseus Dunbar, Mod for short. You see his full name in the letter that he opens early in the film. As for Ox, because the people she lived with thought she was "dumb as an ox" that's what they called her. In the feature, you learn that her real name is Octavia.
3BC:
Why does Mod recite a variety of affirmations to himself throughout the day? And, is N. Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumble Bee, important to this film or have a hidden message?
Linda:
Mod's whole thing is about changing his life. The affirmations are a clear indication that this guy is trying to change his way of thinking and move his mind and life in a more positive direction. When he gets the phone call to go collect on a debt, he is reluctant but needs the cash. It's clearly a struggle from the moment he answers the phone. The music of Flight of the Bumble Beeis key to the story because it's what made Mod feel smart and important. This is a guy who is struggling to get his GED certificate and he keeps failing the test. When it comes to this beautiful piece of music he can imagine himself as the conductor and he enjoys the power of being in control of something so beautiful and amazing. When Ox comes into his life, he assumes that she isn't very bright and goes on about his business. Once they connect and he hears her whistling this tune that means so much to him, he is amazed. This is the moment that they connect. He realizes that Ox is not dumb and that she is very in tune to everything that is happening around her. This inspires him to keep pushing toward earning his GED certificate. Also Cecilie Davis is amazing in that she can whistle anything. We had a lot of fun doing that scene. Also the poem, Bead of Sweat, Mod recites at the end, is a beautiful piece of work that Freez Luv wrote a couple of years ago. Once this story unfolded on paper it was the perfect poem for this couple's journey.
3BC:
Tell us something about the actors and how did you select them for their roles.
Linda:
You can have the most amazing story and the most amazing director but if you don't have actors who can pull it off it really doesn't matter. Freez Luv is primarily known as a comedian (Malcolm and Eddie, The Hughleys, Def Comedy Jam), but he's quite an accomplished actor. Actually, Rayce and Freez went to high school together in Pasadena, California, and they hooked up again when we were looking for a lead actor for another project. Rayce and I met Cecilie (MTV's Undressed, and 7th Heaven) when we cast her in a music video few years ago. She is from Cleveland and had only been in Los Angeles for a few months. It turns out that Cecilie and Freez already knew each other because they met right after she got here. As a result, we've all become very close, a family, and we have each other's backs on getting projects done to showcase our talents. Vernon Paggett, who plays Bone, is Rayce's brother. We called him at the last minute, and he was down to do whatever we needed. It all worked out very well because each character was perfect for the role they played. We all look forward to doing more projects together.
3BC:
During the writing and filming process, what pitfalls did you encounter and how were you able to overcome those obstacles?
Linda:
There weren't any pitfalls in the writing. Once I outlined the story, I was able to flow through the writing very quickly. One of my favorite scenes is the whistling scene. That idea actually came long before the idea of the film. I saw the Freez Luv and Cecilie Davis kidding around and she was whistling Flight of the Bumble Bee while he directed. I thought it was so cute that I would use it one day. I had no idea that it would end up in a story like the one about Mod and Ox. I think it was a perfect way to bond the two of them mentally and spiritually. The only pitfalls in shooting were that we couldn't go right through. The starting and stopping was so frustrating, especially for Rayce who gets antsy when he can't finish what he's started. As far as locations go, we used our house and then we took over my cousin and business partner Dominique Brown's apartment while he was out of town on another shoot. The big challenge there was shooting in about 550 square feet and keeping it from feeling claustrophobic. Rayce did such an excellent job of moving the story along with a creative lens that you didn't think about the fact that they were in this little apartment.
3BC:
Minority filmmakers deal with a variety of financial hardships non-minorities do not face. How did this financial backing help you complete this project?
Linda:
The beauty of using digital technology is that it is much more affordable. Because we own the equipment and Rayce is an excellent director, cinematographer, gaffer and editor, it cut out many of the costs that a filmmaker would incur. We had a small crew of three people and we did everything. I was writer, producer, script supervisor, assistant director, props, craft services, make-up and transportation, art director, blah, blah. The wonderful thing is that our major cost was the purchase of mini-dv tapes. In all, we spent about $500 on the short and about $600 on the feature.
3BC:
When you did the first screening of Flight of the Bumble Bee, how did you feel, and what was the audience's reaction?
Linda:
We paid for our first screening and invited as many industry folks as we could. In the end, more friends and family showed up than industry people, but the response was great. The story and the characters really touched many people. That was the most gratifying feeling, seeing something that you've created have a powerful impact on others. It's just amazing. You feel like you're really doing what you were put here for.
3BC:
How did this experience of winning first place and the airing of Flight of the Bumble Bee on Showtime change your lives?
Linda:
I think the main thing winning the Showtime contest did is give us some of the recognition that we've been working so hard for. It also gave us an amazing venue to showcase our work. It's also gives us another opportunity to make a film, but this time with some money!!! We also won a $30k grant to make another film exclusively for Showtime.
3BC:
What projects are you currently working on?
Linda:
Right now we are working hard to cash in on the buzz from Showtime and the Hollywood Black Film Festival. We have a lot of ideas for film and television and right now we have folks who are finally interested in at least listening to us. We're talking as fast as we can to create the next opportunity and finally earn a living at this. The starving artist thing is getting real old, but it has certainly made us stronger as a couple, as best friends, and as filmmakers.
3BC:
What advice do you have for next year's competitors, aspiring writers, directors and/or filmmakers? -- Online courses, workshops, reference books, Web sites, conferences.
Linda:
From a filmmaker's point of view, the best advice I can give anyone is to hang in there. Have integrity about the stories that you tell and tell them as often as you can. Getting any movie made is damn near a miracle for an independent filmmaker. You have to hang in there and keep pushing no matter how many people tell you to stop. Then when you have a chance to tell "your" story, try not to sell out to clichˇs and smut. We are a diverse group of people with amazing stories to tell from many points of view. Then don't try and reinvent the wheel. Tell a good story with good actors. Also it's very important to have other ideas that are ready to go and not put all your eggs in one basket. We have to say deciding to do this "filmmaking thing" has been the hardest thing we've ever done and career-wise it's been the most rewarding.
3BC:
If anyone would like to communicate with you directly, how can they contact you?
Linda:
We can be contacted at beezleyfilms@earthlink.net.
Thank you Rayce and Linda for sharing with us a behind the scenes look at the making of your award winning film Flight of the Bumble Bee. Check Showtime for upcoming airtime.
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ABOUT THE WRITERS, LINDA H. DENTON AND CRAIG SMITH:
Linda Denton is an Emmy award-winning news journalist who has also written for such shows as Paramount's "Real TV", MGM's "National Enquirer TV Show", and Fox Sport, "You Gotta See This". Linda is co-founder and partner of Beezley Films.
Craig Smith is an award-winning producer of music videos. Before moving to California, Craig lived in Kansas City, Missouri, where he was co-found of N-House Productions, an audio/video production company. N-House Productions received the African American Film Society Award. Craig co-developed and executive produced Flight of the Bumble Bee.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR, RAYCE DENTON:
Rayce Denton, former director of on-air promotions for CNBC, is an Emmy award-winning television promo and commercial director. He is co-founder and partner of Beezley Films.
Linda, Rayce and Craig recently co-wrote and produced 10 episodes of the new comedy show Phaturdays for iN-Demand Pay Per View.
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Showtime (http://sho.com/filmmaker_showcase/bfs02_index.cfm) is now seeking admissions from aspiring African-American directors for the 2003 Black Filmmaker's Contest. The deadline is July 31, 2002. The finalists' films will be featured during Black History Month, February 2003, on Showtime as part of the Black Filmmaker Showcase.
GOOD LUCK!
