Controversial Short AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDOL to Debut on iFilm
by Anonymous

Los Angeles CA June 21, 2004 -- Beginning June 1, the much talked about short parody film AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDOL will debut in its entirety on iFIlm.com. Combining reality talent shows and the quirkiness of current political campaigns as a base, the film follows a search to find the next black leader, with three marginally qualified judges and a few dozen hardly qualified contestants.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDOL begins with a typical open audition call seeking the next black leader. Judged by Rufus Knox (Michael Colyar), a highly opinionated and socially misguided barbershop owner, Brandi (Caroline Fogarty), a Caucasian woman who believes that she is “black” and Herman Timmons (Ian Clark), a former teen talk show host. The contestants represent many ethnic and social strata, including a redneck racist who wants to lead blacks back to Africa, a Latina diva from around the block, an opportunistic Reparationist, a devout Muslim racist and a wanna-be pop singer turned politician.

Writers Greg Reid and Ian Clark have been observing enigmatic black leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and the climate of young black Americans in this political season. They also watch a lot of reality television. “What better way to humor the plights of black leadership and parody the reality TV format than to create a search show geared toward finding the next black leader?” thought Reid, who is also the film's director. “We opened to window to all segments of Americans to show how they view what’s important to black people, and just how socially ignorant some people really are.” Adds Clark, “We took some common stereotypes and played them up. It turned out to be hilarious. But underneath that, and what’s really generating buzz on AAI, is that our audience is learning something about both the black experience as well as the American experience.”

Even though the film follows all parody rules in the same vain as a MadTV sketch, attorneys representing FOX’s “American Idol” heard the buzz and demanded the producers cease and desist promotion. Reid and Clark stood strong in their free speech rights, and continue to garner attention for their work. “Our independent short in no way competes with a network reality show. Our intent was not to make money, but to make waves with our ideas, “ says Reid. Agrees Clark, “I’m more interested in the response we’re getting from the public, especially since some people cant seem to separate parody from reality.” (quote sheet by request)

Featured in AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDOL are: Ian Clark (The Comedy Store, “The Bold & the Beautiful”), Greg Reid (“She Spies”, “Passions”, “Grounded for Life”), Michael Colyar (HBO and BET comedy specials), Christo Dimassis (“Inside Irving”), Caroline Fogarty (“Miss Match” and “Strong Medicine”), Stephon Fuller (“Ocean’s Twelve”), James Lesure (NBC’s “Las Vegas”), Tommy Morgan ( “The Young and the Restless”), Kelly Perine (UPN’s “One on One”), Joan M. Blair, Kevin Bowens, Antia Cal, Gary Donovan, Heidi Durrow, Dave Fennoy, Eric Heise, Jeremy Herider, Lanre Idewu, Marvin Jordan, Rebecca Lin, Jackie Long, Dane Parker, Michalla Petersen, Jason Reed, Ari Roy, Jeff Sanders, Ronee Swafford, Sallie Valade, Chris Vaughn, Robby Welles, Kevin Craig West, Rachelle Wood, Thomas Yionoulis and Shun Gou Zhou.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN IDOL is available on iFilm.com, and clips with additional information are on AfricanAmericanIdol.com

MEDIA: For screeners, interviews and more information, contact Deborah at 323.467.7633.




This article courtesy of http://www.morehairstyle.com. You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.

Submit Your Article