'Prometheus' Actor Idris Elba on Popularity, Power and Prince's Trust

Idris Elba accepts the 2012 Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV movie for his performance in "Luther"

“It’s important to know who you are as an actor or you’re bound for failure. In Hollywood, power is when someone does not have to green-light your projects. I have popularity but not so much power.” - Idris Elba

For all of the power Idris Elba says he lacks in Hollywood, this British actor surely makes up for it by having major influence -- which he uses for good, in underserved communities throughout England.

Elba is currently an anti-crime ambassador for Prince’s Trust, a U.K. based organization that provides career training, employment, mentoring and personal development skills to at-risk, disadvantaged and offending or ex-offending young people aged 14-30.

Idris Elba supports the programs at Prince’s Trust through various activities including round-table discussions, film events and fundraising efforts -- as a way to give back to the very people who believed in his potential as an actor; and to inspire young people to believe in themselves.

When Idris Elba was a teenager, he won a place in the National Youth Musical Theatre (NYMT) based in London. A $1,500 grant from Prince’s Trust helped him further develop his acting skills at NYMT. It is at the National Youth Musical Theatre that Elba began to take acting seriously with regards to a career pursuit.

After successfully landing acting roles in his hometown, Elba saved up some money from working at his other job -- as a wedding DJ -- and moved to the United States. He struggled to find work here in the U.S. for three years, particularly the kind of roles that he wanted to play. So, Elba supported himself financially by working nights as a DJ in New York.

Even now as he sports accolades for stellar acting performances in major primetime crime dramas such as HBO’s “The Wire” and BBC’s “Luther,” Idris Elba still maintains a love for music -- DJing celebrity parties and releasing R&B/Soul/Pop albums under the name Driis. He also co-produced and performed on the into to rapper Jay-Z’s “American Gangster” album.

All music and acting aside, Idris Elba changes lives by being someone who leads by example -- going after his dreams full-force rather than wondering what-could-have-been while botching Ford Fiestas during a night shift at an auto manufacturing plant. His confidence is powerful enough to show young people the possibilities of what happens when you believe in yourself, and no green light in Hollywood can make or break that -- it comes from within -- although, a little nudge from community-centered organizations like Prince’s Trust doesn’t hurt either!

Do YOU think Idris Elba would play a convincing James Bond?

What were YOUR favorite fields of study during your teenage years?

Film Director Darnell Martin will Go Broke Before Sacrificing Her Vision #IWD #womensday #womeninfilm #indiefilm

In honor of International Women's Day, join me in celebrating contributions that one woman has made to the film industry -- Darnell Martin. Today's post may also serve as a starting point for subsequent features on women in film, in celebration of Women's History Month. That is still yet to be determined. Enjoy!

About 30 days ago, I had no idea who Darnell Martin was until reading a slideshow on people who are viewed as game changers in Hollywood. How could I not know about “Cadillac Records,” starring Adrien Brody, Beyonce and Jeffrey Wright but not be familiar with the woman who directed this film? Then again, all I knew about “Cadillac Records” was that it is a movie where Beyonce plays the legendary blues singer, Etta James. I've never been a fan of Etta James’ music and had no interest in watching this movie.

It does not take long to understand, however, why Darnell Martin is a force to be reckoned with for at the very least, her way of doing business and making films. While working in film labs as a technician and at camera rental companies the 80s, she applied for film school and was rejected -- three times.

The third rejection from NYU came while Martin happened to be working as an assistant cameraman on “Do the Right Thing,” directed by Spike Lee. She was later accepted into NYU’s graduate film program after Spike Lee made a call to the school, on her behalf. Martin’s short film “Suspect” also granted her directing fellowship at the Sundance Institute and she wrote a feature length script that received a $2 million dollar offer from New Line Cinema during the early 90s.

As lucrative as the offer may seem to any first-time writer or director, however, Darnell Martin turned it down because she believe this deal did not provide adequate an time frame for her to make a good film. All the while, Martin was facing eviction and had no food in her apartment. Still, she refused $2 million from a well known movie studio, just like she once refused someone’s suggestion to change the characters in her script from Latino to Black.

Martin later accepted an offer of $5.5 million with a longer production schedule from Columbia Pictures, for her script, which became the 1994 romantic comedy, “I Like It Like That,” starring Lauren Vélez (from “Dexter” on Showtime) and John Seda (“Selena”; “Gladiator”). The film is about a woman who suddenly has to figure out how to support her family after the breadwinner of their household is arrested for looting during a blackout. “I Like It Like That” was well received, garnering Martin an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best First Feature.

Darnell Martin, who has since directed the 2001 drama “Prison Song,” the 2005 TV movie "Their Eyes Were Watching God," starring Halle Berry and continues to direct television episodes for dozens of TV shows including “Grimm” on NBC and “The Mentalist” on CBS, will not compromise any aspect of her work for anyone.

“I'll take my name off my films before I let people change them.”-- Darnell Martin in the L.A. Times

Can YOU name any Female movie directors?

Seriously, off of the top of your head. No Cheating Allowed!

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The ‘Criminal Minds’ on CBS Model of Film Distribution #nowplaying #indiefilm #tvshows

Often when a new episode of “Criminal Minds” is scheduled to air on CBS, I find myself in quite a predicament. Watching the new show will satisfy my quest for some prime-time television entertainment but doing so will usually also mean that I delay work, sleep, dinner or some type of household task. If I choose to skip the show, then I will have missed out on this episode, because it will not play soon in reruns like “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” do.

When reruns of “Criminal Minds” air, these repeat broadcasts usually occur several weeks, if not months after the original airdate. By that time, I will have either forgotten about the episode, lost interest in watching it or will need to wait until it is available to rent or buy on DVD. Imagine how people would consume movies if the film industry operated similarly to the way CBS airs new “Criminal Minds” episodes.

In this scenario, movies would play once in theaters across the country. Release dates would also have one showtime for each theater instead of multiple showings throughout the day for several weeks until the DVD release. Audiences who did not attend a Friday 3:00pm showing of “In Time” for example, will have missed out on this movie and have to wait until the DVD comes out because “50/50” will be scheduled to play the following day, on Saturday at 3:0pm in the same theater.

A distribution setup like this could be good for theaters and movie studios because it may create increased demand to watch a particular film and anticipation for the DVD release. Showtimes could demand higher prices that were set either by the venues or producers or set differently between films. I’d surely pay up to $20 or so to watch “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” or any other films in the series but I’d be damned if I’m going to shell out the same amount for some crap like “The Box”….unless I had to because of set standard admission prices, which takes us all back to the first option and the matter of supply and demand.

Watching “Criminal Minds” has showed me, however, that measuring the value or possibilities of one-day windows for movie releases is not all about the demand….not entirely, at least. Since I already know that I can’t just can go “ooh, I’ll get around to watching the rerun this weekend” or “I’ll watch it online tomorrow” (guess what… new episodes of “Criminal Minds” do not stream on CBS or Hulu or Amazon or iTunes the day after they air), it comes down to a matter of either how much I want to watch the show.

While I like “Criminal Minds,” it is not my favorite television show, so I won’t be that disappointed if I miss an episode or two…or three. The same thing cannot be said about “24” though. Before “24” got canceled, you could not get me away from the television during the hour that Jack Bauer was on Fox. There are also a few other TV shows that I would likely watch before tuning into “Criminal Minds,” which goes to show that only those who really want to see a particular movie will make the plans and time to visit the theater where it is showing.

Maybe if movies were released on only one day and had only one showtime in theaters, we would have more choices at the local megaplex and more films would also get their chance at being shown to audiences in a theatrical capacity.

What motivates YOU to see a film in the theater instead of waiting for the DVD?

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http://www.cityweekly.net/utah/blog-771-tv-post-mortem.html