Just wanted to provide a quick update on where we are with the project. Kirk has delivered a really solid, working draft of the script. We have a casting director, Aleta Chappelle assisting us with some attachments. Also, I am starting to prep for fund-raising. It’s really all exciting, and Kirk and I are just doing the little things to move it forward. That’s all for now!

Get Tested! Know Your Status.

Thank you The Day Eazy E Died fans for your support at the Script Reading on May 11. Your feedback was much appreciated. Kirk and I are moving forward with the script with your help! Special Thanks to casting director Aleta Chappelle for the great actors, composer (and guest DJ) DBR for the awesome live score, Kwabena Charles for the beautiful photography, and ImageNation for hosting the event!

We are excited about this project! Thanks again!

Get Tested. Know Your Status!

Ok, so I decided that the Producer’s Notes will be in the form of a video blog. Really, the “I don’t want to be in front of the camera” producer has decided to update you, The Day Eazy E Died fans, with a video blog. I was crazy nervous, but I hope in the future I won’t. Also, I hope you gain a little insight about where we are and where we are aiming to go.

Sit Tight, Get Tested, Know Your Status!

Blacks are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. While making up only 13 percent of the U.S. population, they account for more than 49 percent of AIDS cases. AIDS is now the leading cause of death for Black women ages 25 to 34, and the second leading cause of death for Black men ages 35 to 44. ~ US Dept of  Health & Human Services

Check out the World AIDS Day website for more facts (and not the myths) about the disease and educate yourself & others.

Please get tested and know your status!

James Earl Hardy has created memorable characters in this youthful drama set in 1990s New York City. Principal photography is scheduled to begin April of 2010 in New York City coinciding with the 15th anniversary of the passing of rap pioneer Eazy- E, founder and original member of the group N.W.A.

The film is the story of Kwame Woodson, a 24-year old Harlemite. After one of his idols, rap artist Eazy-E, discloses that he is dying from complications from AIDS, Kwame realizes he can no longer ignore the disease and decides to get tested for the HIV virus – but doesn’t tell his girlfriend, Queen McMillian.

As Kwame waits for the results, his world is turned inside out with his dead end job at a record shop, his relationship with his daughter, his budding rap career, his attempt to reunite his older brother and father, and his love life all seem to squeeze him.

About Southern Fried Filmworks

Southern Fried Filmworks is a full service multimedia production company committed to acquiring, developing, and creating independent movies, television series and special-interest projects. Southern Fried works with home-grown and international writers and directors committed to their craft and to relating courageous, beyond the ordinary stories in their unique vision.

About Producer, Trevite Willis

Trevite Willis holds an MBA in International Business and has been continuously engaged in the production of motion pictures since 1999. She has produced music videos, short and feature films including the romantic comedy What a Man Wouldn’t Do for a Woman, and the African-American gay coming-of-age Blueprint, which enjoyed success at festivals such as the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, OutFest, NewFest, Frameline as well as others around the world. The 2008 Columbia University short film, Uncle Killa she produced earned the director a DGA Best Student Film – African American award. Also Uncle Killa was selected as an HBO finalist at the American Black Film Festival, and picked up by HBO, which began airing February 2009. Currently, the Bahamian drama, Children of God, based on the award-winning short film Float, has been selected as the opening night film at the Bahamas International Film Festival. Her music video productions have included works with Grammy nominees and winners including Shawn Mullins and Speech of Arrested Development.

“With the 15th Anniversary of Eazy E’s death next March, The Day Eazy-E Died can bring AIDS and the HIV virus to the forefront of the Black diaspora since Blacks are the highest growing sector of new HIV cases today. James Earl Hardy has created a wonderful story, and I look forward to re-teaming with Kirk to create a film that will resonate with audiences not to ignore the disease.”

About Screenwriter James Earl Hardy

James Earl Hardyis the author of the best selling B-Boy Blues series: B-Boy Blues (1994), praised as the first gay hip-hop love story and prominently featured in Spike Lee’s Get On The Bus; it’s sequel, 2nd Time Around (1996); If Only For One Nite (1997); The Day Eazy-E Died (2001); Love the OneYou’re With(2002); and A House Is Not A Home (2005). The sextet chronicle the relationship between a Buppie from Brooklyn and a homeboy-bike messenger from Harlem. Mr. Hardy recently contributed the new introductory essay to the ground-breaking Black gay male anthology, In The Life(2008).

In addition, Mr. Hardy is an award-winning entertainment feature writer and cultural critic. A1993 honors graduate of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, his byline has appeared in The Advocate, Entertainment Weekly, Essence, New York Newsday, Newsweek, OUT, The Source, Upscale, Vibe, The Village Voice, and The Washington Post. His work has earned him two Educational Press Association Awards; Grants from the E.Y. Harburg Foundation and the American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors; and scholarships from the Paul Rapoport Memorial Fund, and the New York and National chapters of the Association of Black Journalists. A recent online essay, Sylvester: Living Proof, was a GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) Media Award finalist. He has also penned biographies on filmmaker Spike Lee and the pop music group Boyz II Men, both a part of Chelsea House publishers’ Black Achievement Series.

Born and raised in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, he divides his time between Atlanta, Georgia, and Gramercy Park in Manhattan.

“Given the horrific HIV infection rates and the conspiracy of silence surrounding AIDS in Black America, this project is very necessary. There are few films told from our perspective [on this issue], and even fewer that tackle the homophobia that divides families and prevents the kind of collective action needed to battle the disease.”

About Director Kirk Shannon-Butts

Fashionista (Glamour, Vogue, Rolling Stone) by day and filmmaker every other second of the day, Kirk Shannon-Butts, Filmmaker, is a native of Baltimore, Maryland. In 2000 Kirk graduated from Chapman University’s Cecil B. DeMille’s School of Film & Television with a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Film & Television Production.

For his first film, Shannon-Butts delivered the stunningly beautiful black and white film Beneath the Surface, full of images of Black men channeling the B-Boy, the Homo Thug, the Handsome Man and the Shaved Head Muscle Guy. A blend of modern urban fantasy and erotica, Beneath the Surface is based on the Greek myth of Narcissus. Complete Abandon, Shannon-Butts’ graduate thesis film, premiered at the Jamerican Film Festival and went on to screen at Cannes, The Kennedy Center, The New Festival in film festivals throughout the world. Complete Abandon was one of twelve American short films selected to represent Pan African existence in the Diaspora. In 2004 Shannon-Butts received a Jerome Foundation grant and the Plant-a-Seed Award from 1-in-10 / Reel Affirmations for emerging filmmakers for his first feature length screenplay Blueprint.  Blueprint was shot over 10 days in New York City and Upstate New York.

A good story can warm our hearts, soothe our souls, or open our minds to a new way of thinking. Stories help us to understand the world around us through articulating common experiences and  sharing joy, laughter and healing. Sometimes a good story allows us to feel connected to humanity,  and some leave us with an unforgettable experience that we will remember for the rest of our lives.

Cast, production schedules and locations will be announced soon.

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Producer Trevite Willis, director Kirk Shannon-Butts, and screenwriter James Earl Hardy are available for interview by appointment.

Please contact:

Steve Thompson / Thompson Communications

580 Haddon Avenue; Collingswood, NJ 08108

609-386-0019

steve@thomcomm.net

In the Producer Notes section, I look forward to updating you on the development of the film. My goal is to provide a few behind the “business end” scene  insights for the budding producers and fans alike. We have a pretty ambitious idea for The Day Eazy E Died, and I hope you stay along for a fun & exciting ride!