by N. Jamiyla Chisholm
Jerry LaMothe wanted to be an actor. “In 1999, I attended Robert Townsend’s boot camp for actors in L.A., and Townsend said, ‘Actors of color cannot rely solely on acting. You have to be writers, directors, producers.’ He then said, ‘If no one in this room comes back with a film next year, then you’re not serious.’ I remember turning around and wondering who that person was. The next year it was me.”
The 39-year-old Brooklynite with Haitian roots learned to shoot his first film, Amour Infinity, by studying in a corner of a bookstore. While working as a medical technician, the budding filmmaker wrote his script longhand and shot it on a $45,000 budget. Seven years later, he was back behind the camera directing an impressive cast for the dramatic film Blackout. Legendary director Melvin Van Peebles signed on first, followed by Zoë Saldana and Jeffrey Wright.
A pre-Avatar Saldana, who plays an editor at UPTOWN magazine in the movie, remained loyal to Blackout even after funding fell through. It took LaMothe another two years and Jeffrey Wright for production to continue. “I was underground on the train and my phone rang. The voice said, ‘Hey man, it’s Jeffrey. I read the script, and I’m gonna do it.’” Wright also executive produced. Blackout explores what happened in one neighborhood during the August 2003 Northeast blackout. LaMothe started writing after hearing about a stabbing of a 17-year-old just one hour after the lights went out.
When he began writing 2011’s The Tombs, a half-hour short that follows a Brooklyn man on a three-day journey through Manhattan’s infamous central holding building, he painted an autobiographical picture. “The first time I went through the Tombs, I was unaware how it’s become a rite of passage in New York City; from top executives to lawyers to your grimy street thug, we’ve all been through the system.”
The Tombs—coproduced with his girlfriend, Basketball Wives’ star Tami Roman—has been nominated for a 2012 Black Reel Award and there’s strong buzz for an African Movie Academy Award. Hollywood could come knocking soon, as his name is the latest considered to direct the highly anticipated Tupac biopic. Fans of prolific writer Edwidge Danticat will someday soon see her book The Dew Breaker on the screen, possibly envisioned by her Haitian kinsman.
“I think Chris Rock summed it up: Our white counterparts can get away with mediocrity, but not us,” says LaMothe. “We have to be exceptional, and I accepted that responsibility a long time ago.”