B-Boy Document 2008 (Part 2)

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What has the reaction been from the subjects of your films and from the b-boy community at large?

BENSON:
Well, there were a lot of people who had a problem with the fact that I focused on Battle of the Year. Because they felt that Battle of the Year wasn’t the only event, and it’s true; it’s not the only event in the b-boy world. In America especially, Battle of the Year doesn’t have as much emphasis as it does internationally, so there were a lot of people who had problems with it.

But I would say that overall, the response has been amazing; just the feedback that I get online from people and b-boys around the world has been really supportive. All the subjects in the film are extremely happy with the way that they’ve been portrayed, including the experts. The support has just been phenomenal. I’m just really, really lucky to have a community behind a film, because it’s a really tight community. Of course, there are some people who don’t like the film because of the Battle of the Year element and because it has a much broader scope in terms of, it doesn’t bring out as personal a story as Marcy’s film. But that’s OK because I can’t satisfy everybody. But I can say that overall, generally speaking, the support has been really positive.
“Every b-boy struggles, there’s always something that’s pushing against their dream, and it’s amazing what they will do to stick with this passion.”
MARCY:
In terms of the subjects, I’m pretty sure that they really do love the film. They’ve been amazingly supportive throughout our whole festival process; they’ve been to almost all the festivals themselves. They’ve put their hearts and souls into the Q&A’s with audiences.

You know we’re pretty much done with our festival tour now, but our screening in LA, which was two months ago, someone asked Josh/Milky a question about his mom — his relationship with his mom — and he just really answered it from his heart and started crying. It was a big moment, and to me, the fact that he could go there after 17 months of doing these Q&A’s with the film was really amazing.

So they’ve been part of the team through the entire process, and I think they really believe in the film. And I think that they feel that it portrays them well. In fact, Omar was on some kind of Texas interview earlier this week, and the woman asked him, “Why do you think people should see this film?” and he said, “Because this film is in our voices, this film is truly about us.” And that was great for me to hear. So yeah, I think there’s no issues there. And I have felt more than 100% supported by them.

And then the b-boy community at large… it’s really a question for them; I don’t like to speak for other people in general. But I feel very supported and embraced by the community with the film. They’ve come out for screenings, we’ve gotten great feedback, and people do see it as a film which is about the bigger issues. In other words, that we’ve gone deep and personal as a way of illustrating how much b-boying means to people in general and what the struggle is like. And how every b-boy struggles, because it’s true… every b-boy struggles, there’s always something that’s pushing against their dream, and it’s amazing what they will do to stick with this passion. And they see that represented in the film, which is really gratifying to me because I did want it to capture some larger issues, and the feedback anyway is that I think we’ve kind of struck a chord there, and that’s been great to hear.

And you specifically moved from fiction film to documentary Benson. Why do you feel that documentary was the best form to tell this story, as opposed to fiction?

BENSON:
In terms of the films that have been made previously that have been feature films on b-boying, they totally have been co-opted, and they continue to do that. I saw Step Up 2 the other day, and I just couldn’t believe the portrayal of b-boying. First of all, there’s all this footage from The Freshest Kids in the beginning, and there’s footage of Ken Swift and Asia. And I saw that, and they didn’t even call it b-boying; they called it street dancing.
“After everything that I’ve learned from making this documentary, the last thing that I wanted to do was make a movie about a b-boy who falls in love with a ballerina.”
And it continues to this day that the media in general, especially with Hollywood, they just don’t know how to present it. Because, I think, A. they don’t understand it; they don’t know anything about it, and B. they’re just kind of clumping everything together like they normally have. But as a feature filmmaker, for me, personally, after this documentary, which took five years out of my life, I’m ready to go back into features, and that’s the next thing I’m working on right now: the feature adaptation of Planet B-Boy.

After everything that I’ve learned from making this documentary, the last thing that I wanted to do was make a movie about a b-boy who falls in love with a ballerina. And it’s really important that I take everything that I’ve learned from this culture and try to portray it within a fiction context. And it’s going to be challenging, and one of the things that I have to do is I have to work with real b-boys. There’s no way I can get a studio dancer to portray authentically what this culture is about. And so right now, I’m working with consultants who are actual b-boys and b-girls while also working with a writer. I made a promise to myself that I can’t come out there after making Planet B-Boy and make another hip-pop movie on street dance. I’m really dedicated to making a movie about b-boys and try to make it really correct.

Your thoughts, Marcy?
“What I’ve come to feel, myself personally, during the last six years is that the two really can coexist — that you can have some mainstream exposure to b-boying that will not be harmful to the culture.”
MARCY:
I actually can agree with everything that Benson said, and also let me just say that that’s really exciting news, Benson, and congratulations; that’s really exciting to be on that path.

But back to the question. I agree with how he characterized the way Hollywood portrays b-boying. And I think what I want to add to that is that to me, Benson’s movie aside, because he knows what he’s doing, in general, once anything goes into mainstream media, it is inevitably going to be both diluted in terms of the true meaning, but also at the same time sensationalized in terms of trying to find the most edgy or most outrageous components of it. And that’s inevitable. And so it’s interesting; when I first started on the project, people did talk about the trade off of, “What will happen to b-boying if it starts going mainstream again?” And some people wanted it to go mainstream because there’s more recognition and more money. And some people thought that would be the death of it again like it was in the ’80s.

What I’ve come to feel, myself personally, during the last six years is that the two really can coexist — that you can have some mainstream exposure to b-boying that will not be harmful to the culture. So take America’s Best Dance Crew, and certainly Benson will make an amazing film. And those parts that are coming up in the mainstream will lead to more opportunities and more recognition. But at the same time, personally I think it’s extremely important that the underground part of b-boying stays underground. Because that’s what’s fueling the creativity. Because there are no outside expectations, there are no outside pressures. There are no other constraints that have to be met; it’s just that pure creative energy and competition that’s driving the evolution. And my opinion is that part needs to stay very healthy, vibrant, and needs to stay underground, and then it can continue to fuel these pieces that kind of pop up into the mainstream.
LINKS OF INTEREST
 
 
Planet B-Boy Official Site

 
 
Inside The Circle Official Site

 
 
Planet B-Boy Review

 
 
Inside The Circle Review
Any questions for each other?

BENSON:
Are you at Freestyle Session, Marcy?

MARCY:
Yes, I’m sitting outside on the sidewalk.

BENSON:
Awesome!

MARCY:
They’re just opening the doors, and it’s gonna be fun. I’ve actually not been to a Freestyle Session before.

BENSON:
Oh my God, it’s going to be like a huge bolt of energy straight at you for the next couple of days. Cros has been a huge supporter. He’s like the greatest thing that has happened to American b-boying as far as like a promoter. And he really understands both sides to it. That if you have the underground, and you have the stuff above-ground. I think he’s helped it evolve quite a bit in America. And this Freestyle Session is just going to be phenomenal.

We’ve got a Cros1 feature coming out early next month… just so you know.

BENSON:
Oh, awesome.

MARCY:
Oh, that’s great.

BENSON:
So Marcy, your DVD is out now, we can order it now?

MARCY:
Yeah! It was released just last week, actually.

BENSON:
Oh, cool, congratulations!

MARCY:
Thank you! It’s good timing; I think that both films are coming out within a couple of months of each other. I think that there’s a natural synergy between the two because they are so complimentary towards each other. I think it’s fun that we’ll both be out there. What are your extras on, by the way?

BENSON:
Oh, it’s just a little bit more on b-boying in terms of the stuff. I mean, I have so much stuff, I don’t know what to do. But unfortunately, the first version of the DVD, because we’re coming out with two versions — one is going to be a Blu-ray, and then the first version is not. And basically the first version, you know, there’s a type of DVD called DVD-9, which only has a certain amount of time in terms of the amount of extras you can put on it. And I can only have like 20 minutes or 30 minutes, so I basically put some extra stuff on history. Because, you know, we don’t really go deep into the history, but I had a lot more stuff from Trac2 and Ken Swift and Storm and I included a few other people that didn’t make the cut, like Asia1 and Poe1 and Crumbs and so on. So it’s just a little bit more on it.

Do you have any advice for the budding b-boy filmmakers?

MARCY:
I do, and I’m in touch with a few of them, and of course, as far as being a good filmmaker, there’s a lot to it. You can’t wrap it up in a sentence or two. But I do really encourage people to be really patient with their projects and not to force it in a certain direction. To really let things unfold and follow what’s happening in real life, as opposed to kind of forcing their vision on what they find. Which is the initial instinct of a lot of first-time filmmakers. So that’s probably one of the first upfront things that I advise people. And then of course there are all sorts of good technical things like…

BENSON:
Using a tripod? (Laughs)

MARCY:
(Laughing) Yeah, oh yeah, I was going to say audio. That’s another thing that people screw up on is audio — they don’t get good audio. So invest in your microphones, that would be the first pragmatic one. But I could go on and on about that, but those are two of my top pieces of advice. Don’t force your story, let your story guide you, and invest in a good mic.

BENSON:
Well, you’re asking about first time filmmakers?

Yeah, I guess so. Just the people who are concentrating on b-boying, or b-boys who are trying to make their own docs.

BENSON:
Sure, well, you know there’s a difference to me between a filmmaker and a b-boy who wants to make a film. And to me, filmmaking is a craft. And it’s pretty much the same advice that you give any dancer, which is, you have to have foundation. You have to learn the basics first. And I really recommend that b-boys out there… it’s so easy to just pick up a camera and get the editing software, but I think it’s worth that for b-boys that want to get into film, that filmmaking has a foundation too. And that requires that they do their research, that maybe if they’re not going to take some courses, then they should at least read some material on filmmaking and learn the basics of it.

And there’s a technical side and there’s a creative side, and the technical side Marcy has commented on, which is experiment with your shots and make sure you get good audio and invest in a lavaliere mic when you do interviews. And on the creative side, I really recommend that people watch documentaries. And see how people out there are constructing, crafting stories. Watch DVD extras. Really do some research in this area, because I take this as seriously as any b-boy would take their dance. I think research and experimenting, as well as getting other people’s opinion on your work, is very important. That was one of the most important things that we did on our film, which was have test screenings and show people our work and get people’s feedback. And if a majority of the viewers are feeling like, “I don’t really understand what’s going on,” then usually they’re right. So I think those are the kind of things that you have to pay attention to in terms of evolving as a filmmaker or learning to become one.

Anything else either of you would like to add before we go?

BENSON:
Just congratulations, Marcy, on your DVD. I’m one of your biggest fans, and have a great time at Freestyle Session, and I look forward to your next project. What are you working on these days anyway?

MARCY:
Well, aside from, I’m still doing a lot of follow-up on Inside the Circle, which I know you can relate to with your work on Planet B-Boy. Still editing clips and the DVD extras and all of that good stuff. Aside from that, I’m playing a producer role on another documentary that will come out later this year about a serious immigration issue in central Texas. But that’s a completely separate topic. But I really feel that I’m just not done with the whole b-boy thing. I’m playing around with it in my mind, not just in terms of a feature, but just other short projects. But yeah, I’m just having too much fun.

Tags: benson lee, director, film, inside the circle, interview, marcy garriott, movie, movies, planet b-boy