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As Film Twitter sets its sights on the Toronto International Film Festival and Clint Eastwood's Sullyprepares for take off at the box office this weekend, there's an independent film set for release that is being overlooked and underestimated, just like its young protagonist.
I'm talking, of course, about Kicks, Justin Tipping's promising directorial debut that has been earning fans and building buzz since its premiere this past spring at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Kicksis a bold and unique coming-of-age story about an undersized teen who sets out to prove himself a man by retrieving his Air Jordans from the gun-strapped Oakland thug who stole them for his own young son.
SEE ALSO:'Don't Breathe' star Stephen Lang on portraying a blind man, 'Avatar' and that baster sceneBoasting the humor of Dopeand the danger of Boyz n the Hood, the film has prompted comparisons between Tipping and his childhood friend Ryan Coogler, whose own Bay Area movie (Fruitvale Station) paved a golden path for him in Hollywood, from Creedto Marvel's upcoming Black Panther. Either way, Tipping has certainly proven himself a director worth watching with this film.
Tipping talked to Mashableabout casting the film's impressive young lead, the importance of shooting in the Bay Area and his desire to spread an anti-violent message with Kicks. Enjoy.
Talk about casting these kids -- Jahking Guillory, Christopher Jordan Wallace and Christopher Meyer -- because they’re really what makes this movie so special.
Authenticity was important, and I knew it [needed to] be a mixture of actors and non-actors, but the three main kids came from our casting agent in LA, Kim Hardin, who did Hustle & Flowwith John Singleton. Jahking hadn’t really done anything, but he knew he wanted to, so it was the right mix of him being eager, and when we put him up against CJ and Chris, there was a natural big brother/little brother rapport that the story called for. They immediately had chemistry. I'd throw improv on them and they’d crack jokes, and it was like they arethe three friends.
Kofi [Siriboe] came aboard, and then Mahershala [Ali], because he got wind of the script. I was like, 'Remy from House of Cardswants to talk? That's crazy!' We shared stories about growing up in Oakland and how we both have that one uncle. He's amazing in the movie. I literally moved into my parents' house before pre-production and we street-teamed it, going around to youth groups and walking up to kids in neighborhoods we were going to be shooting in. They were like, 'what?' That's how we sprinkled in the characters around everyone -- the brothers and sisters and friends of friends -- so it became a big community effort.
Where’d the idea for The Astronaut come from and what did you hope to say with it?
Subconsciously, it might've been in this weird hip-hop zeitgeist. Pharrell’s logo for his clothing line is an astronaut, and lots of rappers have incorporated space into their music somehow. Space is associated with imagination. When you're a little boy and people ask 'what do you want to be when you grow up,' many say 'an astronaut.' It speaks to the idea of masculinity and the character’s loneliness. There’s something lonely about an astronaut in space and being an outsider up there.
The astronaut starts off as a guardian angel. He’s there for big decisions, like Brandon getting the gun and going down Flaco's hallway, but I felt like we needed to kill him off because the idea is inherently flawed. In the end, Brandon puts down the gun and the astronaut is no longer needed, because he’s gone through this rite of passage. That was my intent, anyway.
Was that an conscious effort for you, to have the film end with an anti-violent resolution?
Yeah, it was. I don’t want to be too preachy, but I was for sure conscious not to kill anybody. That subverts what people almost expected, with Brandon putting down the gun and young Jay not giving Flaco the gun. It's funny how the most mature decision made in the film is by the youngest kid. Flaco walks away and has the biggest emotional arc in apologizing to Jay by leaving.
The way I always looked at it was, Jay could become Brandon, and Brandon does become Flaco, the very thing he hates, and Flaco could become Uncle Marlon. There’s a bittersweet hope that they'll choose a better path going forward.
How important was it for you to shoot in the Bay Area which, pardon the cliche, feels like its own character in this film?
It was important. The Bay Area isa character in the movie. I was trying to tell a personal story that I knew and that was close to me. Haight Street raised me. Telegraph Hill raised me. So I did everything I could to make that happen. You could go out of state and get some tax breaks, but I found that shooting back home in the places I knew, with my family and friends around, also had its benefits.
Can you explain your decision to split the film up with chapter titles that are actually rap lyrics?
I kind of knew I was going to do the chapter titles with universal and well-known rap quotes serving as a hip-hop Greek chorus, in a sense. I love the device of chapters breaks in [Quentin] Tarantino and Lars von Trier’s films. Even if you're someone who hates hip-hop and doesn’t know anything about sneakers, I wanted to put you in the classic hip-hop world. The lyrics fit the character of Brandon, who often raps his interior voiceover. A lot of rap is steeped in hyper-masculinity, and growing up, you go around rapping these tough rap lyrics in your head even though you’re not. It's a way to cope. I'm a big Bay Area hip-hop fan, so I had to put in Mac Dre for sure. Everyone else was local artists, and then I worked backwards, with the "kicks" line to create a bookend.
Growing up, did you have a pair of kicks that meant a lot to you as a kid, and if they were stolen, would you have gone to the lengths Brandon goes to in this film to retrieve them?
I only got one pair of shoes every year before the school year started and could only spend a certain amount, so it was like, choose wisely. In middle school, for some reason, I really wanted the Grant Hill Filas, so shout out to him. Those shoes were the first thing I bought that I'm self-aware I coveted.
If you coveted Grant Hill's shoes, we must be around the same age.
[laughing] I'm 31 years old but you can tell everyone I'm 19.
I understand that you grew up with Ryan Coogler, who I think I compared you to without even knowing you had that kind of history together. Have you kept in touch? Did he give you any notes or advice as Kickscame together?
We've known each other a while. I just saw him at a friend’s USC graduation. By the time I came around to shooting this, he was busy developing Creed, and he’s pretty much been busy ever since, but we run into each other every now and then.
Not to keep comparing you to Ryan, but are you interested in following a similar career trajectory and making the leap to studio movies, or would you prefer to continue working in the indie space? What kinds of movies are you looking to make?
As long as I love the story, I think I could go either way. I think Ryan found the perfect space between making a movie that's his own, but also fits into a franchise and serves the studio's needs. I have no problem getting lumped in that category with him. Bring it on! Creed 2, here we come! I certainly have ambitions to explore larger worlds and do bigger things, but making indie movies means you really have to love it, because you will be with it forever -- in good times and bad.
What was the biggest thing you learned from making your first film that you’ll apply to the next one?
Second to "you should sleep while making a movie" is probably to have patience, overall. Don’t get worked up about why things aren't happening quicker. You have to understand some things are out of your control, but as long as you know the story and the characters and the heart of a scene, you can adjust when things go astray. Just keeping calm, I'd say.
What’s next for you?
I’m figuring that out right now. I think it’ll definitely involve exploring worlds that aren’t often reflected onscreen or the disenfranchised, something like District 9or Children of Men, where you can wrap social commentary into a genre movie. As long as I’m able to speak to something socially relevant and how we live now. I'm not sure what that is yet, but I'll let you know if I figure it out.