Your new movie Ace
Jackson is a Dead Man - in a few words, what is it about?
A man has to pay back a gangster for stolen drugs to save his own life.
At least in my opinion, Ace
Jackson is a Dead Man turns quite a few gangster and
blaxploitation mainstays onto their heads - do you at all agree,
and your (other) sources of inspiration when thinking up the movie?
I guess I'd have to agree if given that choice. Ace is far from a
gangster, except in his own head maybe and he is even further away from
the typical Robin Hood criminal in blaxploitation films. A lot
of what's seen on screen came up organically while filming and in post
during the editing process. My main source of inspiration beforehand was
an unfinished script for a film noir I started writing called Man Hunt, along with a documentary called
Hookers at the
Point that my co-director Aswad Issa loved. A lot of the film is just the
mixing of those 2 elements, a wannabe gangster on the run and a pimp
trying to get money from his hoes.
Ace Jackson
is a Dead Man - why the spoiler title?
If I didn’t let viewers know that
Ace would die, they’d watch the film with the intention of seeing how
he’d survive the odds. That’s not what this film is about. It’s
about motives, decision-making and inevitability. The film is about themes
more than the story and character building.
In the film you got right into the action instead of giving us
background on Ace - to ask quite bluntly, why?
I
don’t want the viewer to know more than what is on the surface level
with Ace. He wants money, power and women. That’s all we need to know.
When writing this I imagined someone opening up a newspaper and seeing a
B&W image of a thug that was shot in the head in the hood for a drug
deal that went wrong. Do we really care if the neighbors liked him, or if
his girlfriend was pregnant or that his mother thought he was a good boy?
I wanted to show the sex, drugs, desire for power and the poor decision
making that lead to his demise. I wanted people to feel sorry for Ace, but
not to empathize with him. He’s selfish, but not malicious, like most of
us are.
With The Trade Off,
Scumbag Hustler,
Ace Jackson
is a Dead Man and Mandingo Sex Addict
you've made 4 softcore porn flicks in a row. Would you consider
that genre to be your niche, is that the way you intend to go with future
movies?
You’re talking about 4
very unique films, a drama, comedy, crime thriller and dramedy. Take away
the sex and they have very little in common. As for the sex, I consider
shooting realistic sex scenes to be something I’m very good at, enjoy
doing and will continue to do. With that said, I’ll likely be aiming for
R-rated sex scenes in future films. In this day and age with unlimited
free porn so readily available a click away, there isn’t a strong market
for softcore porn anymore.
Sticking to the sex scenes in above movies of yours for the moment:
Some of the sex in your movie looks very real - so do you actually go all
the way in your sex scenes, is any of the sex real?
Yes. In the past
I’ve always said no because I’ve edited them in a way that makes it
impossible to tell which are and which aren’t real. I’d say about half
of the sex scenes I’ve done in The Trade
Off, Scumbag
Hustler, Ace
Jackson is a Dead Man and Mandingo Sex Addict
are
real, I dare anyone to figure out which are and which aren’t real
though.
You’ve worked with Aswad Issa on all of your films from House of the Damned in 1996 to
the upcoming Mandingo Sex Addict,
usually with him handling cinematography and production. How come you made
him co-director on Scumbag
Hustler and Ace
Jackson is a Dead Man?
Aswad can theoretically get a co-directing credit
on most of my films, but with Scumbag
Hustler and Ace
Jackson is a Dead Man, only half of the scenes
were scripted so I had to lean on his feedback more than usual, there was
no way to justify not giving him co-director credit.
The $64-question of course: When and where will the film be released
onto the general public?
Ace Jackson is
a Dead Man is available for pre-order
now on www.fullcirclefilmworks.com
and will be officially released on June 23rd. The DVD also includes 3
classic crime thrillers: Mr. Scarface, Family Enforcer and
High School Caesar, plus 2 original short films: The Pimp Chronicles and
Forgiveness.
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With you turning your back to softcore porn, as stated above, what's
next on the agenda for Sean Weathers?
Horror, and that
starts with The Fappening and Vault of Terror II: The Undead,
both coming out August 25th.
Anything else you’re dying to mention and I have merely forgotten
to ask?
Watch out for the release of Mandingo Sex Addict
come July!
Thanks for the interview!
Thank you, and I’d
love to do this again some time.
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