INTERVIEW: Logan Coles – Producer Rising

As film and television is thrust into an ever-changing landscape with the advent of streaming and digital distribution, the art of storytelling remains the same. The craft of storytelling is still a process. As producing/writing partner to one Hollywood’s biggest stars, Logan Coles continues to rise with the past releases of Message From The King and 21 Bridges, in addition to several film & TV projects in development, among them the upcoming African Samurai picture, Yasuke starring Chadwick Boseman. But the challenge to tell unique and unheard of stories is his ultimate motivation. Logan Coles sits down with bfm to discuss his journey and outlook on an unforgiving industry.

bfm: With a background in theatre, your route to producing took many interesting turns. Give us an overview of that journey.

Logan Coles: I was born in DC, then grew up in Virginia and North Carolina for the most part. My mom always encouraged me and my siblings to explore our artistic impulses, so we were always involved in church plays and music and stuff. But my big brother was eccentric, he was always into some form of art as well as football. I was in kind of this mind space that I was going to be this lawyer, orator, politician, because my dad worked in politics. But then I spent a week working with my aunt in her law firm and it completely turned me off as a lawyer, I was like, “This ain’t L.A. Law, man.”

… because I come from the writing world, I try to always approach that part of the filmmaking process with a certain amount of reverence.

Film producer Logan Coles

bfm: You came of age in the 70s. Black independent cinema was emerging on the heels of Melvin Van Peebles with Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song. And of course, there was Shaft. What were you watching?

Monty Ross: I watched everything! My mom was open-minded when it came to film choices. My older sister, Deborah and I saw a variety of movies at the Ritz Theatre in Omaha, Nebraska. Here’s my shortlist which includes movies I liked during that time period: Lady Sings The Blues, Mahogany, Shaft, Shaft TNT, Superfly, Car Wash, Corn Bread, Earl and Me, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Nigga Charlie, Claudine, Sounder, In the Heat of the Night, The Godfather, The Godfather II, Beach Party Bingo, The Sound of Music, The Legend of Billy Jack, Cooley High, D.C. Cab, and Sparkle come to mind. I stayed away from horror films with the exception of The Exorcist.

bfm: What impact did these films have on you? First as a fan, and then later as a filmmaker.

Monty Ross: Films and their impact as I experienced it while sitting there in front of a large screen, meant I could escape into the world of an entire story from beginning to end that offered an impressionable teenager great solutions and positive outcomes. In most cases, to personal and societal issues confronting the Black community. I discovered films could be persuasive, informative, educational, sexy and entertaining. For example, I learned how to achieve a goal, solve a difficult family dilemma, how to fall in love, or fall out of love, take a stand against evil and root for justice or just be entertained for entertainment’s sake. Movies have that type of impact! I was one of those fans who can say movies made a positive impact on my life as a teenager and later as an adult and of course as a filmmaker.

bfm: You’re primarily known as a producer. But people don’t realize you dabbled in acting. And for filmmakers now, sometimes you have to ask yourself: Should I be a director? Should I be an actor? How did you make the transition into being a full-fledged producer? What was that choice like?

Monty Ross: I made the transition to producing full-time when Spike Lee, offered me the position of Vice-President of Production for 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Inc with a starting salary, full-benefits and a deposit for an apartment in Brooklyn, NY. I said yes because at the time I had completed production supervising, the breakaway hit, She’s Gotta Have It, (the film, released in 1986 grossed $6.5 million dollars). We filmed the movie in 12 days, stayed in his 250 square foot apartment, surrounded by equipment, film stock, the budget, notebooks and the script. After we moved to our new production office and we could afford to rent new apartments, Spike turned to me one day over breakfast and said, “Monty, I couldn’t have done this without you. You were a big part of why we were able to get the film made (SIGH) and picked up. I know you want to act, but, you know, maybe this is a sign, you know, maybe you were meant to produce movies”. From that meal and his vote of confidence in me, I felt I was in the right place. I went from production supervising to producing movies, (7 or 8 major award-winning films of Spike) and I never looked back. I do miss acting, but I wouldn’t change my career path as a producer one bit.

… emerging filmmakers must learn the art of developing a project for an audience in order to fully advance in their career goals and objectives.

Film producer Monty Ross

bfm: Do you see that attitude today?

Monty Ross: Filmmakers today know how to write, direct and produce a film. That is very evident by the large number of films that are released on the various streaming platforms, and popular websites like YouTube, but many emerging filmmakers care very little about building and cultivating an audience. It seems there is more interest placed on self-hype, being fashionably correct, posing on social media vs. listening to focus groups, hanging out in chat rooms, or arranging to meet with audiences in some type of one on one session. In short, I feel that emerging filmmakers must learn the art of developing a project for an audience in order to fully advance in their career goals and objectives. My suggestions for films to watch that pay close attention to the audience and their perspective, here’s the shortlist: My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Blair Witch, Training Day, House Party, Friday, Do The RIght Thing, and Boyz N The Hood, just to name a few.

bfm: You’ve worked in the independent realm, worked in the industry, and now you’re back to independent. With digital technology, especially for filmmakers of color, how has access influenced present-day narratives? Before it was just film. Before you had a $100, 000 camera, now you have an iPhone that shoots 4K. Not only is your production cheaper, but your post-production is cheaper because you’ve got a system you can use at home. How has that changed the process?

Monty Ross: If you use an iPhone, now you can deliver video content to a client using the same exact production to post-production process major directors use to deliver content to a major distributor. Adobe makes a variety of apps and software that allow for customized or preset effects that take a project from amateur to professional status in seconds. Garage Band and Final Cut Pro are great apps to use as well for post-production. Customized music arranged, composed and written by a solo musician that sounds as if an orchestra has recorded the score for a film is not out of the question. These tools, apps, and software are wonderful to use, to deliver great content, even if the film was shot on an iPhone.

Be creative, and most importantly, seek the advice of marketing and industry professionals who have great experiences developing campaigns that have actually influenced audiences.

Film producer Monty Ross

bfm: The filmmaker has told the story. Doesn’t matter if you have Denzel cast, doesn’t matter if you have Joe Blow from film school. The next step is the marketing and distribution of the product. A couple of decades ago, you had the word of mouth with The Blair Witch Project, which was the beginning of even using cellular phones for texts. Now, the fan base is like, “Oh, there’s a million YouTube likes, this trailer to the movie has to be good. So I have to watch it.” With Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, how has social media affected the way in which are films being marketed, generating buzz?

Monty Ross: Social media has affected how films are being marketed, generating impressions and great buzz because the device that is primarily used to reach the fan is usually in their hand, their cell phone. That makes the content to promote the film available immediately. Laptops, desktops and traditional forms of print media are still used to reach audiences, however, filmmakers like Hollywood Studios know that in order to be successful reaching an audience, both traditional and new approaches have to be utilized to persuade fans to leave their homes and come out and support a film. So, be creative, and most importantly, seek the advice of marketing and industry professionals who have great experiences developing campaigns that have actually influenced audiences.

bfm: Cool, any last words?

Monty Ross: Strive to make great films that deliver audience impact. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes toward that effort because as quiet as it’s kept that is how most industry professionals learned what to do and what not to do in order to master their craft and become a highly-skilled professional with a stellar reputation for delivering high-quality movies.

Mario Tahi Lathan is a filmmaker residing in Los Angeles at the moment. When he isn’t re-watching episodes of Mickey Mouse with his son, Mario is often studying the culture of all things jazz. His latest film This Is The Bash (www.thebashfilm.com) on Haitian jazz sensation, Jowee Omicil, is touring the festival circuit.