Van Peebles shares Hollywood experiences

When legendary African American filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles released his movie "Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" in 1971, it was given an X rating and only two theaters in the U.S. would screen it. To add to his troubles, no newspapers would advertise the film because of its risqué title. \nIn response to these roadblocks, Van Peebles came up with a new strategy to promote his film -- he asked a then-unknown musical group called Earth, Wind & Fire to record a catchy tune for the soundtrack. When black disc jockeys began playing the song with heavy rotation, more theaters started to show "Sweetback" and newspapers advertised it, but only after Van Peebles added more letters to the word "badass" that appeared in the title.\n"Before that, you never used music to market a film," he said. "I told Status Records about this idea I had, and then they told MGM, and MGM used that strategy to market 'Shaft.'"\nVan Peebles, 69, shared this anecdote and more during a lecture entitled "Kickin' Science: An Evening with Melvin Van Peebles," Friday before a crowd at Jordan Hall. The presentation was delivered as part of his duties as the Black Film Center/Archive's first artist-in-residence.Much of his lecture dealt with his journey to success in the entertainment industry and the racism he encountered along the way. After graduating from Ohio Wesleyan University and serving in the Air Force, Van Peebles found work as a gripman on a cable car railway in San Francisco. During his tenure there, he published a memoir entitled "A Day in the Life of a Gripman," and was fired as a result. \n"My supervisor said I fit the profile of someone who would get into an accident," he said.\nIn spite of that experience, Van Peebles' experiences in San Francisco led to his cinema career.\n"After I published the book, someone got on my cable car and asked me to sign his copy," he said. "He told me that it read like a movie, and then it dawned on me that I could make movies."\nVan Peebles produced several short films that were brought to the attention of the Cinematheque Institute in France. After honing his skills at the Cinematheque, he returned to San Francisco as a French delegate to the San Francisco Film Festival, and "embarrassed" the U.S. by winning the top prize for the French.\n"My embarrassment got me a lot of job offers, but I didn't take those jobs because they meant that I would be the residential black genius," he explained. "But that caused Hollywood to start looking for more black artists, and that's when people like Gordon Parks and Ossie Davis were discovered." \nBecause racism dictated that Parks' and Davis' early films were to be filmed on location outside of Hollywood, Van Peebles refused to produce his 1970 film "Watermelon Man" unless it was shot in the entertainment industry capital. A reception followed Peebles's speech in the Jordan Hall lobby, where he signed copies of his latest literary work, "Sweetback," which is based on a journal he kept during that film's production. Black Film Center/Archives Director Audrey McCluskey expressed her desire to acquire Van Peebles' film archive and memoirs, and to implement a course at IU focusing on his work.\n"His inventiveness and his passion for what he does are inspirations to young people," she said. "I wanted to have him come out here and see that his archive and his memoirs would be in good hands."\nTyrone Simpson, director of special projects for the BFCA, explained how Van Peebles' work, especially "Sweetback," inspired the "blaxploitation" film genre that reached its peak during the 1970s.\n"Hollywood is inclined to make what works," he said. "Melvin represented that black victory would draw black people to theaters with 'Sweetback,' and 'Sweetback' was copied for profit. But the other films that followed wouldn't have the same political edge as 'Sweetback.'"Graduate student Azuka Nzegwu studied under Van Peebles last week during a one-credit seminar that focused on screenwriting and producing.\n"He really listened to what we had to say and he made us think about what we were writing," she said. "Some people, after they become famous and successful, don't want to give away what they'velearned, but he wasn't like that."\nVan Peebles' advice to students who are eager to become successful in Hollywood was simple and to the point.\n"You need to have the power and money to finance your own work," he said. "And you have to be like Nike -- just do it"