"Let's Stay Together" shooting diary 2: Memphis and Al Green

It's a long ride to Memphis from Brooklyn. About 17 hours, yo. And it's the kind of road that sends the mind deep within, especially as my cinematographer and actor were passed out cold 90% of the ride, and i was the only one driving. I was on a mission. A mission that had started a week before. A mission to meet Al Green.
I had gone to Al Green's sound check in Atlantic City, on a mission to reach out to him and tell him about the film. I brought my homey Malik, who's shooting when i'm in front of the camera, put on some nice duds, and we walked in like we belonged there. "Are you performing tonight?" one of the House of Blues staff asks.
"Not tonight," I said.
"Oh, you're with the band?" he wondered, looking at the camera bag.
"That's right," I said, and he pointed us to the back stage.
"You can get your back stage passes through those doors and to the left."
We waltzed back stage and hung out in a dressing room while I planned the next move. Al wasn't doing his sound check, I could tell it was someone else on the mic. After a few songs, we ventured out to investigate the other dressing rooms. I asked a sound tech if Al Green was in the larger dressing room, and he told me he was up in his hotel room.
"But his daughter is here, would you like to talk to her?" "
"Yeah, tell her joshua bee alafia is here."
He disappeared into the dressing room and came back to open the door to let us in. Deborah Green sat with the other background singer, filling envelopes with the bands pay for the night. She was very warm, and I was very polite. I told her what i was doing, that i wanted to use her father's music in my film, and told her how his new album creates an enchantment on the African American families in crisis and brings folks together in my film, in a very magical realism way. The film pitch is so bizarre, that i never feel like folks actually understand what i'm going for, but she was encouraging and took the little synopsis and DVD of Cubamor i gave her and said she'd give it to her father.
"I'm going to be in Memphis next week, are y'all going to be there?" I asked, having seen a gap in their tour dates on the website and hoping that Rev. Green would go back to his church that Sunday to give service.
"Well, I won't, but my Father will." She said, and encouraged me to go to the church.
That's how I came to be driving 1100 miles with a cinematographer and an actor to make my film and meet one of my favorite recording artists. Two days before the trip, a cinematographer friend that i've never worked with bailed on me because he pulled a paid gig and i was trying to bring him on as a favor, since my budget is too hurting to pay my technicians or actors as of yet. I ended up calling a young student i had met in the EVC teen film making program named Ariel. Aicha was coming with us three days before she left for a month in Switzerland.
We Arrived in Memphis at about 5:30 in the morning. The brotha working the desk at the hotel was real nice and talked about his city a little while i checked in. We crashed for about four hours, then bounced to church, disoriented as i looked at the clock not knowing we had crossed time zones. When we got to the Full Gospel Tabernacle, the place was already bumping. The drummer was kicking the kick hard, i felt it in my chest immediately. The music was extremely on point, and another singer was singing lead with a fury and a passion that made all the road fatigue leave my body. I spent most half the time standing and clapping as the choir lit it up. Al was seated initially, letting some other singers do their thing, then he stood, wrecked it, and gave a beautiful sermon that focused on being loving and tolerant to one another. It was Aicha's first time in church, as she is an agnostic, and i kept looking at her to watch her soak it all in. Rev. Green asked new comers to say where they came from and we heard responses from all over; South Africa, Kenya, Italy, Ireland, Indiana, and of course i had to represent Brooklyn! to the fullest. Toward the end, Rev. Green asked us all to tell the folks sitting next to us, "I love you," and it was actually very profound telling young Ariel and Aicha that i loved them. A great way to start a shoot. After the service, i approached the drummer and told him i wanted to meet with Rev. Green about a film i was shooting in New York. He was a cool brotha and listened to my short pitch, then went back stage to see if Rev. Green would entertain us, but he had already left as he usually does. He along with some other folks in the choir encouraged us to come the next day in the morning to see if we could get a sitdown. We left and ate a soul food feast then started shooting. Part of the mission was getting the hotel scenes knocked out, which we did steadily. We did the scene where Aicha's character gets pregnant... which is always kind of awkward, and got most of the romance scenes between her and i out of the way.
The next day we rushed Aicha to the airport and then went to see if the Rev. would grant us a meeting, interview, whatever we could get. We waited for about a half an hour at the church until his secretary came to tell us he wasn't giving interviews.
"That's alright, I really came here to get his blessing more than an interview. I want to just sit and meet with him, briefly."
"You came all the way from New York, just to get Rev. Green's blessing?" She said, somewhat shocked.
"Yes."
"Okay, let me give him another call and see if he'll just give you his blessing." She said, one of the sweetest folks you'd ever want to meet. "He says go ahead up there!" She came back with, genuinely excited because everyone knows how difficult it really is to get a meeting with Rev. Green.
We walked over to Al Green Publishing office. Rev. Green sat writing checks for his band, gave us both a quick handshake and smile and told us to sit down.
"Okay, let's hear it." he said, looking down at the check he was writing.
"Let me begin by saying it's a real honor to meet you, Rev. Green..." i started, then launched in to a summery of my film and how i thought it was only right to get his permission to reference him and that if we got distribution, the distributor would come to pay the royalties for the music we use in the film.
He began by telling me he wasn't giving interviews, that he had sent Tavis Smiley and his crew home packing the previous week as they showed up trying to shoot in his church. He spoke of not wanting somebody to do a bio picture on him or anything of that nature. As i clarified i just wanted to use his music, he ended up saying.
"You do you, and I'm going to do Al Green. Go on and make your movie."
He then shook our hands and we said goodbye. I felt like it was a step in the right direction, but I was a little disappointed he hadn't really heard what i wanted to do in terms of him and my film, the message i was going for.
It was a very long ride back to Brooklyn, but my initial disappointment faded into a gratitude that he had said the words,
"Make your film."
And that's exactly what i intend to do.