Filmmakers Call For More GOP Action in Urban Areas & Supporting Tim Scott

SHAMROCK STINE PRODUCTIONS LLC

FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN

NEWS

 

December 27, 2012 
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE                                                                                                                                                                                                    

FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN filmmakers call for
more gop action in urban areas &
support of new senator tim scott

Documentary Examines Issues GOP and Scott Will Face in 2013 And Beyond

Trenton, NJ – Director Kevin J. Williams and Producer Tamara E. Williams are challenging the current Republican National Committee leadership to learn from the 2012 Presidential Election and change its ways.  The FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN filmmakers stated, “Our experiences as Republicans in an Urban area inspired us to make our film and try to help make the GOP better.  While we captured the life experiences of Black Republicans, Urban Republicans and others struggling within our political system… we found that many people of all political stripes and demographics are being ignored by both political Parties.  This situation must change and change now.”

Director Kevin J. Williams continued, “South Carolina’s Governor Nikki Haley appointing Representative Tim Scott as that state’s junior Senator is a great start and we call on the GOP to support his re-election with all the money and resources it can muster.  More importantly though, the Republican Party at the national, state and local levels must stop being afraid to take the ball and run with it.  If the Republican Party does not begin to work now to improve its standing with Minority voters and Urban voters, we are afraid that our Party will lose in 2014 and 2016.  Then it will be just a matter of time until it goes out of existence and joins the Whig Party on the ash heap of history.”

FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN has been seen by thousands of Americans and has screened before diverse audiences in Atlanta, GA; Charlotte & Greensboro, NC; Wilmington, DE; Kansas City, MO; Buffalo & Rochester, NY; Trenton, NJ; Portland, OR; Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; Montgomery, AL; Jackson, MS; Dallas & Waco, TX; Tucson, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; Salina KS and Chicago, IL.  Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele attended both the New Jersey and Washington, DC Premieres and participated in Q&A sessions with audiences lasting over ninety minutes each.  More screenings of the controversial documentary feature film are expected nationwide in 2013.  The trailers for FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN can be viewed on the film’s own website, as well as the YouTube, Apple iTunes and Vimeo websites. 


Synopsis:  Filmed and edited over a six year period, FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN examines why there are so few Black Republicans (and by extension, other Minorities) and how this affects the U.S. political system.  The film begins with a simple question… Does the Republican Party really want more African Americans? To get an answer, independent filmmaker Kevin J. Williams takes a non-partisan journey over two Presidential Elections to find out why there are so few Black Republicans and what that means for the future of the Two-Party Political System in America.

From the Civil War to the Great Depression, the GOP was the Party for many African-Americans, but today, barely 10% of African Americans consider themselves to be Republican and Urban areas are no longer considered competitive parts of America’s Election map. Beginning in his hometown, Williams speaks with BOTH Democrats and Republicans as he takes a personal and humorous look at his own Republican Party’s efforts in urban areas versus the suburbs, the Democratic Party's success in retaining the African American vote, the seeming phenomenon of Black Republicans and what this all means for America. FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN gives audiences of all Demographics and Political Persuasions a ground-breaking and moving view of American Politics.

During the film’s journey, Williams speaks with scholars such as Professors Cornel West and Howard Taylor; and newsmakers such as Michael Steele, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee; Presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and John McCain; former Governor Christine Todd Whitman; Commentators Tavis Smiley and Michelle Malkin; political leaders, including past RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, Congressman Peter King and Governors Jim Gilmore and Sonny Perdue; Conservative thinkers such as Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and Ann Coulter; and the first and last Black Republican Senator popularly elected since Reconstruction, former Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, amongst others. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Senator and President-Elect Barack Obama, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney also appear in the film, along with very rarely seen archival footage of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Vice-President Richard M. Nixon and the great baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson. The film also examines the History of the Republican Party since its founding. 

FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN is available on DVD at its own website and Amazon.com and also on VOD streaming via its own website and Apple iTunes.

The film has received Print, TV and Radio coverage from the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Current TV's THE WAR ROOM WITH JENNIFER GRANHOLM, HUFFINGTON POST LIVE, Christian Broadcasting Network's The Brody Files, Al Jazeera's INSIDE STORY, the Mark Davis Radio Show, Steve Deace Show, Michael Eric Dyson Show, Chris Stigall Show, Victoria Taft Show, The Voice of Russia and many others.

 To learn more about the film or view the film’s trailers, please go to www.fearofablackrepublican.com.

 

APPROX. 111 MINS               Printed in U.S.A.    4:3 aspect ratio

THIS FILM HAS NOT BEEN RATED

 

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What Clint Eastwood Did Last Night...

As a Filmmaker who happens to be Republican, I want to share a few thoughts about Clint Eastwood's speaking at the Republican National Convention last night.  Clint is an artist and if you don't know, one who changed the Hollywood system when he became one of the first Actors to become a Director with PLAY MISTY FOR ME (1971).  Working in the film industry myself, I feel a great kinship with Clint as a fellow filmmaker and as someone who is politically active on a local level.  And like millions of other Americans, I was very curious and being a Republican and a Filmmaker - very pumped to hear what he would say about this current Election.

Needless to say, Clint exceeded my expectations in ways I didn't consider before I turned on my TV last night.  I expected him a take on his now infamous Super Bowl Car Commercial from this past February.  Wrong!  Clint would just trot out, give an enhanced Oscar speech with a few great lines punched up with a Dirty Harry reference or mention that being the Mayor of Carmel, CA was more Executive experience than our President had. Wrong!  I thought he would take back his "It's Halftime" line from said Super Bowl commercial and say something like "Now this here in Tampa... this is Halftime" in his great, gravelly voice.  Wrong!  Finally, I thought "well, he has TROUBLE WITH THE CURVE coming out next month and won't do anything to hurt his movie or his chances for one last Best Actor Nomination (lots of buzz on this).  Wrong Again!

What Clint did last night was nothing less than extraordinary and a great, self-less sacrifice for his Country and his fellow Americans.  By taking the stage last night and employing the empty-chair prop, Clint did what no other Republican or Mitt Romney could ever do... make it okay to make fun of the President and humanize him for his decisions, his choice of focus and most importantly, his choice of who he represents.  Clint humanized the President and brought him down from the self-created (and self-restricting) lofty heights of the "untouchable" to the human level of "touchable."  In my opinion, the President's Media and Campaign Guard have built an artificial castle wall around the President to his detriment.  If President Obama and his Party play it smart and humble, we may find that Clint's empty chair may help Obama 2012 because of such humanization.  However, that isn't likely and I think Clint probably took this possibility into account before last night.

Clint knew well before he flew to Tampa, got into a car and arrived at the Convention that he was going to get drilled for what he was about to say and do.  He knew that the National and International Media would try to take out him, his persona, his incredible record as a filmmaker and his beliefs in right and wrong.  He also knew that his chances of being invited to the Academy Awards one last time as a Nominee would be done as soon as the lights came up.

Clint also spoke out on behalf the thousands of us in the film and entertainment industry who cannot speak because we must fear loss of jobs, loss of opportunity or if you are an independent filmmaker... any consideration of your talent before your political or religious beliefs.  Yes, Clint is an A-Lister quite familiar with success and having every actor in Hollywood wanting to work for him.  His position in the film industry is safe (for now), but that could change as he tries to make his last few films.  Clint, like any artist, is always looking for the next great story and inspiration and hoping he can try and make a masterpiece better than his last one.  After an almost 60-year career, Clint still needs to get financing from someone and that number of someones might be shrinking right now.  As a film-lover and fan of Clint's directing style, I hope he doesn't face retribution for last night's empty chair moment.  This man of good humor and grace has too much to offer us.

If you have not seen the great film GRAN TORINO (2008), you should.   Like this weekend.  For you will see Clint at his best as an Actor/Director and you will see what I feel was the inspiration for Clint's trying to help his Country turns things around last night.  At the end of GRAN TORINO, an older self-made gentleman named Walt Kowalski sacrifices himself in order to save his neighborhood and the good, defenseless people living in it.  These folks didn't look like or talk like Walt.  They may not have shared all his beliefs.  But what Walt does at the end of the film (I won't tell you what he does), gives these good people a chance to change their destiny and be the best that they can be.  That is what one Clint Eastwood bravely did last night.  He told the American People that they are the best and he gave them a chance to be the best that they can be.  Hopefully, like Walt's Hmong immigrant neighbors in GRAN TORINO, we will make the most of it.

Kevin Williams
Director/Co-Producer,
FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN
www.fearofablackrepublican.com

Where Have You Been?

Well, to answer that question, all I can say is that we’ve been spending the last few months recovering, planning and taking some time to figure out FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN’s road in the future.  The last few months since our Northwest Premiere (and Occupy Portland/Wall Street Riot) and our New Jersey/Hometown Premiere have been very busy for us little, independent filmmakers.
 

Thankfully, we’ve been interviewed by some national publications and hopefully, those stories will be published in the coming weeks.  We’ve had the good fortune to receive more Screening requests from around the country and we are working on making them happen.  Californians… we will be coming, trust me!

First off news-wise, we will be holding our “Nation’s Capital Premiere” (with former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele in attendance for the Q&A) on Thursday, March 22^nd at 7 PM; and a second Screening/Q&A on Friday, March 23^rd at 11 AM.  Our venue of choice is the great “E” Street Cinema.  There is a nice, inexpensive (compared to NYC and Philly) Colonial Parking Garage around the corner that offers Validation for E Street Cinema-goers.  The Metro is also very close by.

We hope to duplicate our recent successes and make our mark “Nationally” by screening in the center of U.S. Politics, Washington, D.C.  This City is also Michael Steele’s hometown, so that makes it a little extra special.  Should be a great couple of days, so please join us if you can.

FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN will also be screened (in part) as one of the three featured Seminar at the annual and prestigious Dorchester Conference in Seaside, Oregon.  This Conference is a THE gathering of politically-minded folks in Oregon.  From their website, "Dorchester IV marked the first year the conference began attracting nationally recognized speakers when Governor George Romney, a presidential candidate, became the keynote speaker. Over the years, Dorchester has hosted luminaries such as Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Nelson Rockefeller, Jack Kemp, Elizabeth Dole, Karl Rove, William Kristol and Gale Norton."  Pretty impressive company for sure.  We are very proud to be a part of it and we thank the Portland State University College Republicans and the Dorchester Conference for including our film.

We’ll have more "movie" stuff soon Blog-wise, but we do want take a moment to wish C.L. Bryant and his film RUNAWAY SLAVE well on their big night.  I’ve only seen their movie trailer, but it looks to be a powerful and interesting film.  We wish them the best!

Finally, a big THANK YOU to Everyone we met at the Conservative Political Action Conference a few weeks ago.  The response we received to our film was more than we hoped for.  It was great to meet other artists who happen to be Conservative and so many people who just love films.  It was also quite nice to find such a welcoming attitude and get so many good questions about our challenging film. There were A LOT of folks at CPAC who want to see the Republican Party do a better job at outreach and “Party-building” without changing their message.  An interestingly enough, we got this from a lot of non-Black Republicans.  We did expect that attitude though.  As folks can see in our film (and its just simply part of the story, not propaganda), that "Party-building" goal is achievable.  Hopefully, we’ll get to see a lot of these same folks in the coming year at a Screening or they'll buy our DVD.  As Yoda wisely said to Luke Skywalker in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, “Do. Or do not. There is no try."

 
BTW, if you’ve seen FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN and care to share your comments – we have an Audience Reaction page on our website, www.fearofablackrepublican.com.  Your e-mail address will not be displayed, but your thoughtful reactions to our film sure will.  Sorry we didn’t get this up sooner, but please do check it out now.  Also, please check out our new Presidential Election trailer if you haven’t seen it already.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin J. Williams

Director/Co-Producer,
FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN

No major news or blogging to be done tonight.  We are working hard as heck on our upcoming screening schedule and getting our film before more audiences.  We now have our own projection and sound system, so aren't dependent on solely using movie theaters anymore.  This should give us a lot more flexibility and access to more and different types of venues.

In the meantime, we busted our tails to get our newest movie trailer done.  This new FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN 2012 Election Trailer trailer includes Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, Edward W. Brooke, Christine Todd Whitman, John McCain, Michelle Malkin, Grover Norquist, Barack Obama.  Please check it out and go to www.fearofablackrepublican.com for more information.  Enjoy:

BTW, Congratulations to Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum for the performances this evening.  The rest of the way should be quite interesting.  Hopefully, urban issues and Urban Republicans and Black Republicans will play a real part in the discussion at some point.

Best to All,

THE TEAM

HAND-WRINGING ABOUT HOLLYWOOD VS. SUPPORTING CONSERVATIVE FILMMAKERS

Something has been bugging me in the past few months as we got closer, then past the 10th Anniversary of September 11th, 2001.  What has been bugging me was reading a number of on-line articles on some Conservative websites concerning Hollywood’s and the Media’s treatment of the September 11^th attacks in the years since they occurred.  

In particular, there have been some interesting and provocative articles about the historical treatment of the attacks and the movies created so far.  Previous to my reading these articles, I read another article questioning the quality of “Conservative” films and why/if they should be supported by the Conservative community.  As if most artists on our side of the aisle shouldn’t be supported… without a lot of deep thought and question.

While I definitely respect all these points of view, I have to question why many of us are questioning Hollywood instead of questioning ourselves.  And what we should be questioning ourselves on is why so many of us are complaining so much about Hollywood’s output and at the same time, not supporting the burgeoning artists, musicians, writers and filmmakers in our own community?  For full disclosure (if you don't know anything about me and my documentary film):  yes, we are Conservative, yes, we are registered Republicans and yes, we are filmmakers trying to get my art out to the greater world. 

But, for the life of us, we have never understood monetarily and spiritually supporting artists, studios and media companies while simultaneously berating them for what they offer us.  Particularly, people who can't stand George Clooney and Matt Damon - but still go see their films, buy their DVDs, etc.  Why the heck do people on my side of the aisle do this?  If someone delivers crummy pizza that smells weird, tastes worse and gets me sick – would you still call the same pizza place every time?  No.  So, why do the same when making entertainment or artistic purchase choices?

In film, you don’t get to shoot on 35 mm with “big-name” actors, with the best script material, with the best D.P.’s and with someone else’s budget unless you have a track record and make money. To become a great artist, to become a great filmmaker… you need time to develop and hone your craft.  You need to be able to make a living as an artist to justify being one and to gain that 24/7 time needed to create and edit better and better material.  Having an audience makes that happen.  But, when you are starting out as an artist, you need to build an audience before you can grow one and then convert one.  Not all “Conservative” films or shows will be great and not all will be good.  But, all should be supported by the people most pre-disposed to enjoy the material… fellow Conservatives.  But it seems to me, that the expectations are placed too high when the art comes from “one of their own.”

It is like being the guy or gal who struggles to make it in their own hometown.  The hometown crowd is much tougher on you and their expectations of success are so high that the bar they have set for just saying, “You know, it’s alright” is almost impossible to leap over.  Are “Conservative” audiences really saying that until you start winning Oscars, Emmys, Tonys, Grammys and Liberals – you haven’t achieved that much?  It seems like it is for both new artists as well as some of the more established ones.  How many Conservatives do you know of who announced their political orientation at the start of their careers?   Did any of them get to make a second or third album, movie, etc.? 

This also can hold true for established artists.  We paid money to see AMERICAN CAROL in a theater.  ATLAS SHRUGGED, too.  They weren’t films that met the unbelievably high expectations of their audiences.  But so what, they were not bad films.  Hello?  Pick any Rob Schneider film or just try to watch the glacial, yet beautiful THE AMERICAN.  AMERICAN CAROL and ATLAS SHRUGGED were films trying to do a helluva lot with a limited budget and the expectations that come with being the first “Conservative” films in their genres.  Almost no film could have met the expectations those two had to deal with.

How do you expect to see more artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc. who think like you do… if you aren’t willing to support the ones you already have?  Can you really expect those who are successful and established to risk all in making the brave decision to “come out of the closet” politically?  God bless Gary Sinise, Patricia Heaton, Jon Voight, Angie Harmon and the other stars who have come out, gotten involved and led from the front.  They are an inspiration.

If you don’t support Conservative artists’ material, especially when they are putting their livelihoods, careers and more on the line… then don’t pine for “better” films, shows, etc.  And don’t condemn them for not outnumbering the artists you can’t stand or agree with.  Because at the end of the day, you’re part of Hollywood too… with you time and hard-earned dinero.