" THIS REEL IS GREAT DAMIAN. I SEE YOUR TYPE IN THIS. LEADING MAN. IF YOU HAD AN ACTION SCENE, IT WOULD SKYROCKET"
Said a LA Casting Director after reviewing me reel. I got the email message from her while sitting in a Starbucks. Damn. If I only had an action scene to complete this. Hmmm... sipping on my overpriced Hot chocolate.
I DO want to play a role where I kick ass and get the girl but none was ever offered to me; Why don't I create it myself? Oddly enough I had a shirt on that says JUST(ICE) but the word JUSTICE hit me hardcore.
My first lead role in a film was a character named "Justice" in the short film "JUSTICE IS DONE" when I was 15 so it was fitting to create a character with the same name.
Marc Justice was born in Starbucks. GREAT. I can create a scene where I can kick some ass just to show that I have the chops to pull this off...and I wanted to do it...NOW. I have the equipment-camera, sound and all, but it would cost money to gather up a crew, actors, rehearsals, etc. I just knew that I needed to FILM SOMETHING, a teaser, a scene, SOMETHING. That's me, whenever I get an idea, I act on it right away. Sometimes that's a good and a bad thing to do. I admit it.
As the day progressed, MARC JUSTICE began to talk to me and tell me about his life and what he's going through. He expressed to me while I was training clients that his wife was murdered while he was getting it on with another woman. The guilt of comitting adultery while this tragic event took place plagued his heart and soul to lead him to an attempted suicide.
He needed to do what we all do in our everyday lives. To turn a wrong into a right by any means necessary.
I HAD TO SHOOT SOMETHING.
SO ME, Speedy, locked myself into my room while my son was playing video games in the living room. Grabbed my camera, shot coverage of myself as Marc Justice grieving, spliced it up on Final Cut Pro, uploaded it online and within the hour it gained so many hits and interests from audiences. People were intrigued by the short teaser I made. No crew, no money, just me solo dolo with an idea.
With so much attention, I decided to make another teaser to gain more views, this time showing myself fighting. That trailer gained more views than the other.
As weeks and months went by, script changing like the weather (it was going to be an ACTION JACKSON campy type that converted into a dark cop noir), it sparked the interest of Red Wall Productions led by Craig T. Williams and Rosalyn Coleman Williams. Red Wall has never ventured into the genre of ACTION so this was a risky yet daring and exciting new venture for them to take upon. We brainstormed and the next thing you know, I'm kicking ass onscreen THE RIGHT WAY.
Thanks to Marc Justice who was always inside of me waiting to come out. Yes he's a beautiful character but when you see this hit show, you're gonna see a man who doesn't have it all together, flaws to the core and a man trying to make it all come together HIS WAY. A selfish stubborn cop.
A perfect example of "if they build it, they will come". Well I have it on my reel but I also have a BIGGER PLAN beyond a reel.
Thanks Casting Director
and Starbucks.
-End of Line
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