S. Samuel
[With the Tribeca Film Festival officially opening today (April 16) with rap veteran Nas' Time Is Illmatic, film director One9 and producer Erik Parker give SOHH readers the scoop on piecing together this seemingly overnight release.]
We originally started working on Time Is Illmatic ten years ago when we all had full-time jobs and there was a group of us that got together and decided to shoot the making of Illmatic. It was around the ten-year anniversary.
For whatever the reason, you have time going by, life getting in the way, we were just starting out of pocket at first. We were paying for everything out of pocket. You start to run into money issues, too. You have a job to do and we all have our own responsibilities.
It started ten years ago but the past couple years allowed us to do it full-time thanks to grants that we got. We received them from the Ford Foundation, JustFilms, and another was from the Tribeca Film Institute. Orlando Bagwell, he was the founding director of JustFilms, he really looked out for us. He really had a connection to the film and he really liked what he saw. He was behind it and really the first one who gave us what we needed to get started. -Erik Parker, producer
Originally we wanted to make an Illmatic DVD but after the interview with Olu Dara, Nas’ father, we knew we had a story that could potentially cover generations and a legacy of the Jones family. We knew we had something truly unique after that one interview because he not only covered Nas’ childhood but he also spoke about the history of their rich cultural legacy, their musical legacy, they were teachers. They were educators that really came from rich backgrounds of culture.
We felt we had this story that told the story of not only Illmatic but told the story of the times for Illmatic.
To get the grants we used, it took a lot of support from the community. We sent trailers out and there were a few people that directly need to be credited. Martha Diaz is a very strong voice as a woman in hip-hop and also a community organizer. She really helped in connecting people and us to the Ford Foundation. She believed in the vision.
There’s also a super, incredible director/photographer named Bradford Young. He saw the trailer and called up a few people. He helped things happen with the Ford Foundation as well. It took people who really believed in our vision and as first-time filmmakers to make that happen.
I felt like once people saw the initial trailer they would be able to really see the vision and help support us. -One9, director/producer
For more information on Time Is Illmatic, just click here.
