Joseph Doughrity
By: Nicole Holland
Joe Doughrity and “Akira’s Hip Shop Shop” co-star actor Cordele Taylor
at the DGA Student Film Awards reception
Photo credit: Elisa Haber/DGA
Joseph Doughrity (“Joe D.”) is a writer, producer, documentarian and director. He was recently awarded the prestigious Directors Guild of America Student Film Award for “Akira’s Hip Hop Shop,” a romantic comedy/drama about an Asian man and a Black woman, which he wrote and directed.
Joseph grew up an avid reader and developed hobbies ranging from sports to comic books, videogames, and a fascination with Japanese culture. His first big job in Hollywood was as a Production Assistant on John Singleton’s debut film “Boyz N the Hood.” This was the start of a five-year collaboration with the Oscar nominated director including serving as his personal assistant on the films “Poetic Justice” and “Higher Learning.” Following in Singleton’s footsteps and now branching out on his own, Doughrity’s films promote cultural diversity with a message.
IFQ sits down with Joseph Doughrity as he discusses independent film, urban cinema, comics, John Singleton and Kevin Smith.
IFQ: Your latest film “Akira’s Hip Hop Shop” is an interracial romantic dramedy about an Asian man and a Black woman. How did the concept of the film evolve?
Joseph Doughrity: The concept came from two things. The first was my trip to Japan in 2004 with a group of anime (Japanese animation) and manga (Japanese comic) fans. I’d always wanted to go to Japan but thought it would be too expensive. I ended up going on a group tour with a dozen other Americans. I noticed hip-hop culture and rap music was everywhere! I’d go to these cafes full of Japanese businessmen and they’re blasting Eminem and Fifty Cent uncensored while sipping tea. And the nightclubs played all the latest hits and the kids rocked all the latest styles from urban America.
The other source of inspiration was a friend of mine who’s Japanese and has been in America illegally for over ten years. He pays his taxes, but technically he came here on a tourist visa and never left. Whenever you hear about illegal immigration it’s always a brown face, but I know a lot of people from other racial groups who are in this country illegally but you’d never know it judging by what we see in the media.
IFQ: You won the prestigious Directors Guild of America (DGA) Student Film Award for “Akira’s Hip Hop Shop.” Tell me about the award.
JD: Winning the DGA Award was a big thrill! It meant a lot to me to be recognized by a prestigious body like the Directors Guild, especially since historically most of the winners come from UCLA and USC. And most of the other films had a higher budget than mine with cranes and shoots in exotic locations. I didn’t have much money to do “Akira,” but I applied all my filmmaking experience. A lot of that I learned working with DGA directors, ADs and UPMs so I guess it all comes around.
IFQ: You chose to create and produce this film independently. Why?
JD: I really had no choice. It was started as my thesis film from Columbia College Hollywood. I tried to get some bigger “name” investors to do the whole feature but was unsuccessful so I decided to do a short spec version to prove to future investors I knew how to make a film. The result turned out to be what people think is a great little short so I’m happy and am now trying to turn it into a feature in 2008.
IFQ: What’s your opinion on studio films vs. independent films?
JD: Well I’ve worked on both and see very little difference most of the time. You often have less time and money on an indie so you come up with creative solutions to problems. I’ve worked on studio films where a lot of the people, from crew to cast, are there for a paycheck and could care less about the project and that’s depressing. I come from a blue collar, factory town and hate to think there are people in the industry who view the work as widgets.
IFQ: As a director, what qualities do you look for in an actor?
JD: I look for an actor who’s going to bring something personal to the role. James [Kyson Lee, “Ando” from NBC’s “Heroes”] had been in a rap group growing up back East and he also had the immigrant experience being Korean-American. I want an actor who’s interested in stretching the material while making it his or her own. I think it’s a collaborative experience all the way. With Emayatzy [Corinealdi, who plays the love interest Daphne] she was just a natural. I must have seen 40 women for Daphne, but she came in and, as cliché as it sounds, just became Daphne. And it didn’t hurt that she had skills on the mic as a rapper!
IFQ: Your documentary “Seven Days in Japan” won Best Documentary at the 2005 San Diego Comic-Con Film Festival. Your film beat out films costing ten times its’ budget. What was your observation of high budget vs. low budget?
JD: I don’t think it matters or shouldn’t matter to the folks involved. I work just as hard in either realm. The funny thing about “Seven Days” was that I’d never even contemplated the budget until that day in San Diego when I was up there holding the Best Documentary trophy. The filmmaker next to me leaned over and asked me how much my film had cost. Most of the budget was simply the cost of the trip to Japan itself. The country was my production value. I think I spent around $500 editing the film and a bit more pressing up DVDs.
IFQ: How did you secure distribution of “Seven Days in Japan?”
JD: Actually the film is self-distributed. Parts of it are available on You Tube. It’s been running several times a month on BET-J which is a cable channel on Direct TV. And you can order it online from either J-List (www.jlist.com) or my own website http://www.popcultureshock.com/sevendays
IFQ: What are the similarities and differences between making a dramedy vs. documentary?
JD: They both require lots of patience. In a doc you’re trying to capture reality, while in a narrative piece it’s about creating the illusion of reality. The difference is obviously one is totally made up so you have more creative freedom. In both mediums, I like to shoot a lot of footage (coverage in the case of narrative) so that I have some room in post to tweak the essence of whatever theme I’m working towards.
IFQ: As a director and promoting your films, how important are film festivals and how was your experience on the film festival circuit?
JD: My experience on the circuit, which hopefully isn’t over yet, has been great. In October of ’07 I went down to San Diego for the San Diego Asian Film Festival, which was a blast! I got to meet Justin Lin and MC Hammer who were there promoting Justin’s “Finishing the Game.” They treat the filmmakers really well and it’s a great fest in a great town. I also exhibited at the Black Hollywood Entertainment and Resource Center (BHERC) at Raleigh Studios. They host an annual film marketplace and my boy Ralph Scott who’s the curator asked me to participate.
Like 8,500+ other filmmakers I just got my Sundance rejection letter, but I’m holding out in hopes of actually getting into Tribeca or SXSW. And there are some other fests that I’m out and a couple of colleges have expressed interest in bringing “Akira” and myself for screenings to discuss and promote diversity.
I think festivals are really important to filmmakers. One it’s a chance to get undiluted feedback from audiences and see your film shown to a cross section of viewers. And the parties and networking opportunities are a no brainer. You never know who you’re going to meet and who might help you make your next film.
IFQ: Which directors and writers influenced your directing and writing styles?
JD: There’s so many. I love Spielberg, Lucas, John Milius, Francis [Ford-Coppola] and especially Spike Lee, John Casavettes, Kurosawa and Michael Moore—my Michigan homie!
IFQ: Your first major job in Hollywood was a Production Assistant on John Singleton’s debut film “Boyz N the Hood.” Like you, John is a director and screenwriter. What did you learn from him? How did he influence your career today? Tell me about your experience working with him.
JD: I learned sooo much working for, and later with, John. How to be a professional. Tips on visualizing my screenwriting. How to direct a movie with dozens of people vying for your time. I was 20-years-old when I worked on “Boyz” and John was 21. He’d use my opinion as John Q. Public, a typical audience member sometimes then other times he’d ask my opinion of key things. My title was Director’s PA, but in the final film I’m lumped with all the other Production Assistants. I learned about the politics of filmmaking too watching John deal with people from the studio ranging from publicity to physical production. Not to mention the whole casting and pre-production phases. I learned so much, which is why I dropped out of film school in only my second year to continue working with him. I knew school would always be there… a chance to work on his ‘hood trilogy wouldn’t.
As far as influencing my career, John helped a great deal. At first he used to humor me when I said I was a screenwriter too, but once I got interest in my first project from Propaganda Films (The KRS One/Scott La Rock Story “Wheels of Steel”) he helped me get an agent and gave me advice at every turn. Working with him was one of the greatest times of my life.
IFQ: Also, you had a five-year collaboration with the Oscar nominated director John Singleton including serving as his personal assistant on the films “Poetic Justice” and my personal favorite “Higher Learning.”
Singleton opened the door for modern mainstream urban cinema. Urban is in demand at all of the domestic and international film markets. What’s your view on urban cinema?
JD: I love it. Not every black film that comes out it, but as a genre overall. Urban encompasses so much. Are we talking Black or Latino? As an expression it’s overused, but I dig that right now an urban film can mean Tyler Perry’s box office sensation “Why Did I Get Married?” and also a direct to DVD stoner flick. There’s room to tell your stories out there big, small and everywhere in between.
I’m not sure the international prospects of “Urban” cinema have been maximized. In my experience, pitching stories as a screenwriter, execs love to say that Black films have no foreign box office appeal (outside Eddie Murphy and Will Smith, but “they aren’t really black – they’re movie stars”), but my own documentary and experiences traveling disprove this. People all over the world are interested in Black Americans and what we do. From music to art and entertainment. The international market is in many ways the final frontier for black filmmakers. I know I wouldn’t mind making a series of films for Japan and the rest of Asia (and if they’re shown here in the U.S. that’s great too). I have a lot of stories that could be shot in Asia for an international audience.
IFQ: When was your first interest in film and comics?
JD: As a teenager. I’ve been an avid comic book reader since I was a kid. I read Marvels, DCs and a lot of indies. This led to me writing for fanzines and later publishing my own comics and ‘zines on Japanese animation and comics.
I loved “Star Wars” and monster films, especially “Godzilla,” as a kid and thought I’d get a job in Special Effects. Then I started writing as a teenager after falling in with a crew of other Detroit area guys who got together to play role-playing games and watch movies. It was comics and anime that first got me to the West Coast. I went to Berkeley, California as a 17-year-old during the summer before my senior year in high school to work with the guys at ANIMAG magazine. We ended up driving through LA on the way to my very first San Diego Comic-Con in 1987. When I went back to Detroit I knew I was going to move to LA to try my hand at the industry and film school when high school was over. Six months after high school, after managing in a comic book store, I’d saved up enough money to make the move and found a film school that accepted me.
IFQ: In your dot.com days, you were chosen to re-launch the Psycomic website and you recruited filmmaker Kevin Smith to write a weekly column. How did this come about and how was your experience working with Kevin?
JD: Kevin was really fun to work with. He wrote a weekly column called “Developing the Monkey” about the making of “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” which was laugh out loud funny and dished about himself and the whole cast. It all started when I approached Kevin at Wizard World about writing it and, after a follow-up meeting at his store/offices in Red Bank, he agreed to write it. I was listed as his editor but really was more of a sounding board. He’d ask me to either push or talk him off of a ledge from time to time.
Kevin is such a cool guy and really passionate about his work. He proved to me you could make it in this biz and still keep your humility.
IFQ: Any upcoming projects?
JD: I have a script about an all-black hockey team that I’m trying to turn into a TV show or movie. And there’s several comic book related projects I’m working on. But the feature length version of “Akira’s Hip Hop Shop” is my top priority for 2008. To keep up with the progress (triumphs, roadblocks and all) readers can stay in touch with me via my website http://www.akirashiphopshop.com