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January/February 2021

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FILMMAKING www.postmagazine.com 20 POST JAN/FEB 2021 et in 1964, One Night In Miami… is a fictional imagining of the histor- ic night that brought together four leg- ends of black sports, entertainment and activism. On February 25th of that year, Cassius Clay won the World Heavyweight boxing title. He later met up with friends Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Malcolm X in an Overtown, FL, motel. But rather than celebrate the victory, the four men reflected on the state of the civil rights movement and challenged each other on whether they were doing enough to advance its efforts. The story is based on Kemp Powers' award-winning play of the same name and stars Eli Goree as Cassius Clay (who would soon change his name to Muhammad Ali), Kingsley Ben-Adir as activist Malcolm X, Leslie Odom Jr. as music superstar Sam Cooke, and Aldis Hodge as football-legend-turned-actor Jim Brown. The project marks Regina King's fea- ture film directorial debut. Known for her acting accomplishments, including roles in Boyz N The Hood, 227, Jerry Maguire, Southland, The Leftovers and more recently If Beale Street Could Talk (which earned her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2019), King already had a number of television directing credits on her resume, including work on This Is Us, The Good Doctor, Animal Kingdom and Scandal. In this exclusive interview with Post, she details her work on this latest project, including its unique challenges, and how she was able to complete post production during the pandemic. While this is your first feature film, you have done a lot of directing for television. Has that led to a preference in camera formats? "I would say that I had a preference in that I knew exactly what it was that I wanted to achieve visually, but I relied on (cinematographer) Tami (Reiker) to choose the equipment that would achieve that. I knew that I wanted the film to be really rich and the color to be saturated. "Jacob Lawrence's artwork was an inspiration and that was a jumping off point as far as color. And also that movie In the Mood For Love was another inspi- ration as far as color and warmth. Sharing those with her and explaining that I really wanted to make sure that there was energy in the frame, but I didn't want the camera to be a distraction, kind of led her to the choices that she landed on as far as camera. And as far as the glass…that really helped give it that warmth. I relied on her to do what was needed to accomplish those things. She felt the best way to accomplish the energy in the camera and keep the camera moving the way I want- ed was…to do handheld, but I still wanted energy throughout because we spent so much time in the (motel) room. She decided that we would shoot everything on jib arms. So if you are really watching, the camera never really stops moving, but it doesn't distract you or feel swimmy in any way." What camera did you end up using? "We used Arri [Alexa 65]. We didn't use the Mini. I also know that one of the things that we were really firm on was using prime lenses. I think that also speaks to trying to stay authentic to the time period." You began shooting in early 2020. How did the pandemic affect production and post? "We had shot the bulk of our photogra- phy right before the pandemic had start- ed. We got out of New Orleans maybe a week or two before everything really jumped off, and we had two more scenes that we were going to shoot in LA, and that really pushed that back. "It made for a really difficult time with composing, because normally, I would have had the opportunity to sit with (composer) Terence (Blanchard) and we would spend a lot of time in a studio and kind of discover what is working and what's not. And that opportunity was taken away. So everything was via emails and FaceTime calls. After three weeks or so of us trying to have musicians come together and do a version of that, it just wasn't working for me. "The good thing is that I had (editor) Tariq Anwar and Terence — being the veterans that they are, and being so good at what they do — remind me that this was not a normal thing. They both felt really bad that I wasn't getting the experience that a director normally gets when it comes down to doing the score. Tariq says it's usually such a wonderful experience: 'It's one of the best parts and you're missing it and I feel so bad for you Regina.' And Terence said the same thing. They both were so patient and understanding of my frustration." Talk about the role of music in this film? "We ended up doing something that was very unique. We decide to make the piano the star. Benny Green has a really specific style of playing that's specific to him and I, earlier on, made a playlist that, when I hear them, they make me think about the film — the energy that I felt ei- ther one of the characters would have or a scene would have. So he did have that blueprint as far as what was inspiring me, sonically, so I think that was helpful. "So there wasn't orchestral. It was Benny playing. One time I had that idea ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI… BY MARC LOFTUS XXXXXX OSCAR WINNER REGINA KING DIRECTS HER FIRST FEATURE S King on-set with Kingsley Ben-Adir, who portrays Malcolm X.

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