All About the Swansons

As for commercials, they are proud of a series of ads they created for the University of Notre Dame.  “They called and asked us to develop some commercials they could air on NBC during football games,” Michael said.

“So we created a commercial featuring Regis Philbin, who is a Notre Dame graduate.  And we created one with Martin Sheen who, at the time, played the President on West Wing.  That character was a Notre Dame graduate.  That was fun.”    
 
Christine has worked on other film scripts, such as Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004), directed by veteran TV director Michael Schultz.  But she is really a writer-director, very much interested in making her own films – with her husband alongside her. 

“A script isn’t ready until he’s looked it over and given me his notes,” she explained.

Photo left: Boris Kodjoe and Ryan Michelle Bathé in the movie "All About Us."

“He has a keen sense on a lot of things that I may not be aware of as I’m writing.  From a business point of view, he can let me know ‘This is not going to work’ or ‘We can’t shoot in a coliseum’ – things that help me realistically gauge whether we can do certain things.  Not to mention things like ‘This character needs more development’.  He’s definitely a creative producer.” 
 
But Michael has little interest in directing or writing.  “Christine does that so well, that I have no desire to do that.”  His praise for his wife was quickly matched by her praise for his directing talents in a different genre. 
 
“But Michael has directed some very good documentaries, which I have no patience for.  He’s very good because he has a longer attention span than I do.”

When I asked Michael to elaborate, he told me about his most recent documentary, Derby in Black (2007).  “It examines the history that black Americans have played throughout the horseracing industry and in particular The Kentucky Derby.  They won so many races, including the first one, for the first decade of that race.  And then there was a 79-year period where not one black jockey rode in that race until 2000. 
 
“It was just completed and debuted at the American Black Film Festival in October.  The executive producers are working on striking a TV deal with The History Channel, or some PBS affiliates, or ESPN.  That project was brought to me, and I was hired to produce it and create the story.  As a result, I became director by default.  But I really enjoy producing – that’s my first love.”
 
When I asked Christine about her goals as a filmmaker, she said, “Two Seasons was my first attempt at the Great American Romantic Drama – but with black people.  I’m still trying to write that perfect romantic drama.  I don’t think I’ve mastered it yet.  I think every film I’ve done since then has been an attempt to add on to what I’ve been trying to accomplish as a filmmaker in that genre. 
 
“A perfect romantic drama is Terms of Endearment [1983], directed by James L. Brooks.  I thought it was emotionally explosive on so many different levels, but I have yet to see black people on screen in a drama of that level.  When I saw To Sleep with Anger [1990] by Charles Burnett, I had such an appreciation for watching black people on the big screen emoting on so many different levels.  I don’t typically get to see that.  So those inspired me to make films at that level – with us. 
 
Photo right: Actress Ruby Dee on the set of "All About Us."

“I’m influenced by foreign films and I’m always amazed by how quiet they are.  People express emotions in subtle ways and with silence.  We see a lot of black movies, but we don’t get to be quiet and just express.  We’re often loud, obnoxious, and yelling.  Emotions are universal, and film is such a visual medium that this is where craft comes into play.  It can be manipulated to tell stories with subtext and subtlety.  That’s what I love to do. 

“But the pressures that black filmmakers face are ‘It has to be a comedy,’ ‘You have to have top comedians in it’.  You know what happens?  They tell jokes.  You’re already on the path to a loud movie, in my humble opinion.  I have yet to see a black Terms of Endearment.  I know for me as a filmmaker, I would love to make films where we’re expressive, that use this visual medium in all its splendor.”
 
Michael interjected here that “Sometimes they think inside of a box.  They use formulas that they think are effective.  If it doesn’t meet certain criteria they have, then they don’t know how to market the film.  And they look at the numbers.” 
 
Photo left: Writer-director Christine Swanson, actress Ruby Dee, and producer Michael Swanson on the set of "All About Us."

As for the future and upcoming projects, there are three to mention.  First, All About Us will be coming out on DVD in late spring, available by the end of May 2008.  Second, they are about to commence pre-production for that next feature film, Preacher Man.    
 
Christine said it’s a script she originally wrote six years ago for HBO.  “It’s about a Southern minister who goes prime-time in television and becomes a big televangelist.  It’s an examination of the underbelly of that whole televangelistic world.  I think the climate is right for that.  We’re ready to do it, and we hope to start pre-production in the spring.  Long before I ever visited, I picked Charlotte, North Carolina, as the location for the story.  So it’s ironic that we live here now.”
 
The third project, still in the writing stages, is All About Them.  With it, Christine is returning to romance.  “The whole series has been about finding love, examining love, and then appreciating love.  To tie in with the other two films, I would bring back two of the actors I’ve used in the past to play in All About Them – not necessarily as the characters they played.  Actually, the story will be very different from the other two.”
 
And in actuality, the title of All About Us did not start out that way.  “All About Us used to be called Clarksdale.  People were having trouble with that title.  They kept calling it Clarksville, or they thought it was an historical drama.  So Michael thought of All About Us.” 
 
And it really is – all about the Swansons.  In many ways, Edward and Stacey Brown are Michael and Christine Swanson up there on the screen.  They are dedicated filmmakers, doing what they love and persevering in the face of a tough industry.  They are parents who saw the stultifying limitations of the LA-based film world.  They want to deliver on the promise, of long before Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, that film can be a positive and productive ideological force. 
 
That determined visionaries can help change the world, one film at a time…

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