Jessica Bendinger

Jessica Bendinger is the author of The Seven Rays, writer/director of "Stick It" writer of "Bring It On," co-writer of other scripts, and film producer.

www.jessicabendinger.com

CP: "Stick It." The thing that made this film truly great was absent from the trailers and teasers that I saw. Namely, how judgment affects not just young people, but people period, how it can be wielded as a weapon to force conformity, and how one's response to that judgment can be destructive or constructive. If it had been up to you, what if anything might you have done differently in promoting and advertising "Stick It," so that the real universality and core of this pic might have come across more?

JB: Thank you for your kind words about the movie, and I appreciate your perspective. Yes, the movie explores some really universal themes that appeal to all ages, and - given the campaign, as you said - most people are surprised they like it. So to answer your question, I would have preferred to have had newspaper ads opening day, and we certainly would've maximized Jeff's appeal with women and older audiences and done some selective Jeff Bridges-centric print and spot buys that had some nice tailoring to them. Perhaps this may have conveyed the universality you speak of, but that presumes a great deal. The fabric of the movie is about judgments and misjudgments, but that is a very tough concept to articulate in :10-:30 second television spots!

CP: Both "Stick It" and "Bring It On" deal with the issue of authenticity. Are you conscious of what has made you so aware of this societal issue, in all its permutations?

JB: We all have masks, and putting down those masks and revealing more of who we are, or becoming more 'real' is a very rich vein for me creatively and psychologically. There is so much masking and pretense going on in the world (which is why we are addicted to tabloid fodder as a culture, I believe), and it's fun to play with that. For Bring It On, I was fascinated with appropriation. I am very interested in how appropriation works, but became originally fascinated with that idea from music. The way samples in hip-hop are a form of re-appropriating, and the way that musical genres from rock to hip hop to pop have a tendency to blossom from the black/urban roots into the mainstream is simply a fact. Bring It On was really using cheerleading to illustrate a personal journey out of appropriation and towards integrity and authenticity. At the risk of sounding like a psycho-babbler, I am obsessed with personal growth, integration and becoming whole, so I try to imbue that into everything I work on. I guess since my mom was a Dixieland Jazz trombone player (a "white" musician profiting in an originally "black" genre), the seeds and sensitivities were probably sown at a young age!

CP: Have you found that people "get" this film? What has your interaction with the press and moviegoers led you to conclude? Seems like few things could be worse than having people hear something that you didn't actually say - other than never hear what you DID say.

JB: Well, you do have to let go of the response. You hope for the best, but it's out of your hands. Of course people aren't going to get everything. I have received some amazing emails from child psychologists and teachers who really got the message in a big way, and that has been rewarding. The movie is entertaining on a surface level and has a lot more to chew on if you are willing to look a little deeper, so while it would be great if everyone got it...that's not a realistic expectation! Let's just say, there's a great deal of meaning layered into the movie if people want to look for it! I don't want to give it all away and spoil the scavenger hunt, but I will say to those who enjoy a symbolic "Where's Waldo?"? Waldo is everywhere in STICK IT (smile).

CP: While this pic draws in the teens, I think a lot of adults could benefit from thinking about the main character's scenario: parents who make dysfunction-generating choices and then point at their victim-kids, and us adults in general, who don't necessarily realize how deep acting out can get - or how convincing minors can be when they do it. Have you had adults and teens approach you and say thank you, or how dare you, or anything? In other words, have any nerves been hit?

JB: I have had some "gymnastics parents" respond in the negative around how the gym parents were portrayed in the movie. To which I say, supportive parents aren't dramatic! Kids all love it and get it. It's a movie for kids who don't have healthy families. I wanted to do a movie that was a message of hope for kids from dysfunctional situations, in fact. Sometimes you have to find new role models and mentors in the world, because you can't always make peace and put a bow on a situation. This movie shows kids that some "great people had jerks for parents." I think it's irresponsible to shove the nuclear family down throats when we have such a high divorce rate in this country. Let's create and show some positive alternatives ...

CP: Thanks for taking the time out, Jessica.

JB: I hope this is useful for whoever is reading. I wish everyone the best on their journey! Thanks, Steve.

Vonnie Woods

Soul-music aficionado, Vonnie "Honey" Woods hosts a weekly internet show called Soul 2 Soul (projectvibe.net), a thursday morning radio show called HoneySoul's Sunrise (90.1 FM, KPFT Houston), and HoneySoul.com, a site that receives visitors from at least 12 countries, including the U.K, Canada, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Japan, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Jamaica, Germany and Austria. The site has ranked as highly as #20 of out 198 million"soul music" searches on Google, and it has been referenced and/or acknowledged by Prince's official site, Eurweb.com, Capital Records, Okayplayer.com, AOL Black Voices, and Philadelphia weekly - all in only two years. She's interviewed soul luminaries like India.Arie, Teena Marie, Ron Isley, Mint Condition's Stokley Williams, Goapele, Van Hunt, Amel Larrieux, Donell Jones, and Syleena Johnson. Honey is a former banker and self-described "connector between good old soul music and those of us who love it," who promotes "the art of conversation," makes the music the star, and advances a substantive, emotion-centered definition of soul music.

http://www.honeysoul.com


CP: Why do you love soul music so much?

VW: I've known it all my life. Growing up, soul music was my friend and my constant companion. It's comforted me, changed me and challenged me. It let me explore the world from right there in my room. I'd marry it if I could.

CP: How is your love for soul music connected to your parents?

VW: My parents are to date my strongest musical influences. My dad was a musician and my mother played every kind of music you can imagine around the house. My mother and I would sit for hours just listening to music together. She would say things like "did you hear the way he played that?" She was so passionate about it. I think that's where I got it. I saw my first live concert with my dad, and with him saw some legendary performers like Miles Davis, Chaka Khan, Earth Wind & Fire and more great artists. That only intensified my love for the music. Growing up we had weekly chores around the house to earn an allowance. If we didn't do them satisfactorily then we didn't get an allowance. No allowance meant I couldn't go to the record store with my dad every week and buy one record, a 45. He made it a point to let us hand the clerk the money ourselves. That taught me early on to respect music, to value it, to take care of it. I feel the same way today.

CP: What do you think are characteristics of a good conversation, and a good conversationalist?

VW: A conversation is an exchange of ideas and opinions. I feel like I've had a good conversation when I've learned something. A good conversationalist possesses the ability to listen. I think that's the most important thing. It's also important to ask open-ended questions, be attentive, put others at ease and have a sincere interest in the person and the subject.

CP: What do you think accounts for the comparative absence of recognition that soul music artists face?

VW: Soul music tends to be more about artistic expression than what's “pop”ular, or the flavor of the moment. Those who have a large financial interest in music generally determine what the majority of us hear or don't hear. When you have success, and in this case I'm defining success as making money, then you want to duplicate that. If Jane Doe generated 50 million for a record company, are we surprised when we get 50 more Jane Doe's? That's a good business decision but it's terrible for diversity, and leaves the consumer with very limited choices. How can we expect people to support what we don't know is available? That's one of the reasons I started honeysoul.com, just to present a few more choices. The good news is that things are changing. Places like myspace and other internet outlets afford the artist more choices and more avenues. The days are over when an artist sat around waiting to be "discovered." They've got to become an active participant in their own success, in their own future. A lot of soul artists are stepping up and making their own opportunities. I applaud them for that and I think it will make a difference in us knowing who they are.

CP: What I like about the feel of your conversations, is that you're not making it a "hot seat" situation. You talk with them, not at them. They're guests, not "subjects." What enables you to see artists as human beings and, presumably, operate out of the kind of consideration that makes your guests like YOU, not as a tolerable means to a necessary professional end – exposure – but as a person?

VW: Thank you for saying that. About not being star struck, I respect what they've accomplished, rather than the fame itself. Fame and money don't excite me. They are nice to have, if you use them to accomplish something great, but neither has ever made anyone a better person. I am people-struck, however.

CP: Whew! I gotta take that one.

VW: I look at it like this. If you rise everyday, struggle and fight to do what you love above all else, remain creative when there are so many things to challenge that, and get through sometimes out of sheer will and determination, to me that's a thing to be admired and to be excited about. That means maybe I can do it too, in my life. Maybe we all can. Whether you sing, play an instrument, write about music or talk about it, people can feel your passion. I think the artist can feel that from me and it's a mutual respect thing … if I can't open myself up and be real, how can I ask that from anyone else?

CP: What do you think ineffective interviewers could stand to learn about the art of conversation?

VW: On a basic level, if you ask a question and get an answer, you are effective. To me there is a big difference between being a conversationalist and being an interrogator. Why not try to get more than just answers to questions? Why not try to get some insight?

CP: And speaking of insight, you recently said to me, "It's never been about who I could talk to, but what I can reveal about music." Do you have any thoughts about what's going on with interviewers who talk "around" the music? Meaning, they'd rather get the "dirt" or feel special by proximity, than deal with the music? What's that about?

VW: In my opinion, everyone has a different motive. People are trying to build a career, earn a living. Some are motivated by fame, some by money. I don't find fault with any of that. I'm positive there are more motives than I can imagine and I don't presume to know anything about what they are trying to accomplish. I can only speak about myself. The love of the music has always been my motivation. That's why I say, anything great always starts with love. Everything else that stems from that has been a blessing. Even when I talked to Ron Isley and Teena Marie – and to a die-hard soul music fan to have that opportunity is some heady stuff – even with them I wanted to know about the music, and how they've contributed so much to good music. Tell me why this happened, how this song came to be, why do you think you've been successful for so long. Share your wisdom. People can benefit from that.

CP: Ebony magazine, August 2005 issue, Toni Braxton. When the writer asked her why she wrote less material than usual for one of her projects, she's quoted as having said, "I usually write what's going on in my life most of the time, but I'm happy, married with children, and no one really cares about that. Unfortunately that's not considered 'sexy.' People want drama." Do you think that expectation makes the incline steeper?

VW: Yes ... but not insurmountable. I think some [industry officials] highly underestimate the intelligence of the listener/consumer, and our ability to decide what's good for us. I know I'm not alone in feeling insulted by some of what's been presented in the media. But in the real world, the vocal majority wins.

CP: “The vocal majority wins.”

VW: They may not listen to us as one of those "faceless" masses, but money talks. That's the language they understand.

CP: Let's talk about your "Honey Souldiers," s-o-u-l, the diehard supporters of the site and the mission. It's clear that they're not just eyeballs to you. How are they important?

VW: The Honey Souldiers mean the world to me. I often say when I started Honeysoul.com that I was basically talking to myself. No one was coming daily to check me out. But we found each other. They value the same thing I value, good music. They don't just pay lip service to it either. They support it with their dollars. We joke and say we are members of “Broke Phi Broke.”

CP: Especially at $25 per CD.

VW: I love the Honey Souldiers for sticking by me, and for encouraging me to continue for all of us. Some days I'll run into what I'll call some "industry craziness" and wonder why I'm doing this, but I read their comments, letters and messages and they remind me … I want to make them proud.

CP: You once made the statement, "Thank you to everyone who saw something in me when I was clueless about what I was doing and saying 'this is just a hobby.'" Did you mean to suggest that they saw something in you that you didn't see in yourself at the time? If so, looking back on it, why do you think you didn't see "it?"

VW: I thought I was just doing me. I wasn't trying to do anything exceptional, so it surprised me when others would … say they saw things in my future. I think part of that was my upbringing. It was stressed that the true test of character was in what I did when no one was looking, what I gave back, and how I treated others. I don't really do things for praise. I've since come to appreciate the value in what I do, how others may see it, and how we can all benefit.

CP: "Music is spiritual, the music business is not." Talk about that.

VW: That's a quote by Van Morrison that I have found to be very true … So [for me] it's been about finding the balance between being that idealistic music lover and a smart business woman. By nature I'm pretty open and trusting. I've learned to curb that for my own survival in the industry, and to me that's a sad statement, but it is what it is. You have to learn to play the game, or get played. What you don't have to do is compromise yourself. You still have choices, you just have to decide what's important to you. Again it's about that balance.

CP: You named as your favorite artists, Prince, Maxwell, Dwele, Jill Scott, Mos Def, and Sade. Why these particular artists?

VW: Besides being a musical genius, Prince represents the whole music spectrum, all the possibilities. He can rock it out, get funky, get spiritual or get sexy, and do it all well. There will never be a box big enough for him and I love that. He takes chances and he explores. To me that's what music should be about, and it doesn't hurt that he is so physically beautiful. Maxwell is beauty personified, inside and out ... sensitive, provocative, ethereal. He really takes music to a more spiritual level for me. Dwele represents the smoothness and versatility in soul. He is naturally talented in so many areas and is so underrated. He's also very charismatic. I've had the pleasure of meeting him and he was very unpretentious, genuinely nice and humble. That was the icing on the cake. He's a class act. Jill Scott is about making grown woman's music. I can't explain it anymore except to say she speaks a lot of what I feel. Mos Def is brilliant in his wordplay, his intelligence, his creativity, and his passion for music. Sade's music is like art.
She doesn't just sing over a track, she gives birth to her music and it's all uniquely her own style. She's created her own niche in music.

CP: Do you think we're on the verge of a positive paradigm shift in the biz? If so, what's it going to take to get us all the way there?

VW: I hope and pray that we are, even though there are days when I catch a glimpse of commercial radio or videos and I don't believe so. There are, however, many positive examples and a lot of meaningful music out here. That's what makes me hopeful. As long as people want more, expect more, demand more, there will always be a place for soul music. That's the heart of music, and we can't survive without the heart. What will it take to get us there? I think it's going to take … changing the way we behave as consumers. We are more powerful than others would have us believe, and collectively we are unstoppable. Because of that soul music will live and prosper. I believe that with all my heart.

CP: Vonnie Woods, founder of HoneySoul.Com, host ofSoul 2 Soul on ProjectVibe.Net, and Honey Soul's Sunrise, thursday mornings on 90.1 FM, KPFT Houston. Thank you Honey.

VW: Thank you Steve. It’s been a pleasuring speaking with you.