Purchasing A Movie Ticket is a Vote

During the summer of 2001, Bill Duke came to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to screen Deep Cover. While Deep Cover may have come out in 1992, this screening was special for two reasons:
(a) This was the DVD premiere of the film and (b) Bill Duke was available to answer questions following the screening.

Please Note: Well, before I get into the details of the Q&A held after the show, I would be remise if I did not mention that this film screening was taking place during the 2001 Black Theater Festival held every summer in Winston-Salem.

So back to the Q&A...

Bill Duke said something that has stayed with me ever since. In fact, I try to share the following message to other people I talk to about film.

Bill Duke made the statement that one's decision to pay for a movie that is playing in theaters is essentially voting for more films like that. While this may come of no surprise to some people, Bill Duke's statement helps reveal to casual moviegoers that Hollywood executives like to make movies that are profitable. The best way an executive can tell if a future movie is profitable (and it is sooo hard to tell) is to compare a previous success to a projected project. So, if you like movies like Soul Plane you should go and see them so that more movies will be made like that - and if you don't like those kind of movies... DON'T WATCH THEM!!!

Ok... maybe Soul Plane is a bad example but the fact still remains that watching movies in theaters is a form of an expression of one's opnion.

Lastly, the most important time to watch a movie (I mean when the movie executives are paying the most attention) is always opening weekend. That is when movie execs hope to recoup most of their funds.

This post has a point (I promise)...

So, this leads me to The First Weekend Club, run by the Black Hollywood Education and Resouce Center, which encouages all moviegoers to cast their vote for intelligent and meaningful films that positively portray African-Americans by going to see these films during their first weekend.

Have a look at their website... look around... and if you're interested... GET OUT AND VOTE!!!