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  By Alan Spearman At WHBQ-TV Channel 13, David Lee dons the demeanor of sportscaster and sports director. But he's got a M. David Lee III mode, too, wherein filmmaking is his passion. Dog Me: Potluck is the New Englander's fourth independent film, but his first done in Memphis. |
First Congo hosts a taste of Lee's Potluck
By John Beifuss ''I love the fact that I'm a
sportscaster, but I think I will always look at myself as a filmmaker.''
- M. David Lee III
Kobe, Calipari and Clemens are some of the names David Lee
deals with day to day in his job as sports anchor and sports director
at WHBQ-TV Channel 13. But Kurosawa, Hitchcock and even Chewbacca are among the names
on the mind of M. David Lee III, filmmaker. "I love the fact that I'm a sportscaster, but I think I will
always look at myself as a filmmaker," said Lee, 37, who moved from San
Jose, Calif., to Cordova three years ago to work for Fox 13. "It's
something that I have to do, the thing that feeds my soul." Lee will debut his fourth independently produced feature
Saturday at the First Congo Arthouse Theater at First Congregational
Church, 1000
S. Cooper. Show times are 7:30 and 10 p.m., with a public meet-and-greet
wine-and-cheese party featuring Lee and his cast and crew at 6:00 p.m.
Admission is $5 per person, or $6 including the party. Although this is the fourth movie Lee has produced for his
Triple Sticks Productions company (http://www.triplestickspro.com),
"This is the first
film that I've made in Memphis," said the Brookline, Mass., native.
"It's
my first time to venture out into the independent film world here." Lee's new movie is titled Dog Me: Potluck, which is not just a
reference to the dog-like behavior of certain men but a filmmaker's pun
on the "Dogme 95" movement initiated seven years ago by such Danish
filmmakers as Lars
von Trier (Breaking the Waves). Seeking publicity as well as cinematic truth, the "Dogme"
directors released a dogmatic manifesto listing 10 "Vows of Chastity"
intended to
ensure cinematic integrity and honesty by removing artifice and
contrivance. For example, "The camera must be handheld," one vow states.
"Shooting must be done on location," adds another. "Props and sets must
not be brought in." Such restrictions, however, aren't particularly limiting for
no-budget regional independent filmmakers, whose lack of resources
usually force them to adopt their own vows of chastity. Nevertheless,
Lee intentionally followed the "Dogme" rules in Dog Me, shooting his
digital video movie in four days with just a handful of crew members, a
large ensemble cast and a loose script developed in collaboration with
the actors over about three months of improvisation and rehearsal. Lee's actors found the director's trust in them to be both
liberating and nerve-wracking. "I loved it because it was so much like being part of a play,"
said cast member Jessica Scott, 24, who plans to move to Los Angeles to
pursue acting.
beifuss@gomemphis.com
August 1, 2003
"To be honest, it scared me at first, because you had so much freedom,"
said WREG-TV Channel 3 news assignment editor Corie Mitchell, 27, one
of
14 actors with speaking parts in the movie. "It's the only time I've
been
allowed that much creativity."
"The rehearsal period was very much like the rehearsal period
you would have for a show. And because we didn't have the time to redo
a lot
of scenes, filming it was almost like a live performance." Dog Me: Potluck mostly takes place at a Midtown potluck dinner
hosted by a sex therapist (Christa Crowe) and a general contractor
(Shaun Green) whose marriage is on the rocks. The event takes several
comic and dramatic turns, as issues of sex, race and Boone's Farm wine
come to the fore.
However, "as far as politics, my 'political statement' is
simply that I am an African-American filmmaker, and I want to expose
people to
the fact that I'm as capable of directing any type of film as anyone
else,
whether it's Batman or a comedy," Lee said. "The best way for me to
expose
young African-American boys and girls to the process is for them to see
me
out there doing it." Lee's commercial instincts are natural: The film that turned
him onto movies forever was Star Wars, which he saw in 7th grade. "I
was just blown away. It had everything that I wanted in a movie." As a
result, all of Lee's features contain a reference to Star Wars. "It's
just my way of
thanking George Lucas," he said. The first short film Lee made as a kid after buying a
bottom-of-the-line Super 8 camera was titled War with the Stars, "kind
of a Star Wars ripoff," he said, with understatement. As an adult,
however, his features to date
have been decidedly down-to-Earth. Black and White Make Grey (1993), his first film, was about an
interracial couple. The followup, 1-900 (1996), was a female serial
killer thriller
spiced with sex and violence and intended to make money. The film is
available
on VHS from Sub Rosa Studios. Lee next completed a black-and-white drama of addiction, 3
Days... 3 Hours... 3 Minutes... 3 Seconds, which played at the 2001
Indie Memphis Film Festival. These no-budget movies were shot in California, where Lee
moved
after graduating from the University of Massachusetts, where he earned
a
triple major in filmmaking, advertising and Japanese. Lee worked as a production assistant on the Chuck Woolery game
show Love Connection. He also worked for TV stations throughout
California. He moved to Memphis in January 2001 after getting the Fox
13 job. Lee is divorced, and his daughter, 8-year-old Sage McKenna
Lee,
remains in California. When he gets to spend time with her, "I try to pass along a
love of film to her," Lee said. "We watch a lot of movies. She asks
questions
about how they do things, and I'm in a weird position because I don't
know
how much to tell her. I want her to still have that magic of movies." - John Beifuss: 529-2394 Copyright 2003, GoMemphis. All Rights
Reserved.