So, I sent it off to my buddy Sol Tryon who I had worked with on a film called "Bomb The System". He recently just finished directing his first film and in my opinion is one of the best indie producers in NY. Next it was off to Liz Destro whom I had met up in Sundance earlier that year, she had a great vibe and was eager to roll up her sleeves, plus she was a lawyer. They both responded and became my producers. Next I took it to my friend Seth Scher, who had never produced a film before but had a ton of experience opening restaurants and working nightclubs. He grew up in Philly just like me and had unconditional love for the city. He loved the script and the opportunity to learn the biz. He cashed in his life insurance policy to give us the start up money we needed to form the LLC. A few days later Sol and me had a conference call with Liz who was in La, she told us that she had given the script to a friend, a very wealthy friend, who had responded. We had a conference call with him a few days later and just like that we had a commitment for a half million dollars.

Now it was really real. With this commitment I could start attaching my actors. Again I went after my friends. The first was Tariq Trotter whose music inspired me in my teenage years, he is also know as Black Thought of the hip-hop group THE ROOTS. I wrote the part of "Kaleef" for him and told him that as I handed him the script back stage at a show in NY. A few days later he was in. Next was Frankie Shaw, an incredible up and coming actress whom I'd met while shooting a film called "Just Like The Son". I told her I wanted her to play Michelle, she was in. Paul Dano who I worked with in a film called "Weapons", also a friend I wanted to play "Rocco", he was in. Rosario Dawson who I met doing a film called "Chelsea Walls" I wanted to play "Babo's Mom". She called me after a plane ride where she had read the script, crying, and told me she was in. The responses I was getting were amazing. I was beyond thrilled. Lou Talyor Pucci and Naomie Harris rounded out the rest of my adult cast. For the incredible child actors I went to Mike Lemon, who is a casting director in Philadelphia, who gave me my first break. It was so rewarding to be able to go back to Mike after all these years. We held an enormous open call and saw about a thousand kids. With his great eye we narrowed it down to a small group for the call- backs. I read with the kids at the call- backs and started getting a sense of who I wanted. Francisco, Martin, Destini and Ross were the ones. The movie gods were in full effect at this point. After numerous meetings and a few empty promises right down to the wire, we got our other half million dollars from an amazing guy, Michael Morrison. Pre-production began. I couldn’t stop pinching myself. We were gonna make my movie. I was gonna get to make it with people I loved in the city I grew up in.

I needed an editor. A great editor. My dream choice was Jay Rabinowitz; he loved the script but had some prior commitments. I called him in a desperate attempt to persuade him. He said he'd love to do it and the thing he was locked into he actually didn't want to be doing. He said there was a slight chance it wasn't going to happen. I held my breath for a few days. He finally called Sol and said he was in. I was ecstatic knowing that position of editor makes or breaks a picture. Shot listing with my DP, Patrice Cochet a few rehearsals with my actors, meetings with my production designer and we were off!

Shooting. Ah, shooting. I thought I knew the feeling so well, but the first time on set calling "Action!" as a director, I'll never forget. The best feeling in the world, a feeling I will keep chasing for the rest of my life. No sleep, camera problems, no sleep, camera problems and we were done. It was in the can, 25 days later. So many memorable moments with my amazing cast and crew. It truly was a blast. It is a huge honor to be able to make films; I absolutely cherished every single moment of it. I now have a DVD sitting right next to me, a constant reminder that anything is possible...