{"id":3347,"date":"2018-09-20T14:37:43","date_gmt":"2018-09-20T14:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/?p=3347"},"modified":"2018-12-12T18:05:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-12T18:05:09","slug":"you-sure-you-wanna-hang-wit-ol-eddie-kaaanng-robert-townsends-documentary-making-the-five-heartbeats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/you-sure-you-wanna-hang-wit-ol-eddie-kaaanng-robert-townsends-documentary-making-the-five-heartbeats\/","title":{"rendered":"You Sure You Wanna Hang Wit Ol\u2019 Eddie Kaaanng? Robert Townsend\u2019s Documentary ‘Making The Five Heartbeats\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
The Five Heartbeats<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For one night only, fans of the film The Five Heartbeats\u00a0<\/i>headed to theatres to watch director Robert Townsend\u2019s documentary about the creation of the classic tale of brotherhood, race, and the music industry. \u00a0My sister and I were among those who sat in the theatre late August marveling at the hard work and dedication Townsend conjured in order to breathe life into his vision, to his dream. \u00a0Our decision to head to theatre was last minute. While I heard about the documentary several weeks prior, once the day arrived, I was uncertain that I should be going to the movies considering the pressure I was under to meet what felt like endless deadlines. \u00a0However, within watching the first several minutes, it became apparent that documentary was not a distraction but a divinely ordained respite. Watching Townsend encounter and overcome countless obstacles to then have his vision not meet the immediate success he imagined was an inspiring lesson in perseverance. <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Narrated by Townsend himself and including interviews from members of the cast, the documentary follows the chronological life of the film. \u00a0The challenges are present from the very start as Townsend and friend\/collaborator Keenen Ivory Wayans, who penned the script, work to get funding to make the narrative a reality. \u00a0After several years, the project is picked up by 20th century Fox, and the self-taught director, using the thoroughly compiled \u201cTownsend Bible\u201d hit the ground, balancing the production company\u2019s budget with his vision. \u00a0What is most admirable about the Townsend is not only his commitment to quality, but his desire to seek talent from black communities. He and his team launched casting calls in several major cities, even auditioning soon-to-rise stars like Don Cheadle and R. Kelly; while they did not land spots on the cast, watching their taped performances solidified that their talent was always present, even back then. \u00a0It was also fun to watch Townsend\u2019s auditioning practices which felt very imaginative. When auditioning Tico Wells, who would go on to play Choirboy, the two engaged in a multifaceted improvisational play that Townsend narrated lasted over an hour.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Townsend’s innovation was his signature and, in my opinion, is what created the authentic and palpable energy between the actors that translated onscreen. \u00a0In order to sharpen the actors’ dancing and singing skills, Townsend organized regular talent shows, where the group had to competitively perform. The cast became so emotionally invested in winning that they confronted Townsend about his unsatisfactory performance. \u00a0Serving as director, actor and everything in between, Townsend fell behind in learning the choreography. In what was a true testament the spirit of the set, The Heartbeats stayed late on set to help Townsend learn the moves. The making of the film was not without its own tension, which included a competitiveness between actors Leon and Michael Wright, who played J.T. and Eddie King, Jr. respectively. \u00a0But, thankfully they were able to overcome it. <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Additional obstacles included issues with the studio that resulted in an onsite executive who looked over Townsend shoulder ensuring that he was within the budget and the timeline. \u00a0There were the notes from the executives recommending that certain scenes be cut. And then the most detrimental obstacle was the way that the studio decided to promote the film. With the release of New Jack City<\/i>, theatres in several cities had issues with violence, some even fatal. \u00a020th Century Fox, making false comparisons between the two films, audiences, and the relationship between onscreen and real-life violence, responded by producing a Five Heartbeats <\/i>trailer devoid of all<\/i> conflict – a necessary component to any <\/i>effective narrative. Townsend explained this made the film seem \u201ctoo soft.\u201d \u00a0Thus, despite a five star promotional tour, the film simply did not bring numbers to the box office. \u00a0After years of hard work, of pouring his whole being into the project, it did not soar like he had hoped and dreamed. \u00a0Which I can only imagine, would be crushing. But the movie\u2019s post-theatre life has solidified it as a classic. It was successful in video sales as well as syndication. \u00a0I came to know and love it as was a regular feature for the WB\u2019s Saturday Feature Film. <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Townsend\u2019s Five Heartbeats <\/i>journey serves as an inspiration, encouraging those looking to birth big dreams to push on; even though a project may not meet your intended expectations, does not mean it did not have an impact on the lives of others – the true measure of success. \u00a0The fact that Townsend and Keenan Ivory Wayans are currently adapting the movie into a Broadway musical shows is just another reiteration of the adage that sometimes we are delayed, not denied.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For one night only, fans of the film The Five Heartbeats\u00a0headed to theatres to watch director Robert Townsend\u2019s documentary about the creation of the classic tale of brotherhood, race, and the music industry. \u00a0My sister and I were among those who sat in the theatre late August marveling at the hard work and dedication Townsend […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3348,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,179],"tags":[386,31,387,384,385],"class_list":["post-3347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-tv","category-reviews","tag-documentary","tag-featured","tag-five-heartbeats","tag-making-the-five-heartbeats","tag-robert-townsend"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3347\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}