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A Night Out

By Michael Dequina

Red carpets. Photographers. Television camera crews. Hordes of fans and lookyloos assembling at barricades. From all basic, outward appearances, the world premiere event for Sony/Screen Gems' inspirational drama THE GOSPEL on Saturday, September 24 resembled just about any other Hollywood launch gala. But there was one key difference: the location--the Rialto Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. And that seemingly little difference made all the difference.

But then so befitted a film that did not quite fit the mold of a traditional Tinseltown product, as it marks the first major studio release from writer-director Rob Hardy and producer Will Packer, founders of the Atlanta-based production house Rainforest Films. Rainforest first commanded industry attention back in 2000 with the release of TROIS, which the company self-distributed to theatres to robust box office returns. Two more successful theatrical releases, PANDORA'S BOX and LOCKDOWN, followed in the next couple of years as well as a pair of projects distributed direct to home market by Sony prior to teaming with the corporate giant for a wide theatrical release for this project.

To commemorate the occasion, instead of holding a lavish red carpet event in Hollywood, Sony brought the Tinseltown glitz to the ATL. But for all the Hollywood-style trappings, the proceedings had a distinct and vastly different air: that of old-fashioned Southern hospitality and sincerity. The still photographers didn't incessantly bark out celebrities' names upon their arrival, but calmly got their shots as the guests posed. The assembled fandom predictably screamed when luminaries arrived in their vehicles, but then the crowds rather politely called out to them as they made their press rounds. Most notably, though, was that everyone who was in attendance genuinely wanted to be there for this event and to support this project; there were no obvious instances of C- and D-listers on the make with a publicist hook-up to get face time on the carpet, as a number of the notable attendees who were not directly involved with the film--Eriq LaSalle, Elise Neal, Anthony Anderson--bypassed the media line and left it to those who worked on the picture.

Most of the cast was on hand for the event alongside Hardy and Packer: Boris Kodjoe, Clifton Powell, Aloma Wright, Nona Gaye, Omar Gooding, Tamyra Gray, Keshia Knight-Pulliam, Dwayne Boyd, Sean Nelson and Hezekiah Walker. There were, however, a few notable absentees--co-star Idris Elba, busy working on a film in Louisiana; and the four key gospel music figures involved in the film: Donnie McClurkin, who has a supporting role; Fred Hammond, who executive produced and has a cameo; Yolanda Adams, who performs and cameos in the film; and Kirk Franklin, who contributed a number of original songs to the soundtrack.

The absence of the latter four did not put a damper on the capper to the evening's festivities, a full-blown gospel concert hosted by Anthony Anderson and taped for broadcast on BET. Featuring performances by Walker and his choir, Micah Stampley, Dietrick Haddon, Kiki Sheard, Kelly Price, Martha Munizzi and Mary Mary, the event created a loud, joyful noise in the warm autumn night despite some technical glitches. Unfortunately, about half of the audience left during the course of the live musical portion of the night's festivities--I suppose there's no cure for the Hollywood syndrome of leaving early, no matter where a gala event is held.

It was a capacity crowd, however, for the portion that mattered most, which was the screening of the film and remarks given by Larry Tinsley (who kicked off the formal presentation with a prayer), Packer and Hardy, the latter of whom received a special commendation from Atlanta mayor Shirley Franklin.

The women of THE GOSPEL:
Keshia Knight-Pulliam, Tamyra Gray and Aloma Wright

The men of THE GOSPEL:
Clifton Powell, Boris Kodjoe (with wife Nicole Ari Parker) and Omar Gooding

The planters of the Rainforest:
Writer-director Rob Hardy and producer Will Packer