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presents a Lloyd Levin/Beatriz Levin Production, in association with 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks and Rahway Road A Spike Lee Joint Written by Danny Bilson, Paul DeMeo, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee Starring Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser and Jasper Pääkkönen, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Lê Y Lan, Nguyễn Ngọc Lâm, Sandy Hương Phạm, with Jean Reno, and Chadwick Boseman DA 5 BLOODS releases globally on Netflix JUNE 12 Runtime: 156 Minutes

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Page 1: presents a Lloyd Levin/Beatriz Levin Production, in association … · 2020. 12. 1. · presents a Lloyd Levin/Beatriz Levin Production, in association with 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks

presents a Lloyd Levin/Beatriz Levin Production, in association with 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks and Rahway Road  

A Spike Lee Joint 

Written by Danny Bilson, Paul DeMeo, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee 

Starring Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock, Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser and Jasper Pääkkönen, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Lê Y Lan, Nguyễn Ngọc 

Lâm, Sandy Hương Phạm, with Jean Reno, and Chadwick Boseman

DA 5 BLOODS releases globally on Netflix JUNE 12 

Runtime: 156 Minutes 

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LOGLINE  Four African-American vets battle the forces of man and nature when they return to Vietnam seeking 

the remains of their fallen Squad Leader and the gold fortune he helped them hide. 

 SYNOPSIS 

From Academy Award® Winner Spike Lee comes a New Joint: the story of four African-American Vets — Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters), Eddie (Norm Lewis), and Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) — who return to Vietnam. Searching for the remains of their fallen Squad Leader (Chadwick Boseman) and the promise of buried treasure, our heroes, joined by Paul's concerned son (Jonathan Majors), battle forces 

of Man and Nature — while confronted by the lasting ravages of The Immorality of The Vietnam War. 

 INTRODUCTION 

 In the 1970s, Paul, Otis, Eddie and Melvin left Vietnam with a lifelong bond. They had been uprooted                                   from their U.S. hometowns as teenagers, summoned thousands of miles to outthink a mysterious foe in                               its own jungles. At this vulnerable juncture, each was thrust into an Army squad and handed an assault                                   weapon. Under the direction of Stormin’ Norman — a fellow African-American who taught them how to                               coexist as rebels and patriots — the Men became a surrogate family, Da 5 Bloods. During the Vietnam                                   War, "Bloods" became a brotherly term between African-American soldiers — a casual term of                           camaraderie. This brotherhood even outlived its patriarch.   Yet their greatest shared pain awaited The Quartet back home. Like countless returning soldiers, the                             men received no warm welcome in America, where Anti-War activists dominated the public discourse.                           Although veterans of previous wars had been embraced as heroes, Vietnam GI’s were spat on and                               derided as “Baby Killers” — even those who were drafted to serve. Da Bloods also still had to contend                                     with systemic racial discrimination, which robbed them of respect and economic mobility.   Despite recent decades apart, Paul (Delroy Lindo), Otis (Clarke Peters) Eddie (Norm Lewis) and                           Melvin (Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) have a stronger connection than ever when Academy Award®-winner                         Spike Lee opens his new film, DA 5 BLOODS, with their present-day reunion. Hidden beneath                             backslapping and jokes, these are broken men struggling with the realities of Grief, Illness, Divorce,                             Addiction, Financial Ruin, Regret and Shame.   By refusing to seek help for his Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder [PTSD] symptoms, Paul — a defiant                               supporter of President Donald Trump — is exacerbating his flawed relationship with his son, David                             (Jonathan Majors). When he’s not advocating for Black Lives Matter, Eddie lives in denial of his                               impending bankruptcy. Melvin chances his happy home life with nights of carefree carousing. A one                             time Medic carrying a pocketful of pills, Otis, attempts to keep them all grounded.    From a Ho Chi Minh City Hotel, the four — plus David, an uninvited, eleventh-hour arrival — embark on                                     a fateful double mission: find the remains of their Squad Leader, Norman (Chadwick Boseman), plus a                               chest of Gold they first discovered during combat. To help with the latter, Otis’ former lover, a                                 Vietnamese Woman named Tiên Luu (Lê Y Lan), introduces Da Bloods to her international exports                             

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contact, Desroche (Jean Reno). If the treasure hunt is successful, the Frenchman can transfer currency                             from Gold bars into offshore accounts, taking a generous cut for himself.    Unaware of the fortune, Local Guide Vinh Tran (Johnny Trí Nguyễn ) accompanies Da Bloods on a tense boat ride to the edge of the brush, so they can locate Norman within. Amidst the landscape of their nightmares, however, individual greed eclipses Blood loyalty. New fears arise from treacherous terrain, wild animals, deadly traps, the elements, shattered trust and two more lurking parties — LAMB [Love Against Mines and Bombs] personnel (Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hauser and Jasper Pääkkönen) and a band of Vietnamese officers (commanded by Nguyễn Ngọc Lâm ).    DA 5 BLOODS is an Epic Adventure centered on the African-American experience in Vietnam. Lee wrote the script with his BlacKkKlansman co-scribe Kevin Willmott, based on an original screenplay by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo. A 40 Acres and a Mule production, the Netflix Film is produced by Lloyd Levin, Beatriz Levin, Jon Kilik and Lee. Oscar® nominee Terence Blanchard (BlacKkKlansman) composed the score, which compliments several tracks from Marvin Gaye’s groundbreaking 1971 album “What’s Going On.”  

 

A WAR THAT NEVER ENDS  On both sides of the Pacific, the Vietnam War (1955-1975) remains the defining conflict for a generation. Vietnam was bisected into opposing factions — single families supplied recruits for the North and South — and American ideology was cleaved in two. Generally, Vietnamese citizens are no more hostile toward the U.S. than any of the country’s former adversaries. But in certain U.S. circles today, the Vietnam War remains a taboo subject.   The psychological scars of the Vietnam War are distinctly palpable in The Black community. African-American soldiers made up a disproportionate number of Vietnam deployments and casualties, as well as Post-War Unemployment and Homelessness. Those fortunate enough to return Stateside had to fight their government — the same one they had just defended abroad — for basic Civil Rights.    Lee is among Cinema’s most original and prolific Writer-Directors, and DA 5 BLOODS is the latest entry in an indelible Body of Work that began with 1986’s indie breakthrough, She’s Gotta Have It. Following the tradition of Do The Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Malcolm X (1992), 25th Hour (2002) and six-time Oscar® nominee BlacKkKlansman (2018), this Film begins with a collage of photos and footage confronting America’s prejudiced past. An uncompromising creative force, Lee roots his art in facts and social justice.   “I’m a big historian,” Lee said. “I was taught that African-Americans fought for this Country from day one,” citing Crispus Attucks (1723-1770), an African-American Man killed during the Boston Massacre, becoming the first victim of the American Revolution. With 2008’s Miracle at St. Anna, Lee increased awareness of what Black Infantrymen — known as Buffalo Soldiers — endured during World War II. “We’re still fighting for this country today,” he continued.   Conversations about DA 5 BLOODS began when Lee and his writing partner, Kevin Willmott, were approached by producer Lloyd Levin (Boogie Nights) as they prepared to shoot BlacKkKlansman. “No disrespect to any film that’s been done before about the Vietnam War, but we wanted to do this 

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through the perspective of the Black Soldiers,” Lee said. “Kevin and I felt that the premise was fantastic. We knew that we had not seen Brothers like this in a Vietnam film.”   Thus DA 5 BLOODS evolved into Lee’s first project produced with Lloyd Levin and his wife, Beatriz Levin. Lee made an important addition to the filmmaking team — Academy Award® nominee and prolific producer Jon Kilik (Babel). In 1988, Kilik and Lee were introduced by then president of Columbia Pictures David Picker. Kilik produced Lee’s first feature to vie for Oscars®, Do the Right Thing, and DA 5 BLOODS marks their 15th collaboration.    Drawing inspiration from classics like Sir David Lean’s Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), as well as John Huston’s The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948) and Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), the Writers collaborated on a script that brought Vietnam veterans back to the Far East. Their journey is interspersed with flashbacks to the late ‘60s through 1971; along the way, Paul, Otis, Eddie and Melvin try to reconcile the men they’ve become in Norman’s absence.    “He was a Malcolm X and a Martin Luther King, Jr. kind of character,” Willmott said of Norman. “He held them together not just in terms of being a leader in the jungle, in the fight, but also being a leader in the fight for civil rights.”  In an innovative conceit thought up by Lee, actors Lindo, Peters, Lewis and Whitlock, Jr. maintain their roles for the flashbacks — and no makeup or de-aging technology is used to hide the fact that they are in their 60s. “The memories of War stay with Veterans as they grow older,” Willmott said. “These are still living memories,” meaning current dilemmas and even ailments color recollections of their former selves. Since flashbacks are told from Da Bloods’ vantage, long-lost comrades always look as young as they did in their final months and moments.   

MEET DA 5 BLOODS Delroy Lindo as Paul   Paul's most memorable accessory is a red cap brandishing President Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” Only eight percent of African-American voters cast their ballots for the Republican candidate — Paul’s inclusion in said demographic is a point of deep-seated conflict within the Bloods (Lee himself refers to Trump as “Agent Orange”).   “I absolutely do not relate to Paul as a Trump supporter,” said Lindo, a Tony® nominee working with Lee for the first time in 25 years. “It was a stumbling block that I had to negotiate as an actor.” Lindo trusted his past Malcolm X, Crooklyn (1994) and Clockers (1995) director, finding his way into the role after completing his second read of the script. “Paul is a tragic character in every bit the same way as King Lear,” he said. “From a creative and dramaturgical point of view, that deeply attracted me.”  Lindo also responded to the idea that Otis, Eddie and Melvin still embrace Paul as their Brother. “A Deep Seated Love exists between these Men, and it's stronger than any political endorsement's ability to drive them apart,” he said. “On many levels, D5B feels to be a Love Story among these Men. The Bloods’ acceptance of Paul in this instance is a significant manifestation of that Love.”   

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Given Lee’s vocal opposition to the current administration, a Trump-endorsing lead may sound shocking. “By the end of the film, the audience is going to really empathize with him, and see that the man’s not in his right mind,” Lee said.   Willmott concedes that Paul is “probably the most complicated character” in DA 5 BLOODS, but still representative of the resentment felt by many Blue-Collar Americans. “They turn their bitterness on the wrong people,” he said. “Paul’s problem is that he hasn’t learned much from all the bad things that have happened to him.”   The son of a World War II veteran — who came home triumphant following his role in the Normandy invasion — Paul completed three tours of Vietnam duty. Naturally, Lindo conducted extensive research to relate his alter-ego. “I had a broadly based, vague notion of this war” — Vietnam — “that was controversial and causing so much social disruption, but I didn’t understand it, because I was young when it happened,” he said. “The importance of having Black Men as protagonists telling this story cannot be overstated.”   Paul’s politics are just the latest factor alienating him from his only child, David, a millennial African-American studies teacher who has been seeking paternal validation his entire life. As David grew up, Paul’s paranoia and agitation increased (The American Psychiatric Association did not officially recognize PTSD until 1980, when such woes were commonly being observed in Vietnam War Veterans).   “Now that we’re both adults, the son is really trying to get to know the man his father is, after an upbringing that was not cupcakes and sunshine,” said rising star Jonathan Majors, a 2020 Film Independent Spirit Award nominee (The Last Black Man in San Francisco). Through his Godfather, Otis, David knows that Paul has faced nonstop anguish since witnessing the death of Norman, his best friend.“You don’t often see black masculinity portrayed in the honest, raw way evident in this film,” he said. Out of concern, David hacks into Paul’s emails, and tracks him down on the other side of the world.    Majors spent his youth on California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base while his father served in the armed forces, and his grandfathers respectively fought in the Korean War and the Vietnam War. “That’ll get you to work six days a week for sure,” he joked. DA 5 BLOODS was an opportunity he accepted “sight unseen” when he heard “the kings” being proposed as his scene partners.   “It’s been like showing up at school everyday,” said Majors, an alum of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts and Yale Drama School alum. “It’s very rare as a young, black, trained actor that you get to work with the OG who came up the way you came up,” noting that Lindo and Whitlock, Jr. studied at the American Conservatory Theater, while Peters and Lewis also have long lists of influential stage credits. “To watch them, learn from them and be taken in as the young Blood, it’s the best thing that could happen as far as moving forward in an acting career.”   

 Take after take, Lindo was impressed with Majors’ delivery. “Jonathan has an openness that is wonderful to engage,” said Lindo. “We have found instances in the story in which our love for each other, father to son, is very evident. It has resulted in what I’d like to believe is a finely-nuanced, lifelike relationship. That’s part of the complexity of deep-seated love: having the capacity to love and simultaneously ‘hate’ a human being.”  

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Clarke Peters as Otis  Peters — the actor best known as The Wire’s Detective Lester Freamon — once entertained thoughts of enlisting in the armed forces. “My father was part of the first Black Marine battalion that America had, and when those surviving came over to the house, they would speak of war in a glorious way,” Peters said. “Hearing that as a young man, I thought, I want to do that.”   But once Vietnam emerged as the site of a terrible conflict that left families destroyed, Peters was entirely against the war. “There were other battles to be fought from the early 60s onward,” he said. Peters was raised in New Jersey, yet had family in the American South, where the Congress for Racial Equality [CORE] and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee [SNCC] held voter registration drives. Soon, his anti-Vietnam stance “became the foundation of my political points of view in America, and it was supported by guys like Malcolm [X] and Martin [Luther King, Jr.] and [Muhammed] Ali,” whose speeches are woven into DA 5 BLOODS.    In the film, Peters plays Otis, a Vietnam War Medic who returned to the States with bullet scars and the drive to keep healing people. “He was always compassionate for humanity, despite the circumstances he found himself in,” Peters said. At his most edgy moments, Paul is more likely to listen to Otis than anyone else. When it comes to Da Bloods, Otis has a simple philosophy: “Stick with your Tribe.”   On location in Thailand and Vietnam, the Actors fell into the easy rhythm of lifelong friends. “We share the same jokes and have the same points of reference,” Peters said. “We got into a pretty deep conversation about how being Black Men in America has affected us, and you don’t just do that with any Brother these days. I trust them on Camera, and I can imagine that on a Battlefield, I would trust them, too.”  Peters also has ample faith in Lee, who previously cast him in Red Hook Summer (2012). “I like the way that he handles the set,” Peters said. “Spike doesn’t waste any time. As a Director, he’s also very generous. He knows us, so he can get under our skin with a little bit of cajoling. We are all doing this together.”  Wise and organized, Otis is Norman’s heir apparent in thoughtful leadership. He procured the documents necessary for Da Bloods to legally collect Norman’s remains, and he studied satellite photos of the mudslide that may have unearthed their clandestine gold.   

 Otis is also good at keeping secrets, like the origins of the gun and opioids in his backpack. Then there’s Otis’ extra incentive to take this odyssey: Prior to meeting his wife, he had a passionate relationship with Tiên. Their affair resulted in repercussions he never fathomed — including a daughter who grew up without him.    Norm Lewis as Eddie  An Actor, Singer, and the first African-American to play the namesake role in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, Lewis met Lee many years ago. DA 5 BLOODS is their first collaboration. “Spike sent me the script and said, ‘No questions. Just read it.’ Then I called him up and said, ‘This is brilliant. Good luck with your project.’” Lewis had no idea he was being offered a part until Lee asked outright if he was interested.   

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The character Lee had in mind, Eddie, had the misfortune of being drafted to fight in a war he strongly opposed. “A lot of people didn’t believe in the Vietnam War,” said Lewis, a two-time Grammy® nominee. “But pressured into going, Eddie felt like he had to be the best at what he was doing” — Battle Photography. “Especially in a company of Men who were also at the top of their game.”  Ahead of filming, Lewis read a book recommended by Lee, Wallace Terry’s Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War: An Oral History (Ballantine Books, 1984). In the same tradition as DA 5 BLOODS, the text takes its title from the collective nickname young, politically-engaged, African-American recruits gave themselves during the war’s second decade.   The Vietnam War was the first major combat where American soldiers were deployed to fight as part of an integrated military. “For years, we couldn’t fight in certain wars, and even if we did, we were segregated,” Lewis said. “But when it came to the Vietnam War, we were put right up front.”    At first, Eddie appears to be Da Bloods’ biggest success: Cars made him a wealthy Man, and dealerships across America bear his name. In the company of his former comrades, Eddie throws money around as a ruse — he has deep insecurities about his dwindling bank account. A string of divorce settlements, regrettable investments and expensive habits have left on the verge of bankruptcy.   If Da Bloods are able to reclaim gold, Eddie has no desire to horde his portion. Instead, he echoes Norman’s familiar refrain of putting the greater good first. Eddie is determined to put every dollar towards Black Liberation, to the chagrin of Melvin and — especially — Paul.   “The world has crushed all of them in various ways that have made their belief in that collective spirit dissipate,” Wiillmott said. “It seemed right to show how these guys are brought back to a reality that they once believed in.”  Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as Melvin  Like his co-stars Paul Walter Hauser and Jasper Pääkkönen, Whitlock, Jr.’s second consecutive film with Lee is DA 5 BLOODS. This particular Actor-Director rapport stretches back six titles, to 25th Hour.   “One of the things I love about working with Spike is that he allows me to try some different things — a certain reading or line inflection that will help a story along,” said Whitlock, Jr. “The excitement comes from getting to do what I want, character-wise. If I miss the boat, he’ll be the first person to tell me. But he usually gives me a very long leash.” Composer Terence Blanchard has enjoyed a similar experience with Lee, and added, “He knows what he wants, but if he trusts you, he gives you a ton of room to express yourself.”   This time, Whitlock, Jr. assumed the role of the youngest Blood. “Melvin represents a lot of Brothers who went to Vietnam,” he said, citing those who “lied about their age, got into The Army, wanted to get away from home and didn’t really have anything going for them. The military was definitely a way to go.”   

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Melvin and his wife, Cissy, are happily raising their 18-year-old son. However, there are occasions where he appears flippant towards this domestic stability. A bit indulgent, Melvin has a taste for cocktails and a roving eye. He lives in the moment, and prioritizes having a good time.    “I wouldn’t say he’s the deepest Brother, but in a way, he’s one of the most honest about who he is,” Whitlock, Jr. said. “That's one of the reasons why the other Bloods like him. He sees things in black and white. I mean, he flies off here and there, but he’s got a nice little soul. He’s grounded.” Contrary to Paul, Melvin adapts a clearer sense of right and wrong as the film progresses.   Whitlock, Jr. tapped into his own adolescent memories to channel his character. “I remember in high school being terrified that I was going to get drafted,” he said. “Some of my friends got drafted. Some enlisted once we graduated and got out of school. I never, ever wanted to go to War. I saw the people coming back, and it was very disturbing. I just didn’t want to be a part of that.”  Chadwick Boseman as Stormin’ Norman  For the supporting role of Da Bloods’ venerated Squad Commander, Lee turned to an actor who has played legends of sports (Jackie Robinson in 42), music (James Brown in Get On Up), politics (Thurgood Marshall in Marshall) and, of course, comics (King T’Challa in Black Panther and Avengers: Endgame, the highest grossing films of the past two years). Boseman immediately joined DA 5 BLOODS for the chance to finally work with Lee. “I fell in love with the idea of telling stories, at some level, through his movies,” Boseman said.  To the surviving Bloods, Norman epitomized excellence, rising fast through the Army ranks. Norman had no inner conflict about entering a War in the pursuit of peace. He taught his soldiers how to navigate the jungle and discern between truth and propaganda. From him, Paul, Otis, Eddie and Melvin learned to be proud guardians of African-American history. With Norman’s patient encouragement, the lower-ranking GIs all believed they would see The War’s end. And they did.   Shortly before Norman’s death, Da Bloods were carrying out a mission for the CIA when their helicopter was shot down. Their task: deliver a chest of Gold bars to Indigeonous People who were aiding the American War effort. Norman devised the plan to bury the Gold until they could reclaim it for the benefit of their communities.   Boseman envisioned Norman as a Preacher and Prophet as much as a warrior. “You’ve got a Nat Turner in there,” Boseman said. “You’ve got a Tunis Campbell there. You’ve got David Walker’s appeal. There’s this idea that God is leading Norman to fight, but at the same time, he’s also a Patriot. He believes in American ideals — ‘If you ain’t doing right by my people, I have to use this moment to fight in different realms.’”  During the Vietnam War, Boseman’s own uncles fought overseas. “I could see the effect of the war — what they brought home or what they carried with them,” he said. Boseman felt the responsibility to honor the sacrifices of those who served, specifically African-Americans. “Part of the reason why I chose to do this movie is because it tells the story of the Vietnam War in a different way. Usually, when they do the movie version, we’re in the background or nonexistent, when in reality, these were the people doing the grunt work, the hard work.”   

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Norman appears only in flashbacks, but each interaction conveys the abiding and profound influence he had as a mentor. “That dynamic has been fun to play, being the person that they look up to,” Boseman said. “Especially because in reality, I look up to all of these actors. You see who they were when they were younger through my character, and that’s the extraordinarily unique conceit to Spike’s storytelling in this movie.” 

 

VIETNAM REVISITED: CRAFTING AN EPIC  DA 5 BLOODS shot on location in the cities of Chiang Mai, Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City in Spring 2019. Spike Lee hired BAFTA Award® nominee Newton Thomas Sigel (Bohemian Rhapsody) as his Director of Photography. The two previously worked together on commercials, but DA 5 BLOODS is their first joint feature. Although the Cinematographer’s filmography also includes Oscar®-winning The Usual Suspects (1995), Three Kings (1999) and Drive (2011), Sigel began his film career in the ‘80s by shooting documentaries, and he has experience behind the camera in various Central American combat zones.   Sigel looked forward to embracing the specificity of Lee’s creative vision. “Spike has always been somebody that loves to be very bold: experimental with lenses, film stocks, techniques and film trickery, in the best sense of the word,” Sigel said. “We looked at ways to explore the idea of memory, and what it would be like for these guys to come back to a place that was so formative for them 50 years ago, and also happened to have such a distinct place in history.”   One selected avenue was shooting the flashbacks in 16mm Film to replicate period newsreel footage. “It’s similar to the way that you would’ve shot it if you were embedded with the Army in Vietnam in the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Sigel said. “They shot predominantly reversal, or what they called news film. So we’ve gone back to that format. We’re also shooting it in 4:3 aspect ratio, which was the shape that televisions had before our contemporary times. We felt that it was a really evocative way to record the memories, by using a lot of the technology of those days.”  Audiences will notice the changing aspect ratio throughout the story. When the Quartet arrives in modern Vietnam, the scenes all play out in a widescreen, 2:40 aspect ratio. Once they reach the jungle, the image opens up farther, with Sigel employing a 1:85 aspect ratio as a signal that The Heroes have crossed into “the more wild and dangerous parts of Vietnam.”  Production designer Wynn Thomas was another key department head responsible for the film’s look and feel. Although Lee has enjoyed a 13 film-career with Thomas, until DA 5 BLOODS, they had not shared a set since the 2006 heist thriller Inside Man. Lee makes most of his films in New York City, and this was his first production in Asia. Shooting across the globe allowed Thomas to conjure the aura of an undeniable saga.   “Spike and I have a really collaborative relationship,” Thomas said. “At the very beginning of the job, we talk about the script in abstract terms, and then he tells me what’s important for him. Usually, it’s within those details that I’m able to figure out what he needs for the movie. We have an understanding of how he’s going to use and move the camera.”  On DA 5 BLOODS, Thomas’s greatest challenge became using the local geography to enhance the storytelling. He spent months scouting the right sites to host the shoot. “The visual journey on this film 

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is through the jungle,” Thomas said. “I had to form a conceptual approach to how we were defining the jungle and what we were seeing. Essentially, when the movie starts, the jungle areas are all very big and expansive and you see a lot of sky and great vistas.”   As the tension in the story escalates, the jungle begins to encroach on the characters — they feel trapped. “The wall of trees begins to thicken, and there’s more leaves on the trees,” Thomas said. “I had to think about how we were going to move the actors through these scenes, and where we’d place the camera. All these choices supported the storytelling.”   Perhaps the most daunting sequence unfolds when Da Bloods’ helicopter is shot from the sky. The scenes were filmed in Chiang Dao, Thailand, on a large field with dramatic views. Yet the same grounds doubled as an area the characters hike through in the current era.  “For the contemporary sequence, we left it as a farm field, because that’s how the land is being used now,” he said. “But when we revisit ’71, it looks completely different. We planted palm trees and banana trees. We filled this huge, open space with greenery. We bought a helicopter, and then essentially had one day to install that helicopter in our field.”   Lee was committed to hiring local talent for all aspects of the production. “You just can’t come with that American imperialism thing,” he said. “I had never been to Thailand before. I had never been to Vietnam before. This is their land. This is their history. I welcomed their participation.”  

 A Thai team of artists helped Thomas construct a temple for the film’s electrifying climax. The structure was modeled after Mỹ Sơn, a collection of Hindu temples in Central Vietnam, erected between the 4th and 14th centuries. “The level of artistry and craftsmanship by the Men and Women who were working on the film has been extraordinary,” Thomas said. “In my art department, I’m working with people who are the descendants of those folks who built all these great temples here in Thailand.” 

 Lee had his actors undergo a week-long Boot Camp, which included a lesson in handling M16 rifles. Participants also practiced squad movement formations to grasp how they would need to react in a combat scenario.   “When I heard we were doing a Boot Camp, I thought we were going to be wading into mud and climbing over walls,” Lewis said. “It was not that. It was pretty strenuous, though. We learned from some amazing coaches that have been in both the Vietnam War and Afghanistan. It’s been a wonderful process, getting to know the importance of discipline and the regimented hierarchy.”  Actors also received safety training as they braced to zigzag uneven terrain in temperatures reaching 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Filming often commenced around 6 a.m. so that the day’s shots could be completed before the warmest hours. “Then there’s the bugs,” Sigel deadpanned. “It’s not an easy environment by any stretch.”   Lee commends his Cast for roughing it with Mother Nature. “Look, when you go into the jungle there’s going to be bugs and animals and snakes,” he said. “It’s not a backlot. We were thousands of miles away from home. We were up in it. I’ve got to tip my hat to all the Actors — who were not 18, 19, 20, the age those young Brothers were when they fought in The War. There’s a lot of physicality to this film. People were sore.”  

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To lend further authenticity to their performances, Lee brought cultural advisors LaMont Hamilton and Andre Zachery to Thailand to work with the Actors. Curators of The New York Times-praised dance show Dapline!, Hamilton and Zachery gavet the ensemble an education in dignity and pride [Dap]. Dap is a handshake African-Americans originated during the Vietnam War, to emphasize unity and survival.   “It was a very important handshake that showed fraternity, showed togetherness, showed that I have your back and you have mine,” Hamilton said. “It was more than a greeting, more than a handshake. It was basically a sign to signify the burgeoning Black Power Movement. Black Soldiers found themselves fighting Two Wars — they were fighting for Civil Rights at home, and they were also fighting a very unpopular war against other Brown Folks abroad. The Dap creates an understanding. If you weave it tight enough, you become inseparable from your brother.”   Boseman said that learning the Dap for DA 5 BLOODS helped him connect with his co-stars. “There’s a Brotherhood already amongst us as Actors,” Boseman said. “You watch each other’s work. You cheer for each other. Then, Spike added to this movie the swagger of The Dap. We’re all going around, touching each other with The Dap, shaking hands. There’s a fight and a struggle in just trying to keep up with the other person. A lot of times, that’s how Men build brotherhood — competitive spirit.”  As always, Lee moved with precision and efficiency on set, expecting his team of exceptionally talented actors to deliver their best work on each take.   “Spike is somebody who is very intelligent,” said Jean Reno, The French Actor behind Desroche — a businessman with a pipeline of get-rich-quick schemes. “It is a great honor for me to be in the movie because I like his work, and after working with him, I very much like the Man, too.”  

 AN ALBUM, AN ANTHEM AND BEYOND 

 The 11th Studio Album from Marvin Gaye, “What’s Going On” provided the film’s musical and thematic underpinnings. “One of the greatest albums ever made,” Lee said. “Marvin is a saint. He is godlike. That album spoke to us as the record of the time. I knew that The Music would help the narrative.”   Six of the Album’s Songs are featured in The Film — “Inner City Blues (Makes Me Wanna Holler),” “Wholy Holy,” “Flyin’ High (in the Friendly Sky),” “What’s Happening Brother,” “God Is Love” (sung by Lindo) and “What’s Going On” — as well as one of Gaye’s later Tracks (“Got To Give It Up”).   “When I saw the first cut and I heard the Marvin Gaye songs, my first reaction was, ‘Right, this makes total sense,’” said DA 5 BLOODS composer Terence Blanchard, Lee’s collaborator for three decades. “Next I started thinking about growing up in the ‘70s, and all the dudes I saw in my neighborhood that used to walk around with the tattered military jackets and shirts, who fought in Vietnam. They were struggling — emotionally, mentally. It brings me back to that period in time where African-Americans were struggling for certain rights. I still remember as a kid going someplace in Louisiana and seeing the water fountains that said, ‘For Coloreds Only.’ It’s that common theme of just trying to be recognized as equals, generation after generation. Frankly, you get tired of it.”  

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Gaye’s younger brother, Frances “Frankie” Gaye, served three tours of Vietnam War duty. While working as a Radio Operator during those years, Frankie wrote letters to Marvin, recounting the daily horrors he witnessed. Frankie’s descriptions gave Marvin a starting point for the album.   The entire song cycle shares the perspective of a Vietnam veteran who is shunned when he returns home to the USA. Gaye’s lyrics reference both battleground atrocities in Vietnam, and the concurrent civil unrest in America. With his lilting four-octave range, he discussed Radicalism, Unemployment, Ecology, Pollution and more. Some classify the title track, “What’s Going On,” as a Protest Song, while others claim it as a Love Song. Norman would assert that it’s both — like Lee and Gaye beforehand, the character maintains that those who truly love their country will examine how its citizens are treated.    “You could make a documentary about trying to figure out how many people that music kept alive,” Blanchard said. “When you put the songs into context with this movie, they become even more powerful.”   Prior to filming, Lee led The Cast in a close reading of the album’s lyrics. “Once we started getting into the script and the dramaturge of this whole piece, we had one day where we actually sat down and just listened to Marvin Gaye’s ‘What’s Going On,’” Lewis said. “Each song was broken down. It really helped us in developing our characters.”    “What’s Going On” was also a poignant selection because of what happened after its release. Gaye’s life ended when his father shot him on the eve of his 45th birthday, in 1984. As Blanchard worked, he was moved that DA 5 BLOODS explores how the Vietnam War rendered multitudes of men — like Paul and Otis — incapable of being loving, hands-on fathers.   “Sometimes when I’m scoring these scenes, I cry in my studio,” Blanchard said, such as when Paul narrates a letter he has written to David. “The Actors help write the score, they don’t even know it. Paul is very sensitive and very emotional, based on the way he reacts to everything throughout the movie. To hear the resignation in his voice, to hear him admit to understanding that he wasn’t the person his son needed him to be, man, I was a wreck, I’m not ashamed to say it. Because being an African-American Male, sometimes it’s hard for us to find that vulnerable spot in our lives. I try to be honest about how I feel about the characters. Those are moments where I have to allow whatever is going through me to come through The Music — that’s what I want other people to feel.”  Blanchard has written music for more than 15 of Lee films — including Jungle Fever (1991), Malcolm X, and 25th Hour — but their shared history dates back even further. Spike Lee’s father, musician Bill Lee, was long regarded as one of the world’s preeminent folk bassists, performing with the likes of Bob Dyan, Judy Collin and Simon & Garfunkel. In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, Blanchard and the second generation of the famed Marsalis family came to New York City as young men. They all sought out Bill Lee, and got to know his son.   After scoring Spike Lee’s student films, Bill Lee did the same for his first four features: She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do The Right Thing and Mo’ Better Blues. Blanchard’s working relationship with the Lees dates back to that era — he performed as part of the score on the latter three titles.   Mo’ Better Blues was a milestone for Blanchard, who supplied the respective trumpet and saxophone playing for Bleek Gilliam (Denzel Washington) and Shadow Henderson (Wesley Snipes). During a 

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recording session, Blanchard briefly sat down at a piano and began playing an original piece. Intrigued, Spike Lee asked Blanchard if he could write a string arrangement for the film.   “My brain was like, Boy, this is an opportunity, so you either tell the truth, or you can tell a big lie and say that you do know how to write for strings,” Blanchard said. “I said yes. I had never done it before.” Blanchard quickly called his composition teacher for pointers and delivered. “Spike was probably auditioning me for the composer job, I didn’t think about it at the time. He’s given me a chance to do some things I never would have been able to do, and I love him for it,” Blanchard said. “If it wasn’t for him, there’s a whole bunch of us who wouldn’t be in this business.”  A Blanchard string composition has even become something of a tradition in Lee’s films: Spike noticed that the original score for DA 5 BLOODS did not feature a string quartet, so he nudged Blanchard to write one to accompany dialogue between Otis and Melvin.    A multi-instrumentalist who has dedicated his life to jazz, Blanchard is the recipient of six Grammys® — the most recent came for "Blut und Boden (Blood and Soil)" from the BlacKkKlansman soundtrack, a film that also earned him an Oscar nomination.    “He has a wealth of understanding of music — from what music does to what feelings, colors and shapes it evokes,” Lee said. “Through the years, he’s perfected music to support what he’s seeing in a story, and not a lot of people have that skill. They might be scoring music, but they’re not doing what Terence is doing, in my opinion.”  With their long professional history, Blanchard has a comprehensive understanding of Lee’s needs for each title. “When we first started working together, he told me he didn’t like underscoring, he didn’t like atmospheric music,” Blanchard said. “He used to tell me all the time, ‘I want people to walk away from the theater singing the themes.’ He challenges you.”  After reviewing that early cut, Blanchard came up with groups of melodic lines so Lee could pair musical sequences with narrative slices from the film. “Once we get that out of the way, then the rest of the process is really like research and development for me,” said Blanchard, who paid tribute to the military by incorporating lots of bass drums and snare drums, as well as full, dark, thrumming brass. “I have to go in and find the sound for the film. People don’t believe me when I say this, but once Spike and I finish figuring out what the themes are going to be, he doesn’t hear anything — not even demos — until we get to the studio. This has worked to our benefit, because it makes me check and recheck everything that I do. I want to make sure things are right the first time he listens.”   

THE MISSION AND THE MESSAGE  With DA 5 BLOODS, Lee has crafted a thrilling drama where lifelong friends risk their lives on a  once-in-a-lifetime adventure. A layered storyteller, he makes art that directly responds to world events of the past and present. By masterfully infusing entertainment and history, Lee demands multiple viewings with the latest addition to his remarkable oeuvre.   A powerful and emotional narrative, DA 5 BLOODS confronts America’s History of Racism and diminishing the contributions of Black Citizens. The movie is a call for empathy. To celebrate the exceptional patriotism of African-American Soldiers on the frontlines of the Vietnam War, the 

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Filmmakers populated the story with a collection of relatable, imperfect heroes. In the wilderness, they inspect acre after acre for missing artifacts, when what they actually yearn for is inner peace.  “In doing Da 5 Bloods, you want people to be proud,” Blanchard said. “We stand on some very strong Shoulders. There’ve been a lot of people not only in the Film Business but just in life who have set the stage for us, and opened some doors for us, and it’s incumbent upon us not to let them down. Some of those people gave their life for us just to be able to sit here and be creative.”  Lee demands a more inclusive American definition of “Patriot,” insisting that Patriots can kneel during the National Anthem, or refuse to accept every presidential statement. Slave labor was the foundation for the earliest U.S. economy. African-Americans never stopped building the country up, or fighting to be respected. They have every right to voice critiques, and doing so is a patriotic act.   “I’ve had the pleasure and the honor to screen this film for a lot of Black Vietnam Vets in the New York City area,” Lee said. “They loved the film. For me, that was a thumbs-up. It was very moving to hear them talk about the film and their experience. Many of them were teenagers when they got shipped away to kill people.”   Also lending contemporary resonance to the film is the fictional organization LAMB — aimed at raising awareness to the ongoing problem of Vietnamese landmines — and Black Lives Matter. The chairman of the movement’s greater New York chapter, Hank Newsome, was on set in Thailand to witness filming firsthand. “The man is hot off an Oscar®, and Black Lives Matter is referenced in his next major picture project, starring phenomenal actors — people who I watched growing up? It’s crazy. Spike Lee and 40 Acres and a Mule played a part in inspiring me and giving me tools to go out there and do this work.”  Lewis believes that films like this one can help people feel less divided. “We need to know everybody’s story, just to understand each other,” he said. “A line from Les Misérables is, ‘To love another person is to see the face of God,’ and that’s what I live by.”  DA 5 BLOODS suggests that overcoming enmity in the world is possible, with immense effort. The film ends with a “MAGA” alternative — Martin Luther King, Jr. reciting the Langston Hughes poem “Let America Be Great Again.” Hughes felt that American principles and reality were at odds, and the disparity would continue until greed was curbed.  “History repeats itself,” Lee concluded. “And we can learn from history — if we wake up.” 

      

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ABOUT THE CAST  DELROY LINDO (Paul)  Delroy Lindo will next be seen in Spike Lee’s film Da 5 Bloods. Lindo has had memorable roles in films such as The Cider House Rules; Heist; and previously garnered critical acclaim in a trio of films with director, Lee: Clockers; Crooklyn and Malcolm X. Other notable films includeWondrous Oblivion; The Core; The One; Gone in 60 Seconds; Ransom; Get Shorty; Romeo Must Die; This Christmas (also as executive producer); the 2016 remake of Point Break; and Pixar’s Up! He can also be seen in the independent films, Malicious and 001LithiumX.  On TV, he currently appears as Adrian Boseman in CBS’ The Good Fight (sequel to The Good Wife). He’s featured in TV series such as Believe; The Chicago Code and Kidnapped; and in films for TV, such as Soul of The Game, (playing baseball legend Satchel Paige); Profoundly Normal; Strange Justice (winning a Peabody Award); & Glory & Honor (playing Arctic Explorer Matthew Henson). He won an NAACP Award for a guest appearance on Law and Order: SVU. Also for TV, he produced and directed documentary interview films featuring Spike Lee, Charles Burnett and Joan Chen.    On Broadway, Lindo received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations, playing Herald Loomis in August Wilson’s, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone; and played Walter Lee in the Kennedy Center and Los Angeles productions of A Raisin in the Sun (Helen Hayes Award Nomination and NAACP Image Award, Best Actor). He debuted on Broadway in Athol Fugard’s play, Master Harold and the Boys, with James Earl Jones, going on to appear with Jones, in the first National Tour of the play.  Lindo directed the plays Blue Door and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone to critical acclaim at Berkeley Repertory Theater; and won a Los Angeles Theater Weekly Award directing the play, Medal of Honor Rag.   Mr. Lindo has an Honorary Doctorate in Arts and Humanities from Virginia Union University; a BFA degree (cum laude) from San Francisco State University; and an MFA from New York University’s Gallatin School."   JONATHAN MAJORS (David) Independent Spirit and Gotham award nominee Jonathan Majors has cemented himself as the Hollywood actor to watch following his on-screen debut in 2017’s ABC miniseries “When We Rise.”  The actor most recently finished production on HBO’s straight-to-series drama "Lovecraft Country" created by Academy Award winner, Jordan Peele. He will star opposite Jurnee Smollett-Bell and the series will follow Majors’ character as he road trips across 1950’s Jim Crow America. The show is 

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currently anticipating a Summer 2020 premiere date. Majors can also be seen in Spike Lee's upcoming epic war drama DA 5 BLOODS. Filmed in southeast Asia, the film also stars Chadwick Boseman, Jean Reno and Delroy Lindo and is on Netflix in the Summer of 2020.  Next, Majors will begin production on Jeymes Samuel’s directorial debut as outlaw Nat Love in THE HARDER THEY FALL, in which he will star opposite Idris Elba. Produced by Jay-Z, James Lassiter, Lawrence Bender and Samuel, the Netflix release will follow Majors’ character who discovers that the man who killed his parents two decades ago is being released from prison. The character then reunites with his gang to track his enemy down and seek his revenge.   Majors is also set to co-star opposite Glen Powell in Black Label Media’s DEVOTION, as directed by J.D. Dillard. The screenplay is based on Adam Makos’ bestselling book “Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice” and follows the true story of two elite U.S. Navy fighter pilots during the Korean war. Majors will play Jesse Brown, the first black man in U.S. Naval history to become a fighter pilot. The project is scheduled to begin production in late 2020.   In February 2019, Majors received rave reviews for his performance in Joe Talbot's THE LAST BLACK MAN STANDING following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The movie marks Majors' first leading role and was released on June 7th, 2019, in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles before rolling out to other markets later that month. For his role as “Montgomery Allen”, Majors was nominated for a Gotham Award in the category of “Breakthrough Actor” and an Independent Spirit Award for “Best Supporting Male.” The Hollywood Reporter also went on to name him as one of Hollywood’s rising young stars in its 2019 Next Gen Talent feature.   Also, in 2019, Majors was seen in Max Winkler's JUNGLELAND where he appeared alongside Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Barden and Jack O'Connell. The movie premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. That same year the actor was seen in Focus Features’ sci-fi thriller CAPTIVE STATE directed by Rupert Wyatt and he also starred in GULLY opposite Amber Heard, Robin Givens and Terrence Howard. The latter of which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2019.    In 2018 Majors starred in Sony Pictures’ WHITE BOY RICK alongside Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Jason Leigh, directed by Yann Demange. In 2017, he appeared in Scott Cooper’s American Western film HOSTILES opposite Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Vera Farmiga, and John Goodman.     Jonathan graduated from the Yale School of Drama with an MFA in acting and was a recipient of the Lloyd Richards Scholarship and the Jerome L. Green Scholarship.  A native of Dallas, Texas, and graduate of North Carolina School of the Arts, Jonathan’s extensive stage credits include productions of “Henry V,” “A Raisin in the Sun,” “The Tempest” and several plays by August Wilson, including “Fences” (director, Kenny Leon) and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” (director, Ruben Santiago-Hudson), both at The Greene Space. Jonathan is the winner of the 2015 National Society of Arts and Letters (NSAL) National Drama Competition.   CLARKE PETERS (Otis)  The word ‘versatile’ really doesn’t begin to describe the multi-faceted career of actor, singer, writer and                               director Clarke Peters. With a career spanning more than 4 decades, Clarke Peters’ works seamlessly                             across theatre, film and TV. He penned and performed in the multi award-winning musical Five Guys                                 

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Named Moe which ran in London’s West End for five years and transferred to Broadway; starred in                                 David Simon’s The Wire, Treme and Show Me A Hero for HBO and has played everyone from Sky                                   Masterson in Guys n Dolls, to Othello in the Sheffield Crucible production and Nelson Mandela in                               Channel 4’s Endgame.   Clarke can now be seen in HBO’s fantasy television series His Dark Materials and in the feature film,                                   Harriet for Focus Features. He will next be seen in lead roles in Spike Lee’s upcoming feature Da 5                                     Bloods and in the new Apple series Foundation. He will also recur in the Netflix series The Irregulars.   Clarke Peters made his film debut in 1979, stepping in front of the cameras for the first time in The                                       Music Machine. Since then, he’s starred in a host of critically acclaimed productions, alongside a                             veritable who’s who of acting talent - Mona Lisa with Bob Hoskins, K-PAX with Kevin Spacey, Notting                                 Hill starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, and the comedy smash Marley and Me with Owen Wilson                                 and Jennifer Aniston, Freedomland with Samuel L. Jacson, and Spike Lee’s Red Hook Summer to                             mention a few.   However, it was the role of Lester Freamon in The Wire that catapulted him into the mainstream,                                 introducing him to a whole new fan base in the process. Premiering as a cleverly told yarn about a                                     put-upon Baltimore police unit chasing a drug kingpin, The Wire developed into a powerful                           examination of municipal decay.     The Wire bowed out after five seasons and Clarke continued to be in great demand with roles in David                                     Simon’s Treme, which ran for four seasons and follows the efforts of a group of musicians in a working                                     class neighbourhood of New Orleans as they attempt to rebuild their lives after Hurricane Katrina.                             Following these successful series, Clarke worked with David Simon again on Show Me A Hero about                               the rehousing programme in Yonkers circa 1985 - 1992.     He fulfilled a personal ambition in 2009 by playing Nelson Mandela in Endgame, the fascinating story                               of the groundbreaking secret talks that precipitated the end of apartheid in South Africa and in the                                 same year teamed up with fellow Wire actor John Doman in Season 2 of the Glenn Close drama                                   Damages. Signed to appear in just two episodes he was asked to stay for the rest of the season. With                                       a wealth of TV credits he has recently been seen in the UK in Midsummer Murders and David Walliams’                                     Partners in Crime.   Peters has dominated our screens in series such as Love Is, Bulletproof, Chance, The Deuce, The                               Blacklist, and in a leading role in ITV Studios’ new series Jericho. He was also seen in the                                   British/French production of Sky Atlantic’s The Tunnel and Underground for WGN America.                       ClarkePeters can be seen in BBC2’s London Spy with Ben Wishaw and Charlotte Rampling and the                               Netflix production of Jessica Jones, based on the Marvel Alias Comics series published on Marvel’s                             MAX imprint with Krysten Ritter and David Tennant.     His theatre credits include Othello at the Sheffield Crucible, Race at the Hampstead Theatre, King                             Lear with the New Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park in New York, Trevor Nunn’s critically                               acclaimed 2006 production of Porgy and Bess, the 1999 production of The Iceman Cometh alongside                             Kevin Spacey and Paul Giamatti, Chicago, the National Theatre’s production of Guys n Dolls, Five                             Guys Named Moe, The Amen Corner, Blues in The Night, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Unforgettable,                             Driving Miss Daisy with Wendy Hiller and in January 2016 he will return to New York to star in Marco                                       Ramirez’ The Royale at Lincoln Center. 

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  Aside from his acting credits, Clarke is also an accomplished director and musical book writer, most                               notably for Five Guys Named Moe. A tribute to the jazz-bluesman Louis Jordan, the show was playing                                 a limited five-week engagement in October 1990 at the tiny Theatre Royal, Stratford East, in London                               when it was spotted by impresario Cameron Mackintosh. Mackintosh was so impressed that he                           negotiated contracts on the spot, enabling the production to transfer to the Lyric Theatre in                             Shaftesbury Avenue in December of that year. The show went on to become a massive smash in                                 London, on Broadway and throughout the world, still touring to this day.     Peters co-wrote the book for Unforgettable, a Nat King Cole revue that ran at the Edinburgh Festival,                                 the Garrick Theatre and toured Japan and was nominated for an Olivier Award.   As a director he made his debut directing James Baldwin’s Blues for Mr Charlie at the Sheffield                                 Crucible and King the Musical in London’s West End.   BACKGROUND   Born in New York Clarke moved to Englewood, New Jersey with his family - hailing from artistic stock                                   - his father was a successful commercial artist - he quickly developed a passion for music and the                                   stage. Deciding to train as an apprentice, Clarke learned about the theatre from the inside out, from                                 backstage to the footlights.    Even from an early age however, his ambitions far outstripped those of his peers. “If you wanted to get                                     into the arts, and particularly theatre, you had to go to London,” reveals Peters. “However, my first stop                                   was in fact Paris. I had gone to visit my brother, Tony, who had moved there in about ’68 I think”.   Instructed to bring Tony back for Thanksgiving, the then 19-year-old Clarke instead landed his first                             professional job in the Paris production of the Broadway musical, Hair.     It took him another two years before he finally made it to the UK in 1973. Clarke immediately joined The                                       Majestics and within weeks, the group found themselves playing at no less a venue than The Royal                                 Albert Hall alongside Shirley Bassey. The Majestics also made several TV appearances, The Stanley                           Baxter Show among them. “If you look back in the archives, you might find a little nappy-headed Clarke                                   doing some doo-wops. I had a really tacky afro back then”, laughs Clarke.   It was in 1976 that Clarke began to really hit the big time, lending his distinctive vocal talents to such                                       now legendary tracks as Joan Armatrading’s Love and Affection and the disco classic, Boogie Nights    This was also the year that Clarke vowed to get serious about his acting. Realising that he had to join                                       Equity, he found that his own name, Peter Clarke, was already taken by another member, and so he                                   took the surname of Brock Peters, "who played Crown in the film version of Porgy and Bess and who                                     was one of the great African-American actors", and established himself as Clarke Peters from thereon.   Around this time Clarke had the good fortune to meet the legendary impresario, Ned Sherrin. Sherrin                               took the young American under his wing. Parts in musical theatre came thick and fast, most notably in I                                     Gotta Shoe and Bubbling Brown Sugar. To this day, Peters credits Sherrin with getting his career                               rolling, and he was honoured to be asked to perform Talking to My Pal Joey at the great man’s                                     star-studded memorial service in February 2008. 

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Following that early success, Clarke would go on to become the first black actor in the UK to take on                                       major stage roles written for white performers. He has twice played Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls,                                 notably in the National's celebrated revival, and played Billy Flynn in Chicago, not only in London but in                                   New York and Las Vegas. Clarke also starred in the West End production of Driving Miss                               Daisyalongside the legendary Wendy Hiller.   Clarke is justifiably proud about the pioneering role he has played in British theatre over the last 4                                   decades. "Because I was a black American," he says, "that opened up more doors to people who were                                   here. But my getting a job also helped to inspire the next generation of young black actors. And I know                                       it did. I'm not being big-headed about this."   Clarke Peters credits his faith with keeping his feet firmly on the ground. “In this world of turmoil and                                     unrest, I find peaceful meditation a tool to neutralise the negative. ‘Meditation’ as taught by the                               Brahma Kumaris from Mount Abu in Rajasthan, India. This is my path. One of peace and respect”.   NORM LEWIS (Eddie)  NORM LEWIS can be seen starring in the upcoming Netflix film "Da 5 Bloods" by Spike Lee.  He was recently seen in the NBC television special, “Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert!” and appeared in the Broadway revival of Once on This Island. He recently appeared as Sweeney Todd in the Off- Broadway production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Barrow Street Theatre, which earned him an AUDELCO Award for his performance. In 2014, he made history as The Phantom of the Opera’s first African American Phantom on Broadway.  Mr. Lewis has been seen on PBS in the Live From Lincoln Center productions of Showboat with Vanessa Williams, Norm Lewis: Who Am I?, and New Year’s Eve: A Gershwin Celebration with Diane Reeves, as well as American Voices with Renée Fleming and the PBS Special First You Dream – The Music of Kander & Ebb. He also recurred in the VH1 series, Daytime Divas, also alongside Vanessa Williams. Additional television credits include Mrs. America, Better Things, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Bull, Chicago Med, Gotham, The Blacklist, and Blue Bloods, as well as in his recurring role as Senator Edison Davis on the hit drama Scandal.  Mr. Lewis received Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League, and Outer Critics Circle award nominations for his performance as Porgy in the Broadway production ofThe Gershwins’ Porgy & Bess. Other Broadway credits include Sondheim on Sondheim, The Little Mermaid, Les Misérables, Chicago, Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, and The Who’s Tommy. In London’s West End he has appeared as Javert in Les Misérables and Les Misérables: The 25th Anniversary Concert, which aired on PBS.  Off-Broadway Mr. Lewis has performed in Dessa Rose (Drama Desk nomination, AUDELCO Award), Shakespeare in the Park’s The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Drama League nomination), Captains Courageous, and A New Brain. His regional credits include Porgy in The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess (A.R.T.), Ragtime, Dreamgirls (with Jennifer Holliday), First You Dream, Sweeney Todd, and The Fantasticks.  His additional film credits include Magnum Opus, Winter’s Tale, Sex and the City 2, Confidences, and Preaching to the Choir.  Norm's albums "The Norm Lewis Christmas Album" & "This is The Life" can be found on Amazon.com as well as cdbaby.com. 

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 Website: www.normlewis.com     ISIAH WHITLOCK, JR. (Melvin)   Isiah Whitlock, Jr. is a veteran theater, film, and television actor. Whitlock, Jr. recently wrapped a starring role in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods for Netflix, which is scheduled to be released in 2020. He is currently shooting a series regular role for a Showtime limited series opposite Brian Cranston called Your Honor. Other notable film credits include BlacKkKlansman, Pete’s Dragon, Cedar Rapids and the voice of River Scott in Disney’s Cars 3. Additionally, he can be seen in Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It, Warner Bros Chips directed by Dax Shepard, and Person to Person directed by Dustin Guy Defa. Further film titles include Amazon’s Chi-Raq directed by Spike Lee, Detachment directed by Tony Kaye, The 25th Hour and She Hate Me written and directed by Spike Lee. Other films in which Whitlock, Jr. appears include: Corporate Animals, All Square, Lying and Stealing, Brooklyn’s Finest, Twelve, Main Street, Choke, 1408, Enchanted, Pieces of April, Everyone Says I Love You, The Spanish Prisoner, Eddie and Goodfellas. 

 On television, Mr. Whitlock, Jr. starred as ‘Senator Clay Davis’ on the acclaimed HBO series The Wire. He can soon be seen as Detective Burl Loomis on the Netflix series ‘The Good Cop’ opposite Josh Groban, Tony Danza, and Monica Barbaro. He appeared on Spike TV’s series The Mist and Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse, and he also played the role of ‘Gunnar’ on Fox’s Thin Ice (pilot). He currently recurs on HBO’s Emmy-winning comedy series Veep as ‘Secretary of Defense General George Maddox.’ Mr. Whitlock, Jr. was also a series regular on ABC’s LUCKY 7 as ‘Bob Harris.’ He has appeared on numerous television series including: Elementary, Atlanta, Lucifer, Limitless, The Carmichael Show, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Law & Order: SVU, The Blacklist, Gotham, Louie, Smash, The Chappelle Show, Rubicon, Meet the Browns, Human Giant, New Amsterdam, Madigan Men, Wonderland, New York Undercover and the PBS documentary Liberty, as well as Third Watch and Ed.   Mr. Whitlock, Jr. was nominated in 2002 for a Lucille Lortel Award as Best Featured Actor for his work in Four that enjoyed a renowned off-Broadway run at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The Iceman Cometh, Merchant of Venice, and Mastergate are among his Broadway credits, while Farragut North (Atlantic Theatre Co., Geffen Playhouse), The Cherry Orchard, Everything That Rises Must Converge, Up Against The Wind, A Lesson Before Dying, High Life, Edmond, The American Clock, White Panther, and The Illusion comprise his off-Broadway credits. He was also part of the national tour of the play The Piano Lesson, in the title role of ‘Boy Willie’.    MÉLANIE THIERRY (Hedy)  In the past 20 years, the incomparable Melanie Thierry has managed to ground herself as one of the greatest actresses of her generation.  She first stands out in the movie Quasimodo d’El Paris by Patrick Timsit in 1999. In 2006, Jacques Weber offers her the role of a young schizophrenic woman in his adaptation of Le Vieux Juif Blonde by Amanda Sthers. Her reviews are excellent and the play is met with a great response.  

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Starting 2010, she’s involved in ambitious projects, as Bertrand Tavernier casts her as the titular role of his ambitious The Princess of Montpensier another all-around success with the audience and the press. Not wanting to conform, she then takes part in more independent features, such as Safy Nebbou’s The Other Dumas. However, it is her performance in One For the Road by Philippe Godeau that lands her the César for Most Promising Actress.  In 2011, André Téchiné directs her in Impardonables, then Stéphane Cazes in Ombline and Hugo Gélin in the critically acclaimed Comme des Frères.  In 2013, she shines next to Benoît Magimel in Diane Kurys’ For a Woman. Her career expands to the US : the following years, she is cast alongside Christoph Waltz in Terry Gilliam’s Zero Theorem, then with Benicio del Toro in the successful action comedy A Perfect Day.  As an undeniably brilliant actress, she reunites in 2017 with Albert Dupontel (her director from ten years earlier for Chrysalis), acting in his movie See You Up There, adapted from the novel by Pierre Lemaitre. The movie is met a great deal of success,   The next year, she reunites with director Emmanuel Finkiel (who she had worked with on A Decent Man) to portray Marguerite Duras in his movie Memoir of War. This part will land her a new nomination for the César for Best Actress, and will expand her notoriety internationally.  In 2020, Spike Lee gives her one of the lead roles in Da 5 Bloods, his awaited war movie, produced by Netflix and set to be released on the 12th of June on the platform.   PAUL WALTER HAUSER (Simon)  Paul Walter Hauser is known for his breakout portrayal of real-life figure Shawn Eckardt in the Academy Award nominated film I, TONYA opposite Margot Robbie, Allison Janney and Sebastian Stan and directed by Craig Gillespie. Hauser received critical accolades for his depiction of Eckardt, who was sentenced to eighteen months in prison for masterminding the plan to injure Nancy Kerrigan before the 1994 Winter Olympics. Newsweek remarked that Hauser “stole every scene” and USA Today wrote that Hauser’s performance was “an all-timer, never tipping over into the Saturday Night Live-style parody that would be so easy with a character as real-life outrageous as Eckhardt.” 

 Hauser began his onscreen work with co-starring roles on IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA, where he improvised alongside Charlie Day and Danny DeVito, and Netflix’s UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT. In 2019, he appeared in Mindy Kaling’s screenwriting debut, the Amazon feature LATE NIGHT, starring Emma Thompson, and he also co-starred in Spike Lee’s 2019 Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar Winner, BLACKKKLANSMAN, about an African American police officer who infiltrates the local Ku Klux Klan branch with the help of a Jewish undercover cop. The Atlantic calls Hauser “frequently hilarious” as Ivanhoe, a drunken and clueless Klansman and “source of extra comic relief” (Indiewire). The film was nominated for six Academy Awards and was Hauser’s first time working with the acclaimed director.  

 He can most recently be seen in Clint Eastwood’s RICHARD JEWELL, based on the true story of an American security guard who unjustly became the subject of a media smear campaign by U.S. journalists after the FBI wrongly named him a suspect for the deadly bombing in Atlanta's Centennial 

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Park during the 1996 Summer Olympics concert. Hauser plays the defamed title character in the film, with supporting performances by Oscar winners Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates as Jewell’s crusading lawyer and mother, which chronicles the plight leading up to Jewell’s eventual exoneration and due credit for heroically saving thousands of lives before the explosion.   Hauser again joins directors Spike Lee and Craig Gillespie in back-to-back film collaborations with the upcoming DA 5 BLOODS (Netflix) and Disney’s highly anticipated CRUELLA, the latter of which also marks his second re-teaming with Oscar winner Emma Thompson. 

 Originally from Grand Rapids, Hauser now calls Los Angeles home.   JASPER PÄÄKKÖNEN (Seppo)  Jasper most recently wrapped production on the Amazon pilot adaptation of Stephen King’s epic series THE DARK TOWER in which he stars as ‘Marten Broadcloak’. Last year, Jasperwas seen in Spike Lee’s Oscar nominated feature, BLACKKKLANSMAN in which he co starred opposite Adam Driver and John David Washington. This past spring, Jasper re teamed with Spike Lee for his Netflix feature, DA 5 BLOODS which Netflix will release later this year.   Jasper can also be seen in Charles Belleville’s JET TRASH opposite Robert Sheehan and Sofia Boutella. On the television side, he also starred as ‘Halfdan The Black’ in the History Channel series, VIKINGS. In 2013, Jasper won a Jussi award in his native Finland for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his appearance as Harri in “Leijonasydän” (HEART OF A LION). He also appeared as the character ‘Kapu’ in Finland’s highest box office grossing film LAPLAND ODYSSEY in 2010, directed by Dome Karukoski. LAPLAND ODYSSEY won awards at the Jussi Awards and the Alpe d’Huez ICFF. At the age of 18, he became part of the original cast of a daily drama, which became the most watched TV series in Finnish television history. In 2002 he was selected to play the main role in BAD BOYS, directed byAleksi Mäkelä, which became the biggest box-office hit ever in Finland. For his performance, Jasper received the prize for “Best Actor” at the Brussels Film Festival in 2003.   Jasper is also the founder and owner of Löyly, an award winning architectural sauna & restaurant complex featured in medias like NY Times, THR, GQ, Newsweek, NY Post and others. In 2018, TIME Magazine listed Löyly as one of the World’s Greatest Places.   JOHNNY TRÍ NGUYỄN (Vinh Tran)  Johnny Trí Nguyễn is a Vietnamese martial arts choreographer, film actor and stuntman who is mainly active in the Vietnamese film industry. Born in Bình Dương, Saigon, Vietnam, Nguyễn and his family immigrated to the United States of America when he was 9. He competed as a martial artist on the U.S. national team, and then transitioned into a career as a stuntman in Hollywood, working on films such as Spider-Man 2 and Jarhead.  Nguyễn later returned to Vietnam and starred in The Rebel, a period martial arts film released in 2007 and directed by his brother Charlie Nguyễn. It was a massive success in Vietnam, garnering unprecedented attention for a locally made film. Nguyễn followed The Rebel by starring in a steady stream of hit films, many of which were directed by his brother, including Clash in 2009, Để Mai tính in 2010, and Tèo Em in 2013, all of which broke box office records at the time of release. In a 

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controversial decision, Vietnamese censors banned Nguyễn's 2013 action film Bui Doi Cho Lon for its violent content.  Besides his work in Vietnamese films, Nguyễn has had supporting roles in major films from Thailand (Tony Jaa's Tom-Yum-Goong) and India (7aum Arivu and Irumbu Kuthirai).   JEAN RENO (Deroches)  Renowned French actor Jean Reno gained international recognition with pivotal roles in films such asBrian De Palma’s Mission Impossible with Tom Cruise, Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla with Matthew Broderick, John Frankenheimer’s Ronin with Robert DeNiro and Ron Howard’s The DaVinci Code with Tom Hanks. He is known throughout the world for his portrayal of “Leon,” a professional assassin who rescues an orphaned teenage girl played by Natalie Portman, in Luc Besson’s The Professional (aka Leon). Reno is also known for his comedic work in films such as Le Visiteurs, which became the highest grossing film in French history when it was released in 1993. It’s sequel, Le Visiteurs 2, also broke box office records. Other comedies in which he has starred include The Pink Panther and The Pink Panther 2 with Steve Martin and Couples Retreat alongside Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. The Pink Panther and Couples Retreat both opened in the number one spot at the box office.  In 2019, Reno worked alongside Chadwick Boseman on Spike Lee’s next feature Da 5 Bloods for Netflix. The film focuses on a group of Vietnam veterans returning to the jungle to find their lost innocence. Reno then wrapped the independent film Doorman, a thriller which stars Ruby Rose as a doorman who must protect a historic building from mercenaries, like Reno’s character, trying to steal the precious artwork inside. He most recently appeared on the big screen with Anjelica Huston and Noah Schnapp in the war drama Waiting for Anya, based on a book by famed author Michael Morpurgo, directed by Ben Cookson. The story depicts a young boy, his family, and a widowed woman who work together to smuggle Jewish children across the border into Spain to escape the horrors of World War II.  After a number of successes in the early 1990s, Reno went on to star in many international films. Reno charmed young American audiences when he voiced “Le Frog” in Dreamworks’ Flushed Away. The film, including the voices of Hugh Jackman and Kate Winslet, was a worldwide success at the box office. Reno’s most recent international box office hit was the Chinese action film The Adventurers, directed by Stephen Fung. Andy Lau stars as “Dan," a man who witnessed his father’s murder as a child, and seeks revenge 20 years later. In the film, Reno plays a French investigator attempting to hunt Dan down.  Reno’s other credits include Lawrence Kasdan’s French Kiss, Paul Weiland’s For Roseanna, Mathieu Kassovitz’s The Crimson Rivers, John McTiernan’s Rollerball, Danièle Thompson’s Jet Lag, Chris Nahon’s L’Empire de Loups, Robert Benigni’s The Tiger and the Snow, Tony Bill’s Flyboys, Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret, Summit Entertainment’s Alex Cross, Christian Camargo’s Days and Nights, Peter Chelsom’s Hector and the Search for Happiness, Terry George’s The Promise, and Sean Penn’s The Last Face.  Throughout his career, Reno has also enjoyed a tremendously successful collaboration with the acclaimed French director Luc Besson. In addition to The Professional, he starred in Besson’s first 

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feature Le Dernier Combat, Subway, the international sensation The Big Blue, Wasabi, and as “The Cleaner” in La Femme Nikita. Most recently, Reno starred in 22 Bullets, which Besson’s company, EuropaCorp, financed and distributed.  Reno, who was born in Morocco and spoke only Spanish for the first eleven years of his life, also speaks fluent French, Italian, English, and a fair amount of Japanese. He lives in New York City with his wife and children. CHADWICK BOSEMAN (Stormin’ Norman)  A native of South Carolina, Boseman graduated from Howard University and also attended the British American Dramatic Academy at Oxford, after which he began his career as an actor, producer, director and writer. He made his feature film debut in Gary Fleders’ drama The Express, playing football great Floyd Little. His breakout performance came in 2013 when he received rave reviews for his portrayal of the legendary Jackie Robinson in Warner Bros’ 42. The film, which had the highest-grossing debut for a baseball movie, tells the story of Robinson’s history-making signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers under the guidance of team executive Branch Rickey, played by Harrison Ford. In 2014, Boseman once again garnered critical praise for his portrayal of James Brown in Universal Pictures’ Get On Up. The biopic, which also stars Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Dan Akroyd and was directed by Tate Taylor (The Help), chronicles Brown’s rise from extreme poverty to become one of the most influential musicians in history. He received the 2014 CinemaCon Male Star of Tomorrow Award, was named one of the Top 10 Best Movie Performances of 2014 by Time Magazine and was awarded a Virtuous Award from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival for his portrayal of Brown. He also starred in the title role of Open Road Films’ Marshall alongside Josh Gad and Sterling K. Brown. The film tells the story of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice, as he battled through one of his career-defining cases as the Chief Counsel for the NAACP. His other feature film credits include: the revenge thriller Message from the King, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and garnered Boseman the Vanguard Honor for Achievement in Performance Award at the festival, the independent psychological post-war drama The Kill Hole and Summit Entertainment’s Draft Day opposite Kevin Costner.   Boseman joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the African superhero “Black Panther” in Marvel’s 2016 release of Captain America: Civil War. This marked the film debut for the character, also known as “T’Challa,” which was created by Marvel writers Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and introduced in the comics in 1966. Boseman brought the character to the forefront starring in his own solo film Marvel’s Black Panther, which received critical acclaim and broke global box office records. The film went on to receive seven Academy Award nominations, including Marvel’s first ever Best Picture nomination. The cast also won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. He was recently seen starring in STX’s 21 Bridges, which follows a NYPD Detective thrust into a citywide manhunt for a cop killer, he begins to uncover a massive conspiracy that links his fellow cops to a criminal empire and must decide who he is hunting and who is hunting him. Boseman and his partner Logan Coles produced the film alongside Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo. Boseman’s upcoming projects include two Netflix Original Films: Da 5 Bloods and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Da 5 Bloods directed by Academy Award winner Spike Lee follows four African American vets who return to Vietnam in search of the remains of their fallen squad leader (Boseman) and the promise of buried treasure, our heroes battle forces of man and nature – while confronted by the lasting ravages of the immorality of Vietnam War. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is a screen adaptation of the August Wilson play and also stars Academy Award winner Viola Davis, Glynn Turman and 

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Colman Domingo. The film also features an award-winning team behind the camera in producer, director and writer in Denzel Washington, George C. Wolfe and Ruben Santiago-Hudson.    Alongside his producing and writing partner Coles, Boseman’s X●ception Content has a diverse slate of upcoming projects. The duo will produce two projects with Boseman also slated to star: Yasuke and Expatriate. Produced alongside Erik Feig’s Picturestart, Yasuke is a film adaptation of the story of the first African samurai to swing a sword in Japan and who served under Japanese warlord Oda Nobunaga in the 16th century. Boseman and Coles have also penned the script for Expatriate, an international thriller set around a 1970’s plane hijacking, which has been sold to Universal Pictures. The duo has also sold an untitled pitch based on the life of Reverend Jeffrey Brown who fought to decrease gang violence to Paramount Pictures. They will produce The Stars in My Soul, based on a memoir co-written by NASA astrophysicist Hakeem Oluseyi about his life, which has been picked up by Working Title.   VERONICA NGO (Hanoi Hannah)  Veronica will next be seen in Spike Lee’s DA 5 BLOODS and THE OLD GUARD for Netflix. She was most recently seen in STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI for Rian Johnson, setting up the movie in the opening scenes as a very daring space pilot. She also can currently be found streaming on Netflix in David Ayer’s BRIGHT opposite Will Smith and Joel Edgerton. Vietnamese by birth but raised in Norway, Veronica has starred in numerous Vietnamese films and cemented herself as a major bankable name throughout Asia. In fact, it was this celebrity that put her in the starring role for the sequel to CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. 

 ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS  

 SPIKE LEE (Director, Writer and Producer)  SPIKE LEE’s iconic body of storytelling has made an indelible mark on filmmaking and television. Most                               recently, he Directed and Co-wrote the Academy Award®-nominated and critically acclaimed hit film                         BlacKkKlansman, winning the Oscar® for Best Adapted Screenplay. The visionary filmmaker is currently                         preparing for the release of his next feature film Da 5 Bloods, which will be released on Netflix on June                                       12.   His career spans over 30 years and includes: She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo'                                     Better Blues, Jungle Fever, Malcolm X, Crooklyn, Clockers, Girl 6, Get on the Bus, He Got Game,                                 Summer of Sam, Bamboozled, 25th Hour, She Hate Me, Inside Man, Miracle at St. Anna, Red Hook                                 Summer, Old Boy, and Chi-Raq. Lee’s outstanding feature documentary work includes the double                         Emmy® Award-winning If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise, a follow up to his HBO documentary                                   film When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts and the Peabody Award-winning A Huey P                                 Newton Story. In the Television area, he launched his Netflix original series “She’s Gotta Have It”,                               which ran 2 seasons on the platform. The series is a contemporary update of his classic film.   Lee is also known for his legendary Air Jordan TV commercials and marketing campaigns with Michael                               Jordan for Nike. In 1997 he launched the advertising agency Spike DDB, a fully integrated agency with                                 a focus on trendsetter, cross-cultural and millennial audiences. He recently Directed new additions to                           the Capital One “Road Trip” national campaign featuring Samuel L. Jackson and Charles Barkley. 

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 In addition to his films, TV series and commercials, Lee has Directed a number of music videos and                                   shorts for artists such as Michael Jackson, Prince, Public Enemy, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby,                           Miles Davis and Anita Baker.  Spike Lee is a two-time Oscar nominee (Do The Right Thing for Original Screenplay and 4 Little Girls                                   for Documentary Feature) and was awarded an Honorary Oscar in 2015 for his lifetime achievement                             and contributions to the state of motion picture arts and sciences. He is a graduate of Morehouse                                   College and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he is a tenured Professor of Film                                   and Artistic Director. Lee’s Production Company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks is based in Da                               Republic of Brooklyn, NY.   KEVIN WILLMOTT (Writer)  Kevin Willmott is an Academy Award and Bafta Award winning screenwriter and filmmaker who has written and directed six feature films and numerous documentaries. The feature films include: Ninth Street, CSA – Confederate States of America, The Only Good Indian, The Battle for Bunker Hill, Destination Planet Negro! and Jayhawkers. Most recently he co-wrote the award winning, Blackklansman and the soon to be released Da Five Bloods with Spike Lee. As well he just completed , The 24th about the Houston riot of 1917 will have it’s World Premiere at the 2020 South by Southwest Film Festival. He is a published playwright and works as an activist for peace and civil rights issues. He is a graduate of Marymount College of Kansas and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. He is a Professor in the Film and Media Studies Department at The University of Kansas.    LLOYD LEVIN (Producer)  Levin’s first job in Hollywood was reading screenplays for producer and President of 20th Century Fox Lawrence Gordon. This was the start of a long professional association between them.  Levin soon became a Director of Creative Affairs at 20th Century Fox where he worked on a number of movies including “Commando” and “Predator.” When Gordon left Fox and formed the Gordon Company, Levin followed to become the company's Vice President of Production. At The Gordon Company, Levin gained his first producing credit in 1988 on the blockbuster “Die Hard,” which was based upon Roderick Thorp’s 1979 novel Nothing Lasts Forever. Levin brought the book to Lawrence Gordon’s attention and subsequently oversaw the film’s development. He then served as associate producer on the 1989 Academy Award nominated hit “Field of Dreams,” directed by Phil Alden Robinson and starring Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones, and Co-producer on “K-9,” starring James Belushi.  In 1990, Levin was executive producer on both “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” and “Predator 2.” The following year, he produced “The Rocketeer” for Disney, directed by Joe Johnston and starring Billy Campbell, Jennifer Connelly and Timothy Dalton.  Joining Gordon at Largo Entertainment, Levin served as President of Production. He oversaw the production of such hit movies as “Point Break,” directed by Kathryn Bigelow and starring Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze; “Unlawful Entry,” directed by Jonathan Kaplan and starring Kurt Russell, Ray Liotta and Madeleine Stowe; and “Timecop” directed by Peter Hyams and starring Jean-Claude 

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Van Damme. He also executive produced “Used People,” directed by Beeban Kidron and starring Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates and Marcello Mastroianni.  Departing Largo, Levin continued his partnership with Gordon as a producer. In 1997, he executive produced “The Devil’s Own,” directed by Alan Pakula and starring Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, and also produced “Event Horizon,” directed by Paul W.S. Anderson and starring Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill. The next year, he produced Paul Thomas Anderson’s breakthrough movie “Boogie Nights,” with an ensemble cast that included Mark Wahlberg, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, Heather Graham and Burt Reynolds. The film earned numerous honors, including three Academy Award nominations.  In 1999, Levin produced “Mystery Men,” starring Ben Stiller, William H. Macy and Geoffrey Rush, and followed it with “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” starring Angelina Jolie. Based on the popular video game, the film went on to gross more than $280 million at the worldwide box office, making it the most successful action movie starring a female lead of all time.   Levin’s other producing credits include “K-PAX,” directed by Iain Softley and starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Bridges, and “Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life,” with Angelina Jolie reprising her title role.  In 2004, Levin produced “Hellboy” with Gordon, based on Mike Mignola’s celebrated comic book, written and directed by Guillermo del Toro and starring Ron Perlman and Selma Blair.  In 2006, Levin produced the acclaimed real-life drama “United 93,” directed by Paul Greengrass. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Director. “United 93” also received numerous other honors, including Best Picture awards from such top critics groups as the New York Film Critics Circle and the London Film Critics Circle. Additionally, it was nominated for six BAFTA Awards, including Best British Film, winning for Best Director and Best Editing.  In 2009, Gordon and Levin teamed up again to produce “Watchmen” for Warner Brothers, based on Alan Moore’s acclaimed graphic novel, directed by Zack Snyder and starring Patrick Wilson, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Matthew Goode and Billy Crudup and the sequel to “Hellboy,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” directed by Guillermo del Toro, starring Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor and Doug Jones, and featuring the voice of Seth MacFarlane.  Levin continued his collaboration with Greengrass on the director’s 2010 film “Green Zone.” Based on Journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran’s critically acclaimed book Imperial Life in the Emerald City, the film starred Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdallah, Jason Isaacs and Brendan Gleeson.   In 2014, Levin went to Cambodia to produce a Khmer language film, “The Last Reel.” The film was Kulikar Sotho ́s debut film, the first film in Cambodia to be directed by a woman since the Vietnam War and the rule of the Khmer Rouge. “The Last Reel” went on to screen and win jury prizes at numerous film festivals around the world including The Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.  Levin produced the reboot of “Hellboy,” released by Lionsgate in April 2019, directed by Neil Marshall and starring David Harbour, Milla Jovovich Ian McShane, Sasha Lane and Daniel Dae Kim. Also that year, Levin was a Consulting Producer on Damon Lindelof’s acclaimed HBO series “Watchmen”, 

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starring Regina King, Yahya Abdul-Matten II, Tim Blake Nelson, Louis Gossett Jr., Hong Chau and Jeremy Irons.  Levin, along with his wife, Beatriz, are in post production on “Prisoner 760” based on Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s best selling book, “Guantanamo Diary,” starring Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tahar Rahim and Shailene Woodley and directed by Kevin Macdonald. Upcoming for Levin is The Legend of Sinbad, for Millennium, which Frank Coraci is directing and an Event Horizon television series to be directed by Adam Wingard for Paramount Television and Amazon Studios. BEATRIZ LEVIN (Producer)  Formerly a renowned Spanish singer and songwriter, Beatriz Levin recorded numerous gold records, first as the lead singer in the Spanish band Greta y los Garbo and later as a solo artist. She's now producing movies and television with her producer husband Lloyd Levin through their newly formed production company Shadowplay Features. Levin is in post production on “Prisoner 760” based on Mohamedou Ould Slahi’s best selling book, “Guantanamo Diary,” starring Jodie Foster, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tahar Rahim and Shailene Woodley and directed by Kevin Macdonald. Upcoming for Levin is The Legend of Sinbad, for Millennium, which Frank Coraci is directing and a television series based on Laila Lalami’s acclaimed novel “The Other Americans.”   JON KILIK (Producer)  Jon Kilik is a leading independent producer renowned for his collaborations with visionary directors and for entertainment that integrates powerful stories with human values and social issues. He has partnered creatively with such directors as Spike Lee, Julian Schnabel, Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, Oliver Stone and Bennett Miller -- and he has produced all four films in the 'Hunger Games' series.   “Da 5 Bloods” marks Kilik’s 16th collaboration with Spike Lee, including the groundbreaking and Oscar®-nominated 'Do The Right Thing', 'Malcolm X', 'Clockers', 'He Got Game', and '25th Hour'. Kilik also developed and produced all of the films by artist and director Julian Schnabel including Schnabel’s debut 'Basquiat', the Oscar®-nominated 'Before Night Falls', the rock documentary Lou Reed’s 'Berlin', the Oscar®-nominated and Golden Globe-winning 'The Diving Bell And The Butterfly', and Oscar nominated ‘At Eternity’s Gate’.   Kilik first worked with Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu on 'Babel', for which he received a Best Picture Oscar® nomination and won the Golden Globe for Best Dramatic Film. They reunited for 'Biutiful', Oscar nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. Kilik produced Gary Ross’ inventive directorial debut, 'Pleasantville', and went on to work with Ross in shepherding the first installment of 'The Hunger Games' to the screen. Their collaboration continued with the Civil War drama 'The Free State of Jones'.   Other highlights of Kilik’s producing career include: Bennett Miller’s Oscar nominated ‘Foxcatcher’, Jason Hall’s ‘Thank You For Your Service’, Robert De Niro’s directorial debut, 'A Bronx Tale', Tim Robbins’ Academy Award® winner 'Dead Man Walking’; as well as Ed Harris’ Academy Award®-winning directorial debut, 'Pollock’.    Kilik has also produced Oliver Stone’s 'Alexander' and 'W.'; Jim Jarmusch’s intimate comedy 'Broken Flowers', winner of the 1995 Cannes Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and Jarmusch's Iggy Pop rock documentary 'Gimme Danger'.  

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Born in Newark, Jon grew up in Millburn, New Jersey. He graduated from the University of Vermont, then moved to New York in 1979, where he began his filmmaking career and has been a significant presence in the filmmaking community ever since. Kilik delivered a controversial and inspirational keynote address about the potential for the film industry’s future at the 2013 IFP Film Market at Lincoln Center. He also received honorary doctorates and delivered the commencement address at the University of Vermont (2003) and Monmouth University (2013).    NEWTON THOMAS SIGEL (Director of Photography)  Da 5 Bloods cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel, ASC’s previous collaboration with Netflix, the Chris Hemsworth action drama Extraction, premiered April 24, 2020 and quickly became the platform’s most-watched feature debut to date.  Most recently, Sigel photographed Cherry, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. The film stars Tom Holland as an Iraqi war veteran with PTSD struggling with opioid addiction. Cherry is set to be released in 2020.  Prior to designing the look for Extraction, Sigel photographed Bohemian Rhapsody, an exquisite portrait of Freddie Mercury and the rock band Queen. Bohemian Rhapsody grossed nearly a billion dollars worldwide and went on to earn Sigel a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography. The film also received four Academy Awards, including Best Actor Rami Malek’s stunning portrayal of Mercury.  Since the early days of his career, Sigel has earned a powerful position amongst visual storytellers starting with his work on cult classic The Usual Suspects for director Bryan Singer. The two went on to collaborate on nine more films, including the X-Men movies, Superman Returns and Valkyrie.  Sigel’s seminal use of exotic film stocks and innovative negative processing methods on Three Kings laid the foundation to new avenues of cinematography. In 2010, he photographed Nicolas Winding Refn’s Hollywood debut, Drive, which won the Best Director Award at Cannes and is universally praised for its dazzling look.  Other credits include: Bob Rafelson’s dark noir tale Blood & Wine starring Jack Nicholson and Gregory Hoblit’s Fallen, starring Denzel Washington. Sigel then went on to photograph Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Leatherheads with longtime collaborator George Clooney; Terry Gilliam’s The Brothers Grimm; Alan Ball’s directorial debut, Towelhead; and Reginald Hudlin’s Marshall, starring Chadwick Boseman as the United States’ first black Supreme Court Justice.  Notably, Sigel has also collaborated with Master Yuen Wo-Ping, the Grandmaster of Martial-Arts Cinema, on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; with Robert Redford on The Conspirator; and with Halle Berry on Frankie and Alice.  In addition to his cinematography credits, Sigel directed HBO’s Point of Origin, as well as co-directed The Big Empty, starring Selma Blair, with his wife J. Lisa Chang.  Sigel began his artistic career as a painter and experimental filmmaker while studying at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. He transitioned to documentaries while covering the Central American wars of the 1980s, which included working on the Academy Award-winning Witness to War: 

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Dr. Charlie Clements and When the Mountains Tremble. Catching the eye of legendary filmmaker Haskell Wexler, Sigel got his first narrative opportunity on Latino, a film based on Sigel’s own experiences while photographing Nicaragua: Report From the Front. The documentary chronicled the front lines of the war in Nicaragua from both sides of the conflict, becoming the first film to ever capture the contras. This led to second-unit work with Oliver Stone on Platoon and Wall Street.  Sigel is a member of the American Society of Cinematographers, the Director’s Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He is based in Los Angeles and is represented by UTA. WYNN THOMAS (Production Designer)   Wynn Thomas is a graduate of Boston University. He got his BFA in Theatre-Design. He started his career designing sets for the theatre. He was resident designer with the world famous Negro Ensemble Company. Wynn also designed sets for Joe Papp’s Public Theatre, Arena Stage in Wash.DC, Great Lakes Shakespeare Co in Cleveland Ohio and the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven. Wynn is the first African American Production designer in the history of films. As an assistant art director he worked with the distinguished production designer Richard Sylbert on The Cotton Club. He also art directed or assisted on Beat Street, The Money Pit, Brighton Beach Memoirs and The Package with Gene Hackman.  As a production designer Wynn has worked with some of the most important film directors of the late 20th century. For director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer he designed A Beautiful Mind, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and designed the critically acclaimed Cinderella Man, both starring Russell Crowe. Wynn has a long term relationship with Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Productions. For many years he was their in house designer having designed A Bronx Tale directed by Robert DeNiro, Wag The Dog directed by Barry Levinson starring DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman, Analyze This and Analyze That directed by Harold Ramis starring DeNiro and Billy Crystal. For director Tim Burton he designed the cult classic Mars Attacks. Wynn designed the drag comedy To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar directed by Beeban Kidron, starring Wesley Snipes and Patrick Swayze. For actor-director Edward Norton he designed Keeping The Faith. Wynn also designed Breach, a thriller directed by Billy Ray and starring Chris Cooper and Ryan Phillipe.  Wynn has a long term collaborative relationship with Spike Lee. He has designed over 10 films with Spike starting with She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, Jungle Fever, the epic film Malcolm X ,Crooklyn, He Got Game , Kings Of Comedy and most recently the critical and commercial success Inside Man.  Wynn has been a proud member of United Scenic Artist local 829 for 35 years.Wynn is the first African American production designer to become a member of the Art Directors Guild in Los Angeles and he is the first African American nominated for the Art Directors Guild award for his design work on Tim Burton’s Mars Attacks! He is a proud member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.   Some of Wynn’s other credits include All Good Things with Ryan Gosling and Kristen Dunst. For Walt Disney he designed The Odd Life Of Timothy Green which was written and directed by Peter Hedges. And for Warner Brothers he designed Get Smart with Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway and Grudge Match with Robert DeNiro and Slyvester Stallone. Both those films were directed by Peter Segal. He designed Almost Christmas for Universal. Produced by Will Packer and directed by David Talbert as 

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well as Hidden Figures for 20th Century Fox directed by Ted Melfi and starring Taraji P. Henson and Kevin Costner.  Hidden Figures won the Hollywood Film Award for Outstanding Production Design. And the film was also awarded the Art Directors Guild Award for Best Production Design…Period Film.  His other credits include Alex Strangelove for Netflix. And Wynn recently completed the reboot of Shaft directed by Tim Story and starring Samuel L.Jackson and The Sun Is Also A Star for MGM.   ADAM GOUGH (Editor)  Adam Gough has recently completed editing David Byrne’s American Utopia for Spike Lee. This is his second feature length collaboration with Lee following Da 5 Bloods.  He has edited a mixture of features and documentaries since making the break as film editor in 2011 with Happy, the Johnny Depp directed documentary about The Rolling Stones’ guitarist and founding member Keith Richards.  In 2005 Adam started his career in the cutting rooms as editorial trainee on Children of Men for writer/director Alfonso Cuarón. Ten years following the release of Children of Men, Adam worked with Cuarón again as co-editor on ROMA, which earned him a BAFTA and ACE Eddie nomination.   TERENCE BLANCHARD (Original Score)  Oscar nominee, six-time Grammy-winner and 2018 USA Fellow trumpeter/composer Terence Blanchard has been a consistent artistic force for making powerful musical statements concerning painful American tragedies – past and present.   From his expansive work composing the scores for Spike Lee films ranging from the documentary When the Levees Broke, about Blanchard’s hometown of New Orleans during the devastation from Hurricane Katrina to the epic Malcolm X; and the latest Lee film, Da 5 Bloods, Blanchard has interwoven melodies that created strong backdrops to human stories.    Blanchard received an Oscar nomination for his original score for BlacKkKlansman. He was also BAFTA nominated for his original music for the film. He won a Grammy for Best Instrumental Composition for writing “Blut Und Boden (Blood and Soil)” a track from BlacKkKlansman.  More recently, Blanchard has composed his second opera, Fire Shut Up in My Bones, based on the memoir of celebrated writer and The New York Times columnist Charles Blow. The libretto was written by Kasi Lemmons and commissioned by Opera Theatre of Saint Louis where it premiered in June 2019. The New York Times has called Blanchard’s opera “inspiring,” “subtly powerful” and “a bold affecting adaptation of Charles Blow’s work.” The Metropolitan Opera of New York will premiere Fire in 2022-23, making it the first opera composed by an African American composer to premiere at the MET. Blanchard’s first opera, Champion also premiered to critical acclaim in 2013 at OTSL and starred Denyce Graves with a libretto from Pulitzer Prize Winner, Michael Cristofer.  

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With his current quintet E-Collective, featured on the score to BlacKkKlansman with a 96-piece orchestra, Blanchard delivered “a soaring, seething, luxuriant score,” the New York Times. In Vice Magazine, Blanchard elaborates, “In BlacKkKlansman it all became real to me. You feel the level of intolerance that exists for people who ignore other people’s pain. Musically, I can’t ignore that. I can’t add to that intolerance. Instead I have to help people heal from it. “      Some of Blanchard’s other film and television credits include the upcoming series Perry Mason starring Matthew Rhys with episodes directed by Tim Van Patten, which premieres on HBO on June 21; the Kasi Lemmons’ films, Eve’s Bayou; Talk to Me; and Harriet; George Lucas’ Red Tails; and Tim Story’s Barbershop. Blanchard also wrote the original score for the powerful documentary On the Record which was directed and produced by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering and premieres on HBO Max on May 27.  Regarding his consistent attachment to artistic works of conscience, Blanchard confesses, “You get to a certain age when you ask, ‘Who’s going to stand up and speak out for us?’ Then you look around and realize that the James Baldwins, Muhammad Alis and Dr. Kings are no longer here...and begin to understand that it falls on you. I’m not trying to say I’m here to try to correct the whole thing, I’m just trying to speak the truth.” In that regard, he cites unimpeachable inspirations. “Max Roach with his ‘Freedom Now Suite,’ John Coltrane playing ‘Alabama,’ even Louis Armstrong talking about what was going on with his people any time he was interviewed. Herbie Hancock & Wayne Shorter who live by their Buddhist philosophy and try to expand the conscience of their communities. I’m standing on all of their shoulders. How dare I come through this life having had the blessing of meeting those men and not take away any of that? Like anybody else, I’d like to play feel good party music but sometimes my music is about the reality of where we are.”                    

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