Directing The Second Chance With Steve Taylor

http://www.thesecondchancemovie.com/

RR: So how did you get a screening of The Second Chance at the MLK Center last night?

ST: It was the 20th anniversary of the MLK holiday this year and the Center had planned a week of activity. At some point, they added our movie to the events of the celebration. The movie was also part of the Pan-African film festival this year. I am so glad that it is getting a positive response from the African-American audience. It's a movie that is specific enough to a lot of people's experiences so that the audience can relate. What I am hearing is that it's nice to watch a movie that actually takes race seriously. When you look at race in the context of the workplace or the military, the law has stepped in to mandate equality. When you look at it in the context of religious organizations, treating each other as equals is a voluntary act. I think it's a more telling place to look at this.

RR: I agree. I spend a lot of time in Detroit and I see that from Monday to Friday, there is a lot of interaction across racial barriers, but on Sunday, there is a significant difference in who people worship with. As a Black man who has grown up in predominantly "non-Black" churches, for lack of a better word, there were parts of the movie that I identified with and laughed at, that made other people uncomfortable.

ST: I've seen the movie with a lot of different audiences and it's kind of like a Rorschach test, to see who laughs or squirms where.

RR: There's a scene where Ethan (Michael W. Smith) sees a camera on him and plays up to it, which I thought was so well shot. It reminded me of The Office. I also like the fact that the movie is very even-handed - it shows that biases and prejudices exist in all of us and that we need God to deal with them in us. Racist attitudes exist on all sides.

ST: We tried really hard not to let anyone off the hook, but also not to make any characters the real villain.

RR: In an ideal world, beside the MLK Center screening, what would you like to see happen with The Second Chance?

ST: It's a movie that people seem to want to talk about after. There are some movies that you see that you don't want to talk about at all - they're either so good or so bad.

RR: Or wish you could get the time back. (Sky Captain, anyone? .ed)

ST: Exactly. At last night's screening, they had to cut short the discussion, because it was going on for so long. I'd love for it to be a movie that people talk about and re-examine how they are living this out. When I watch it, it causes me to re-examine myself. My first instinct is to act like Ethan and just want to write a check to fix everything. It's not that easy. I would love for it to be part of a bigger discussion, similar to last year's Crash.

RR: How do you describe The Second Chance?

ST: I like "The Crash And The Switchblade"! It started out as a buddy movie, where a Black guy and a White guy are forced together but can't get along, but the setting in church is what makes it unique. A lot of movies try to depict how church life really works, but few seem to get it right. They're either wholesome, uplifting family dramas with a bumbler that means well or they go to the other extreme, with shady dealings in the guise of religion. I saw what Robert Duvall did with The Apostle as the gold standard when we were making The Second Chance. They focused on a particular experience and and really got the details right.

RR: What directors inspire you?

ST: Robert Duvall, post-war Italian neo-realists who used non-actors in roles, Soderbergh's Traffic, some great 70's films with a serious intent, where you felt like a fly on the wall watching the action. When you're a rookie director with a limited budget, you try and do the best you can.

RR: The music adds so much to The Second Chance. How did you arrive at this?

ST: It's a mix of hip-hop and musical score, with some L.A. Symphony and Third Day tracks in there. Michael W. Smith also wrote some scores that were just inspired including the footwashing scene.

RR: You are obviously still a fan of music. Are you itching to write and sing again?

ST: I am, but it is very hard to do both music and film whole-heartedly. I have chosen film as my venue.

RR: I have found that you are still asking the difficult questions, you are now doing it in film instead of music.

Now, the character of Jake was excellent. How did you arrive at casting jeff (obafemi carr) in The Second Chance?

ST: I believe that was divine intervention. We had tried to reach Don Cheadle and Andre Braugher to play Jake, but jeff had offered to read for the part. He was even patient while we waited to hear from the other two. In retrospect, he read the role exactly the way I saw it.

RR: What's next for you?

ST: We will be working on a comedy in a much smaller context. I will let you know when that begins.

RR: Steve, thanks again for filling our readers in on a film that will challenge and encourage them to be the agents of change and reconciliation that God has called us to be.

ST: My pleasure.