Spoiler alert: This article contains spoilers for “run”, now playing in theaters.
Marques Houston’s mission is to bring more black audiences to the cinema.
This objective was his northern star as CEO of Fetging Films, a production company where his manager produces and wrote the majority of titles.
Founded and chaired by Chris Stokes, the independent film company is behind Tubi and Bet + Originals, notably “The Stepdaughte”, “Forever Us”, “Vicious Affair”, the franchise “The Stepmother” and “Sacrifice”.
Houston is an artist, producer and actor of R&B who catapulted in Hollywood in the 1990s with his first role as an actor of Khalil voice in the 1992 film “Bébé’s Kids”.
Its most notable role – which is always referenced in pop culture – is its representation of Roger of the popular sitcom of the 90s “sister, sister”. He played a persistent but boring neighbor who has become popular largely because of the slogan, “Ro-Home, Roger”, that the stars of “sister, sister” Tia and Tamera Mowry frequently shouted.
“It is the biggest feeling in the world to be part of history and culture with” sister, sister “,” you were served “and my immature music group,” says Houston Variety. “Knowing that you have a role in history gives you the impression of having done something great – that you have done your brand. This is all you can withdraw from this industry.”
In 2010, he embarked on his film trip behind the scenes after uniting his strengths with Stokes.
With a wide range of horror and thrillers under the production banner, the functionality of science fiction suspense “Run” is the last project to go out in theaters on Friday.
“RUN” is a story about the overtaking of the nation by an extraterrestrial attack. After Melissa left her Fiancé Andre to the altar, her best friends take her to a cabin getaway to help empty her head. But the journey of their daughters takes a shocking turn when one of their friends is found mutilated in the woods. With a surprise visit to Andre and his crew, the group of friends is doing their best to survive.
Houston and Stokes work in tandem on scripts, often sharing similar approaches that the actor has described as “to see in a creative way and to share the same vision”.
Their ability to work in close collaboration stems from longtime employees. Their relationship dates back to 2004 when Houston played in the success of blockbuster of “You Got Servid” Stokes.
Despite several sequence film projects, Houston admitted that he had not planned to have a leading role in “Run”, but Stokes suggested to him.
“I said to myself:” Wait a minute. Oh, no. I didn’t expect to be there. But he said to himself, “I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to write it for yourself.
Once Houston signed to play Andre, the two threw the remaining actors Annie Ilonzeh, Erica Mena, Drew Sidora, Erica Pinkett, Ken Lawson, Claudia Jordan and Obba Babatunddé.
Houston spoke with Variety About the concept of the film, this cliffhanger with Andre, his pressure for horrors and thrillers led by blacks to become more common and more.
Where does the concept of “running” come from?
It was Chris’s idea. We are both of great fans of science fiction. He had this idea of taking this situation with extraterrestrials and putting it in groups with friends in a cabin. He gave me all this concept of him how he wanted to do it. I thought it was dope.
Have you all had any influences that you were inspired by the story?
No way. We like to be as original as possible, so it is better not to withdraw from anything and to go with creativity. Chris will give me this whole story, and this is my work as a screenwriter to twin this with dialogue and management. These are the two of us sitting and that we say: “This is what we want to talk about. This is a story that we want to tell. Gather us. ”
What were the biggest challenges involved behind and in front of the camera?
It was more difficult because I had to do a lot of action and run. Once the script is finished, I told everyone: “Now that everything is done, I have to go into actor mode. You all focus on everything else. ” This is why you have to trust your team. The team you choose to be there while making movies is important. It’s very key, so you can focus on the character.
In the end, Andre sacrifices herself to save Melissa from extraterrestrials. What made you take this direction, especially after their decision to be together if they went alive?
We wanted to set up for the second part. Chris wanted to continue the scenario. The film ends suddenly. You don’t know what’s going on. You don’t know what’s going on when I enter the house. At this point, everything could happen. It’s like a Marvel film where you are left on this side and you say to yourself: “Wait, what happens next?” We wanted to leave him so that you just don’t know where these characters are located, so that there can be a sequel.
What ideas or themes are discussed if a series should occur?
We talked about more than one invasion of extraterrestrials – perhaps remove it from the woods and put it more in the context of the world. We are rebounding around ideas right now. It’s always fresh, but we know which characters survive.
You have another thriller, “Leave”, which will be released at the top of next year. What inspired the concept of the film?
“Leave” is more a psychological thriller based on real events that occurred in Freemanville, Florida. After the civil war, it was one of the first places where blacks could own and buy goods. It is based on the moment it happened.
How was your creative process to “leave” different from your past projects?
It is not too different. Each film, you are doing research. We review the scenario. Once the story is defined, we have brought it into play with the characters. The creative concept is the same for each film, but these are only different ideas with which we must write. “Run” is original and not based on anything, but it is science fiction. The “leave” is based on a period. It’s different.
What would you hope to bring to the cinematographic experience of which viewers will be excited for the film?
I hope people will remove the information. It is knowledge. “Leave” has a lot of subtle indications on the information that no one really talks about. I hope people are informed of what happened during this period, how blacks were treated and where they came from. People do not know much about Freemanville and how they (blacks) were able to buy and sell a property. African-American history is always good to speak.
What made you want to focus “Leave” the story of Freemanville, Florida?
Chris was just trying to do something different. He wanted to make a stimulating and competent film. He wanted this film to be informative, but also scare people and have them on the edge of their seats. We like to make thrillers. We like to exalt and excite our audience because everything is to put black backs into theaters. There is a vacuum machine for blacks who return to theaters, bringing together all their family members and having a good time. We try to recover this energy that makes people want to go to the movies.
There has been an increase in thriller thrillers and films led by blacks in recent years. Many sequence film projects reflect this. With your partnerships with Bet + and Tubi, why is it important for sequence films to push so that black horror and thrillers become more common?
We can do the same as other filmmakers. Blacks love horror. Maybe you wouldn’t think that, but black people like to be afraid. We are afraid in a different way, but we are also afraid. It is important to put this in the foreground and let people know that we could do the same thing. We also love our films to reflect the succeeding blacks. It is nothing against other black filmmakers because I remove my hat from anyone who creates content, jobs for people and opportunities. In our films, we love blacks to succeed and have these situations where you could take a white film and put it in a black distribution. There is no difference. It’s all Hollywood. It’s all the cinema. It is all creativity. Creativity is more important than black or white.
What is the purpose or mission of sequence films in defense of various narrations and talents?
Our main thing is to create opportunities for all kinds of talents and job opportunities for workers, new producers, writers and actors to really do their brand in Hollywood with an opportunity that would not have been there if it was not for sequence films.
