Bishop TD Jakes talks Sparkle, black films, and Whitney Houston
August 1, 2012
By: Jeff Rivera
Who says black films don't make money? Mega-producer, businessman, philanthropist and cover of Time magazine honoree, Bishop TD Jakes begs to differ. This soft-spoken preacher turned his quiet congregation into a worldwide multimedia phenomenon on a mission for good; leveraging millions of his followers into a indisputable powerhouse that has big business licking their chops.
From his multiple New York Times bestsellers including his latest, Let it Go to his contracts with Universal Music Group and American Greetings, blood is in the water and if there's one thing the sharks in big business eat up, it's money.
Yet Jakes has had to fight his way to the top, even with multiple box office hits and highly-anticipated films such as the forthcoming Jennifer Hudson starrer Winnie and Whitney Houston's highly anticipated last film Sparkle, it's been an uphill battle proving to the naysayers time and time again that African American films do make money.
Jakes shares with me what it it took to bring Sparkle to the screen, his personal experience with the late great Whitney Houston and answers a question he's never answered before, what he would tell Ms. Houston if he could speak to her beyond the grave.
Bishop Jakes, you had a lot of films you could have made. Why produce Sparkle?
JAKES: Well, let me say this, I just went out to Los Angeles, to Hollywood, last week and saw the final cut with all color blown in, and the sound is now right and it's been edited, so it's the final version, and man it is amazing. It is just…wow. I can't wait for everybody to see it. I can't see why they wouldn't absolutely adore the film. The story is great, the acting is great, the pacing is good, the sound is like you're in an amphitheater. You've got some great singers like Cee-Lo Green and others that are really nailing it. I just think people are going to just adore this film. And then you've got the final cinematic production of Whitney Houston. All of that together with Jordin Sparks, who is so believable in that role. And I think Jordin is going to go to a whole new level as a result of it. I'll tell you something else, too. I'll tell you who really is going to surprise you. Mike Epps is known for his comedy, but he's not in a comedic role and he really delivers as Satin Struthers. We're going to see a Mike Epps that we've never seen before. I was shocked by that because I know he can make everybody laugh, but this is not a funny role. He's really playing a villain, and he really delivers in the most authentic way. I told him, "I'm scared of you."
What were some of the challenges in making this film compared to some of the other ones that you've made?
JAKES: Well, it's always a challenge to stay within the budget, you know? That's always a big deal to get the kinds of actors and the kinds of locations and shoot it in a timely way and keep it in budget, that sort of thing. To get the appropriate wardrobe, we were blessed to really get our wardrobe people. They were absolutely incredible, particularly because I was one of the two people old enough to remember vividly the 60s and 70s. For me, it was like stepping back into time every time I walked on the set. Whitney, who plays Effie, the mother of the three daughters, wore outfits that I remember my mother wearing during that era, so there was a lot of nostalgia. But getting the challenges of making it authentic to the period - it is a period piece, after all - and keeping it within budget [reportedly between $14-17 million] was the biggest challenge.
We know of course, Ms. Houston passed away less than a year ago. If you could tell her one thing today, beyond the grave, what would that be?
JAKES: Wow. I've never been asked that before. I think, beyond the grave my comments to her would be that I think she would have been amazed to see how many people really loved her - loved the body of work that she produced, loved her cinematically as well as auditorily, but also I was struck at the funeral by the people who worked closest to her; how much they loved her and how much they wept at her loss. Even though they may not have been relatives, they almost acted like a personal family member had passed away, and I think sometimes professional people are so busy doing what they do that they don't think that anybody loves them for who they are, and I think that would be something to say beyond the grave, so that's probably what I would say.
We had a question from a few of your fans. David Moskowitz from Arizona, wanted to know what was it like working with Jordin Sparks?
JAKES: Jordin Sparks has this rare, rare girlish quality. She's a grown woman who has an ability to produce an innocence and a naiveté on screen that is very, very rare. She was as pleasant off the set as she was on the set. I mean, I can't remember her saying anything negative about anybody at any time. She's just a good, kind person, and I really sincerely, enjoyed working with her.
Debra Ann Pawlak from Detroit says, "Please ask him (meaning you) what your impressions were of working in Detroit."
JAKES: Very important. It was wonderful to be in Detroit. You can't say 'Detroit' and not think music, you know, and this is a movie about music being born and the synergy of the city and the theme of the movie were incredible. On a practical level, to be able to add to stimulate the economic wealth of the city of Detroit by hiring people in Detroit and using companies in Detroit also gave me a sense of being a part of the solution. I really, really enjoyed being in Detroit, had a lot of fun there. It was a great city. The city seemed glad to have us and to underline its contribution to the overall music industry, it was wonderful.
Valerie Barber from Washington State would like to know, "Having worked with Ms. Whitney Houston on her last film, would you be interested in doing a movie about her struggle?"
JAKES: Wow. Yes, I think that is a movie all by itself. I think the oddity about Sparkle is that many of the subject matters that are discussed in Sparkle were things that Whitney lived through in her own life, and working with Whitney on the Sparkle movie. The irony of it all is that sometimes while we were shooting the film, you didn't know whether life was imitating art or art was imitating life, and I think when people see it they'll know why I said that. But, it was just really, incredible to see how there was an intersection there because Whitney plays Effie, the mother, who tried to launch out into a secular career as a singer and it had gone badly, and she is trying to warn her daughters not to go that way. One of the daughters goes that way and ends up in a lot of trouble, in hot water, and the other daughter is a background singer and ends up gradually breaking into that arena and successfully, at least at the end of the movie. It's a very interesting because Whitney had been both the daughter of a mother who used to do a secular career and then she was the mother of a daughter who was launching a career, and so it wasn't difficult to get her in character because art was imitating life.
Our last question was from Ali Reza from Washington D.C. and Brandy Hensley, from Michigan. She wants to know, "What advice do you have for parents who believe in equality of homos*xuals (and everyone else for that matter), and therefore have a problem with organized religion, to help guide their children spiritually without teaching them the innate intolerance that seems to come with church?"
JAKES: One of the great things about this country is that it affords us a right to have differing opinions and different views, and the great privilege that I feel as an American is the right to go to the church of your choice, and to find a church whose views reflect your own is important for all believers regardless of the subject matter, and I think that's what all of us ought to do.
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Thursday, August 2nd 2012 at 6:31PM
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