“I don’t have to leave home to go to Hollywood; I want to bring Hollywood to my home.”
Dana Christian, a local filmmaker, editor, producer, director and all-around self-made “creative” made that comment during a 2015 interview. Today, almost 10 years later, he still stands by those words.
Like directors Spike Lee and Woody Allen, who’ve made successful films that centered around New York, Christian wants his films and music videos to highlight St. Louis and its unique qualities.
“I understand that I’m in a position to change the lives of people,” Christian said. “Whether it’s giving an aspiring actor a part in a commercial, giving a lighting guy a job on a music video or filming a scene for a reality show at a local eatery.”
His new film, “Blood Brothers” is scheduled to debut on Tubi, a content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation.
Christian, 48, likes the idea of exploring new terrain. In a way, it’s been the mantra of his life and one of the keys to his success. He’s managed to keep himself employed in the film/tv/video production business for almost 25 years having not worked a regular 9-to-5 since his college days.
He’s produced video or film content for companies such asUniversal Records, Capitol Records, Pepsi,Red Bull, Jack Daniels and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Foundation. Christian is a casting director, sizzle reeland music video producer. Not only has he created original content for tv shows, he’s done music videos for the likes ofMurphy Lee, Chingy, Potzee-Dat Girl, Jus Bleezy featuring Trey Songz, Jus Bleezy featuring Yo Gotti and Gorilla Zoe-Bosses.
Christian attended Bishop DuBourg High School where he said he “made history” as the first African American student, at the time, elected as senior class president. He recalled that Jack Dorsey, co-creator of Twitter and CEO of Square, was a fellow DuBourg student, who was a year behind him.
His sister, Dr. Margena Christian, who started off as an entertainment writer for a local monthly, Take Five Magazine, went on to work as a features editor for Jet Magazine before being promoted to a senior writer and editor for its sister publication, Ebony. Christian remembers fondly those early days when he tagged along with his sister as she interviewed visiting celebrities.
Christian enrolled at Prairie View A&M University in Texas but left in his junior year, came back home and enrolled at Webster University. The filming seed was planted at Prairie View when he filmed the Universities’ Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity beach party. The seed started to flourish while still a student at Webster. He volunteered for a local television station that produced “Phat Clips,” which featured local and national, new and underground hip-hop talent.
“I contacted the show’s producer at the time to see if he needed help,” Christian recalled. “Luckily, he did. There I was, getting on-the-job training in a real world environment. I was like a sponge, spending over 20 to 30 hours a week at the studio, while studying for my bachelor’s degree in media communications.”
Within a couple months, Christian said he’d gained enough experience to produce the entire show while making valuable contacts.
“Phat Clips had a huge following to the point where almost every major artist that came to St. Louis had to be on the show. I’m talking about Public Enemy, Nas, Outkast, Eminem, The Black Eyed Peas, Lil Kim, etc.”
As a producer of the show, Christian said he was able to decide “who was worthy to be featured on the show.” Through a segment called, “Local Clip of the Week,” he met big St. Louis acts like Nelly, the St. Lunatics and Chingy.
Christian seems to also have a knack for turning casual conversations into business opportunities.
For example, his encounter with famed music video director, Marc Klasfeld. Before they met while filming a documentary for the St. Lunatics,Christian was well aware of Klasfeld’s techniques; how he filmed rappers like Juvenile, Jay-Z and Ludacris in unique and creative settings. During the video Klasfeld directed Christian talked at length about the director’s skills.
Not long after that shoot, Christian got a call from Klasfeld’s “people,” who told him the director wanted him to shoot one of his upcoming videos. That opportunity, Christian said, led to his work on at least 20 major music videos and productions.
His first big video break came after he filmedChingy’s “Balla Baby” Remix video in the mid-2000s. The single wound up hitting No.1 on BET’s “106 and Park Countdown.”
His “Aha moment,” came when he was shooting behind-the-scenes footage for Nelly and the St. Lunatics. Christian said he knew he’d make it in the business. Again, he was casually talking with representatives from the artist’s record about how a video focusing on the artist’s charisma, should be packaged with their upcoming album.
“The label reps loved the idea and had me write it all out and submit an invoice,” Christian remembered, adding: “When they cut my deposit check and flew me out to L.A. a month later, I knew that was it.”
Christian has worked on several documentaries such asthe critically acclaimed“Word Warriors”, a powerful historical and social commentary film that explored the concept of using words as a weapon of peace vs. guns and violence. Stepping into the world of moviemaking was a natural progression for the filmmaker.
Christian described his upcoming production, “The Blood Brothers, as a suspense/thriller. “It’s about five school friends who wound up killing a young boy. The men thought they’d covered their tracks, but 15 years later the killing comes back to haunt them.”
The trailer for the film which alternates between black & white, sepia and color is stylish and gripping. What’s most exciting for Christian, however, is that the film, shot in St. Louis, will bring attention to his hometown.
Like directors Spike Lee and Woody Allen, who’ve made successful films that centered around New York, Christian wants his films and music videos to highlight St. Louis and its unique qualities.
“I love capturing textures, the culture and the realism of the city,” Christian explained. “St. Louis has a lot of unique textures, people and talent. I want to be able to make an economic difference as well as a creative difference in my community.”