St. Louis has a burgeoning homegrown movie scene of filmmakers who studied at Webster University or just picked up cameras and taught themselves, but Marttise Hill did things a little differently. He enrolled in the master’s program in film production at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, Asia and learned his chops in Singapore.
Now he is bringing what he has learned and made back home for free screenings and discussions 7:15 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Saturday, May 4 at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 N. Grand – and making a pitch for local folks to get involved in the making of his next film, Prom Date Blues, which he plans to shoot here.
“Singapore will always have a special place in my heart. It was the right place for me to go and develop my craft after graduating from Morehouse,” he said.
“The people are friendly. English is one of the primary languages, so that made the transition smooth. It’s the financial hub of Asia, so there are people from all over the world doing business there.”
The first film he wrote and directed in Singapore was Love, Guns and Amy, a short Western about star-crossed lovers, which he will screen on May 4.
“The story was developed in my first year screenwriting class,” he said. “The summer before I started film school I had to make up a Shakespeare exam to get my English degree from Morehouse so Romeo and Juliet was at the front of my mind. I had just watched Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and The Ugly, so I wanted to combine a love story with a Western.”
Unlike most St. Louis filmmakers, who choose their first locations from local landmarks and the streets they ride, he shot his first film in three days out in the so-called Singapore Desert, which is actually reclaimed land built up on landfills.
“My classmate and masterful cinematographer, Taofik Kolade, shot it on 16mm. I was required to screen it in black and white per our curriculum, but I really liked the idea of black and white so I kept it,” he said.
“I did all the sound design myself, and I’m very proud of the gun shot sound I created. I was really focused when I made that film and put my all into telling a complete story.”
Again, it’s a rare black filmmaker from St. Louis who makes his first films in Asia with an Asian cast and crew, but he found ways to make it homey.
“Although I was telling stories with majority Asian characters, I always found a way to use American music as the soundtrack,” he said. “I love telling stories with universal themes so they can reach a wide audience. My love and appreciation for music enhances that ability.”
As a deseg kid, he went to Singapore no stranger in code-switching and making opportunities for himself around people from different backgrounds.
“Growing up in St. Louis, I went to school in Clayton through the VST program, which allowed me to work, study and play with kids with different backgrounds and life stories than mine.” he said. “This unique experience afforded me the opportunity to learn how to work with different types of people effectively.”
They have not forgotten him in Clayton. He said the school district has agreed to let him shoot Prom Date Blues at Clayton High School.
“Prom Date Blues is a coming-of-age comedy about an awkward African-American teenage boy who goes on a quest to find his mojo with the ladies before he graduates from high school,” he said.
“It’s based on my personal experiences. The tone of this film is a mash up of Rushmore by Wes Anderson and House Party by Reginald Hudlin” (an East St. Louis native).
A donated host location will drive down his costs, but he still has a budget of $25,000 to cover meals, equipment rentals, travel and housing for out-of-town cast and crew, production design and incidentals.
“Supporters can get involved by donating money, time, meals, housing, print services, transportation or anything else they can think of,” he said.
