The year 2014 will go down as the year of the biopic, with the release of movie on the lives of James Brown (“Get on Up”) and Jimi Hendrix, with Andre’ 3000 in the lead role.
Currently in production (in Cincinnati) is “Miles Ahead,” yet another biopic, this time on the life of legendary jazz great Miles Dewey Davis, who will be portrayed by Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle.
Cheadle will also make his directorial debut in this passion project for which he raised $325,000 through an Indie Go-Go crowd fundraising campaign.
The “Miles Ahead” project should be of interest to all present and former East St. Louis residents, given that Miles Davis’ formative years were spent in ESL, where he learned to play trumpet, playing in the jazz band at the old Lincoln Senior High in ESL and was the son of an ESL dentist (father) and music teacher (mother).
It was Davis who put the “boogie” in “East Boogie” and has always been hailed as an international ambassador for jazz as well as for the city where, back in 2012, the U.S. Postal Service ceremoniously unveiled a stamp saluting the legacy of the ESL-reared jazz icon.
Ironically, Davis’ old childhood home remains in a dilapidated state and a movie which should prominently showcase his hometown is being shot 350 miles away in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The reasons for choosing Cincinnati as the production site are numerous. According to producer Daniel Wagner, places like New Orleans and Atlanta were considered, but Cincinnati was chosen because of a combination of location, tax incentives and the goodwill of the people.
In fact, Cheadle and the crew have inhabited Cincinnati for over two months, with all of the “day player” actors, extras and movie musicians hired locally, according to producer Pamela Hirsch.
That translates into a major financial impact on the economy of Cincinnati, with caterers, local actors, restaurants, hotels and others earning income during the filming and production.
Why, I ask, couldn’t ESL Mayor Alvin Parks, the ESL Chamber of Commerce, IL Governor Pat Quinn and other IL politicians provide similar tax incentives and “goodwill,” such that portions of the film could have been shot in ESL?
Couldn’t ESL residents, who are chronically unemployed, not have served as extras? Wouldn’t local ESL-area jazz musicians suffice? And with much of ESL in shambles, wouldn’t it have been easy to construct movie sets and facades for the purpose of producing this film?
To have filmed at least some aspects of the film (just for authenticity) would have honored Davis’ roots and infused some badly needed cash into the economy of ESL and would have provided a positive story line, which is rare for East Boogie these days.
But, once again, another golden opportunity has eluded ESL, due to a combination of politicians who are less than proactive and who lack the vision and the tenacity to seize viable opportunities.
At the very least, I would hope that ESL politicians and, perhaps, members of the Davis family would appeal to Mr. Cheadle to possibly arrange a premiere of the film in the East St. Louis area.
That would assuage some of the sting and pain of ESL being relegated again to the status of irrelevancy and still shine a spotlight on the genesis of Miles Davis’ legend.
Email: jtingram_1960@yahoo.com; Twitter@JamesTIngram.
