Deon Taylor: No Brainer Films
In a film market that’s been on pins and needles over the past decade as once-foolproof revenue streams slowly dry up and creatives are unsure of what will happen next, it’s heartening to see that there are always those willing to put their necks out on the line to produce work they are proud of and are unafraid of the effort needed to do so. Recently, Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx announced the formation of a new production shingle, No Brainer Films, alongside his creative and business partner Deon Taylor.
With a number of projects already in the works, both men have hit the ground running and are looking to make as huge a dent as possible. Taylor, an independent producer/writer/director, and I spoke recently about the origins of this new venture as well as hints of his own new horror film, Chain Letter, set to hit theaters on October 1st. Here is a brief transcript of our conversation.
IFQ: Well to begin, I’d like to know what exactly led you and Jamie to forming your own production company together since both of you already operate your own respective companies. Why partner up in this fashion?
Deon Taylor: Well, it was pretty easy man; what happened was Jamie and I met a couple of years ago in the NBAE, which is the NBA Entertainment League, in Los Angeles. We are both very, very passionate albeit average basketball players (laughs) so we both try to think we’re in the NBA but we’re not. But it was fun because after a couple of seasons in that league, we had played against each other and gotten to know one another pretty well. He’d just won the Oscar for Ray when we met, and knew a little bit about me because I’ve always had this sort of independent rap like people saying “yo, Deon is really good at what he does and is a really cool filmmaker but he does his own thing” but we’d never approached each other with business. And the odd but really cool thing about it was our relationship was so authentic, because even though I knew who he was and all he’d accomplished, we’ve always had a genuine friendship and familiarity between the two of us which made it even healthier when we finally got together and said “You know what man? We need to work together”.
So that, in a nutshell, is how we met and then what happened was I was setting up shop on my film Chain Letter, shooting Nite Tales, and prepping to shoot another new movie when a mutual friend of ours said “Hey Deon, man you and Jamie need to sit down together and talk because Jamie has some great ideas and interesting things he’s getting ready to do and we know that you’re forward thinking, so you two should sit down and see what happens”. In no time flat, we were shaking hands together inside a thirty-minute meeting and became partners. So I know that sounds weird and after telling that story to a few people they all say “man, get out of here!” All I can say is I’ve been blessed in so many ways and that was certainly one of them.
IFQ: Connected to that, what kinds of projects do you two want to do together? What do you want to carry the No Brainer banner with content-wise?
DT: Well, what’s really unique about us and why I think we’re the most unique film company in the world right now, which I know is a huge statement, is because we have no boundaries. That’s what crazy and fun about what we’re doing at No Brainer; in other words, we met one day and Jamie had this incredible story about a Mafia family where a Mafia boss who raised his stepdaughter is eventually turned on by them. The daughter is put into an orphanage, and then ten years later she comes back to avenge her stepfather’s death. So that became Tommy’s Little Girl, which we’ve developed and are now in negotiations with four major studios. Then I woke up the next day and said “I have an idea for a great movie”, Jamie said “What is it?” and I replied “It’s called Terminated”.
He then said “Well, how does it go?” And I told him “Look, fifteen people board an aircraft from LAX to JFK and when they land, they’re the last people on Earth”. All he said was “Wow! We gotta do that!” (laughs) and so that’s how we come up with stuff. It’s fun and fascinating but at the same time I have to say that I think Jamie Foxx is one of the most talented entertainers in the world right now period. He’s an incredibly creative person and we’re both driven people. From my side of things, I’ve written, produced, and directed three features over the last year and a half, also created my own television series, and now going back to doing other features as well as television shows so for me and Jamie getting together, that’s kind of the No Brainer model in that we both work hard.
IFQ: Well, from the point that you and Jamie decided that you wanted to work together under this company banner how was the process from that point forward in terms of building it, i.e. did you have to go out and look for independent financing? Did studios want to back you guys up?
DT: Well you know it has been tough, at the end of the day you have to put your ego aside and understand that you know it’s not every day that someone gets to create a production company with a superstar like Jamie Foxx and the birthing process if you want to call it that was really more about us wanting to work together and doing whatever we needed to do to get things done and succeed.
IFQ: I’d like to take a bit of a side step here and ask you about your upcoming release Chain Letter. What’s the backstory on that particular film?
DT: Let me tell you something man, I’m the little engine that could. That’s my story, I’m the guy that walked around to every studio and every studio said no to my film even though I’ve won awards and have people tell me things like “oh that’s the best horror movie I’ve ever seen” and have had it all. The movie is a psychological thriller and at the same time an incredible horror film; I’m so excited about it coming out on (October) 1st; to me, it’s more about people having a chance to go out and see this movie because I think they will be blown away. It’s a huge puzzle that people will have to figure out, the lead actress in it is Nikki Reed who has been in the Twilight series. I don’t think horror has been done like this before, because there’s a huge twist at the end and has some really insane kills in it. You thought Saw had some good kills? Wait until you see this.
IFQ: To wrap things up, besides Terminated and Tommy’s Little Girl, are there any additional projects that you guys have in development right now and are preparing to shoot?
DT: Well, I actually created a series a few years ago called Nite Tales and together we’ve completely overhauled it so that the stories will be different now we are targeting A and B-level actors to play and participate in it. For example, we’ve gone after Pamela Anderson to play the host. We’re looking to shoot 32 episodes for it independently this year. And then we also have an untitled comedy sitcom, which we’re actually shooting the pilot for at the end of next month, that we’re currently casting for and are looking for it to compete and become a staple of network television. So we’re rocking man, we’ve also got two more features we’re looking to do at the top of the year so we’re definitely being aggressive in the market right now.