Laughs
and Memphis Music
Make the
Message Go Down
In “The
Suburban Itch”
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dropbox link to still
photo from the set of “The Suburban Itch:”
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iuw0w9sdv7n34kn/1%20Suburban%20Itch%20Cover%20Photo.jpeg?dl=0
“Don’t
be quick to judge” is the moral message an Indie Memphis audience will see when
“The Suburban Itch” is screened Sunday night Nov. 8 at Circuit Playhouse, 51 S.
Cooper.
“Having
a relevant social message doesn’t mean being ‘preachy,’” says Jenni Moore,
executive producer. “This message comes
wrapped in a comedy-coated outside, with Memphis musical sprinkles on top.”
The screening will be the "Tennessee premiere" for “The
Suburban Itch,” which also has been screened at Los Angeles- and New York City-area film festivals. It will be shown in a block of short films in Indie Memphis' Hometowner
Narrative Shorts category beginning at 6:30.
In a role reversal, black actors play white stereotypes, and a young
white man is hassled by police who profile him for “running while white” in a
black neighborhood.
When
Mary Beth Miles (played by Charisse Norment) sizes up the injustice as she
drives in North Memphis with her less noble friends, she stops the car and
confronts police. They say no good deed
goes unpunished, and police reward Mary Beth with what they call “street
justice” by handcuffing her to the jogger, DeMarcus Malone (Derek Moore).
Mary
Beth must bring this fellow home in handcuffs, and it’s “guess who's coming to
dinner?” and then some as she must run the gauntlet of a troublesome little sister,
domineering dad and fool-proof mother.
Malone turns out to be a prize-winning reporter who is out of work after
the local newspaper closed shop. The
stuff hits the fan when dad James Miles (Delvyn Brown) realizes Malone is the
reporter whose stories led the EPA to bust Miles’ industrial processing
business.
The cast is led by Memphis stage and film favorites Brown and
Norment. Brown was “Actor of the Year”
as honored by the Diversity on Stage Awards earlier this year, and Norment was
honored for her stage and film accomplishments.
Norment also is a member of the Tennessee Shakespeare Company. Derek Moore of Nashville plays the young man
whom police detain for looking suspiciously out of place running along Chelsea
Avenue near Hollywood.
Spicing up the film is Memphis music from popular hip-hop artist “Knowledge Nick” Hicks,
(featuring Bartholomew Jones and produced by Max Ptah), whose songs “The M” and
“Leaders of the New School” fit the story line of not judging at first sight.
As
the film opens, DeMarcus goes for a run, leaving Rainbow Place and turning
north on McLean while Hicks sings from “The M:”
“I
get strange looks when I tell ‘em I’m from Memphis –
“A
notion that I never understood,
“Considering
I grew up in the ‘burbs and the hood.
“But,
it’s all good;
“Though
not a thug or a hippie,
“I’m
just a different breed, son, that grew
up in the city.”
In
“Leaders of the New School,” Bartholomew Jones raps:
“They
wanted Jim Crow.
“The
kids flow, but kids know,
“Love
ain’t got a color;
“We’re
born to flow with the rainbow.”
"After George Zimmerman was acquitted in the killing of Trayvon Martin, President Obama called on Americans to check how they would feel if races were reversed in such incidents," said writer-director Gary Moore. "'The Suburban Itch' will challenge viewers to see if their emotions change based on how people look in varied situations."
“The
Suburban Itch” official trailer: https://vimeo.com/128112758
The
film’s website is www.TheSuburbanItch.com,
and the Facebook page, is www.Facebook.com/TheSuburbanItch.
For
Indie Memphis information, tickets and schedules: www.IndieMemphis.com.
“The
Suburban Itch” was produced by Moore Media & Entertainment. For further information about “The Suburban
Itch” and upcoming film projects, contact Jenni or Gary Moore at mooremedia@att.net.
