January 2009 | blackfilm.com | | NEW IN TOWN | An Interview with Screenwriter Kenneth Rance

Janaury 2009

NEW IN TOWN | An Interview with Screenwriter Kenneth Rance

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NEW IN TOWN | An Interview with Screenwriter Kenneth Rance
Rance speaks about writing the film and being a black writer in the business.

By Tara Harris

January 26, 2009

As one of the screenwriters on 'New in Town', which stars Renee Zellweger, Kenneth Rance is in a rare position. There aren't that many African American screenwriters who do Hollywood films, let alone a film that stars and feature an all-white cast.

Co-produced by Tracey Edmonds, Lucy Hill (Renée Zellweger) is an ambitious, up and coming executive living in Miami. She loves her shoes, she loves her cars and she loves climbing the corporate ladder. When she is offered a temporary assignment - in the middle of nowhere - to restructure a manufacturing plant, she jumps at the opportunity, knowing that a big promotion is close at hand. What begins as a straight forward job assignment becomes a life changing experience as Lucy discovers greater meaning in her life and most unexpectedly, the man of her dreams (Harry Connick, Jr.).

In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Rance spoke about writing the film and working with Tracey Edmonds.

Regarding the film and the economy right now, the thing that I found so timely is the fact that the characters had to become more resourceful. Do you think that will have an effect on people, not even just looking at it from the perspective of the executives, but the actual employees. Do you think they’ll see that and think,Well, maybe we can come up with something…

Ken Rance: Yeah, I think it’s going to have to be a collaborative effort right now – the foreclosure crisis, the credit crisis, the financial crisis... This is not just a United States issue. This is a global issue. Both workers and management are going to have to contend with concessions and work together. I don’t think this film could be any more socioeconomically relevant of what is taking place. My family’s from Detroit, and in some capacity, they work for the auto industry – whether they’re making the cars, whether they’re doing the bank loans for the cars, whether they’re painting the cars and selling them, et cetera. And they’re impacted by that. Hopefully, this will be a wake-up call, not only for workers, but for corporate America. It’s just good ol’ American greed. And worker’s rights – those people need health insurance, they need to have money for retirement, they need to have futures for their children and to be able to send them to school and to be able to, in essence, grasp the American dream.

As far as Tracey Edmonds being a producer on this film, did you seek her out or did she come to you?

Ken Rance: Darryl Taja, who is one of the producers on the film, Darryl and I went to Howard University, he’s one of my best friends from college. I brought the script to him, and we developed it for about a year, and that’s when he reached out to Tracey and they partnered and then Scott Stuber at Universal bought the screenplay preemptively and he took it to Universal and developed it.

Did you have any input in the casting?

Ken Rance: No. Writers unfortunately…once they’re on a project and it is passed on to like a director or they’ve been replaced, then their input really isn’t valued. And I think that’s very unfortunate. And hopefully, the wise executives will realize that it’s great to dance with the girl you brought, and that writers do have a level of contribution and a level of significance…you know, they created it. But in this case, in regards to casting, no I did not have input. But I do think they did a very good job with casting the film.

I do, too. Especially Siobhan.

Ken Rance: Yeah, Siobhan – she nailed it. And as a Christian writer, that was my biggest concern – that through the development process, that that Christian character would be characterized and would be apocryphal. But she brought such a level of integrity to that role and it wasn’t preachy, like (mocking) what you need is Jesus in your life, ha! I felt it was very organic. That’s important, that anything I write, I have Christian values in it at some level. I believe that God has blessed me with a talent; and at the end of the day, if one person could be exposed to my expression of art, and they change their life for the good, then I’ve done my job. And what I’m most excited about with this film is I think that will happen.

I do, too. I liked the “sex scene,” because it was there, but it really wasn’t. And I think there’s not enough of that in Hollywood. It’s either they go one way or the other; it’s like either they make a big deal out of abstaining or they go all for it, and it kind of polarizes the audience. So when you wrote that, did you think, how do I dance around this?

Ken Rance: Well, in my opinion, a lot of gratuitous sex and profanity just doesn’t work – it’s just ick!…and it’s not necessary. And, in this case with this film, I wanted their relationship to be based upon each other and not about the sex. I think a lot of times when sex comes into a relationship, it can cloud people’s judgment, and that can be the commonality that they share. But as a writer, it was important to me that we see that Lucy and Ted liked each other for who each other was. So that’s why in that scene when they’re on the couch where they’re talking and she’s talking about why education and being a CEO were so important to her being the values instilled by her father…he’s talking about the love he has for his daughter is so important to him and about how his wife passed away from cancer…that’s intimacy…and developing that intimacy and not making it sexual. I didn’t think that was necessary. I thought the kiss and all that was great, but whatever else transpired, I leave it up to the viewer.

Regarding having a white cast, you would never know a black writer wrote it.

Ken Rance: That’s why I think this interview is so important.

With Black Film?

Ken Rance: Well, yeah. I think that people need to know that one, that there are black writers that are out there. And our lives and our stories don’t just deal with hip-hop, rap music, the hood…gotta make that money, son. Dope, drugs. Those stories are so negative and so tragic! (It’s important for people to know) that a black man, an American, came up with a story, though it was never meant to be a film about race. I think it’s important for others to see that we’re out there, that we exist, that we can write – there’s a stigmatism that we can’t write and that our stories aren’t as good – but that we’re out there and we’re doing it. That we have the same amount of talent and ability to excel and achieve if we’re afforded that opportunity.

Are you interested in doing plays in the future?

Ken Rance: Plays, books, web-based content. I’m not so caught up into, “I’m just a filmmaker” or “I only do television.” At the end of the day, these stories burn inside of me where I feel like I have got to get them out. Not every story warrants every medium. There are some stories that would make for a better play, a better poem or a film or a television series, a short on the Internet, a book, et cetera. It’s about thinking about how you’re going to have the greatest amount of impact and get your story out there.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Ken Rance: There are two things. I think that this 16-year journey has really been a testament of faith in God’s promise to me. And one of my promises was when this film would make it to the silver screen, that He would definitely get the praise, credit and the glory for it. If you just knew what it takes for a movie to get made – it is a Herculean task. So I give God the credit for that…and really being sincere in that. But also giving a lot of credit to my wife for hanging in there and sticking it through. There were points in time when my wife took a second and a third job to support us as a family so that I could write. The highs and the lows, and just being there. And it’s great when you have success, but it’s even greater when you have someone you love to share it with. And hopefully, this will be an inspiring story to black families, as well.

NEW IN TOWN OPENS ON JANUARY 30, 2009

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