July 2009 | blackfilm.com | KISS AND TAIL | AN INTERVIEW WITH THOMAS GIBSON

July 2009

KISS AND TAIL |
An Interview with Director Thomas Gibson

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KISS AND TAIL
An Interview with Director Thomas Gibson
By Wilson Morales

July 13, 2009

There are scandals and then there are explosive scandals. When music video performer and porn star Karrine Steffans, aka ‘Superhead’ wrote her first book, ‘Confessions of A Video Vixen,’ and mentioned the names of several well celebrities she slept with from rapper Kool G Rap and Ja Rule to NBA player Shaquille O'Neal and many more, she broke a code of silence in the entertainment industry. The book was a bestseller and made a well known author. She since has written has written a second book, ‘The Vixen Diaries, and is about to release a third one, ‘The Vixen Manuel.’

At the time her third book hits the streets, a documentary which shows the reaction of some who were mentioned in both books will be released on DVD on July 14th. Directed by Thomas Gibson, ‘Kiss and Tail,’ explores the huge stars she allegedly bedded and their side of the story. Narrated by radio personality Wendy Williams, we see reenactments of how Karrine sexed her way through the hip-hop world, climbing her way up the ladder before crashing to the bottom, and then writing a tell-all book. Featured in the film are interviews from Ja Rule, Big Boi, Akon, Juelz Santana, Twista and more.

Gibson's productions credits include The Filmmakers Library-distributed documentary "Bloody Island" about race and labor riots in East St. Louis, Il in 1917. After which, he has since served as producer, director and executive producer on numerous programs in television, film and home video projects.

In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Gibson talks about gathering the needed and putting this film together from a series of interviews.

How did you come about to put this documentary together?

Thomas Gibson: That’s a good question. I don’t think it was a labor of love, sort of speak. Peter Spirer and I had read the book, ‘Confessions of A Video Vixen,’ and thought that it would be a good idea to show the other point of the book, which is so one sided. It went from an idea to a project.

Was it a challenge in doing the research and getting as many people as you got to be on camera and display their emotions over the first and second book?

TG: When you do a documentary, you have your basic outline of what you want to do and from there; the story went in different direction. You have no idea of what people are going to say. We let the story go where it needed to go.

The first book came in out in 2005 and the second shortly afterwards. Would you say that the subject is outdated at this point? Or do you still find it relevant since she has a third book coming out the same week this DVD is released? One of the guys mentioned in the book, actor Darius McCrary is now her husband.

TG: At the time we did the interview, she was off and on with Darius McCrary. We had interviewed him early in the production. He wasn’t with her then, and then he married her and now I think they are getting divorced. I don’t know if he had seen the film or not. To answer your question, the story is ongoing and although it’s been a few years since the first book and some of the steam is gone, time does heal wounds, and people are ready to talk about it now as opposed to back then.

Was it easy to get Wendy Williams on board to narrate the film?

TG: She has talked about the subject numerous times on her radio show, and I don’t think she particularly likes her personally. We had sent her a copy of the film. Once she had seen the film, she was happy to do it.

Was Karrine initially on board with the project?

TG: She was one of the first interviews. She plays her cards extremely close to her vest, and she’s very media savvy. She’s going to give you what she wants to give you. She’s well guarded to a certain extent. She likes to answer a question with an answer she wished had been asked. After we interviewed more people, we had a lot of biting responses about her and the story took on a twist.

With the exception of Modest Jones, who praises Karrine for what she calls ‘therapy,’ were you looking to balance out the interviews with positives and negatives?

TG: It was totally unexpected. When we interviewed Modest Jones and she said that, I had no idea that she looked up to her. I guess it provided some balance to the film.

Were you able to accomplish what you set out to do?

TG: That’s a good question. When you do a documentary it’s never what you set out to do. Because of the interviews we had, the film doesn’t portray her in a good light. When folks like Ja Rule, who got into trouble with his wife, and Norwood, who was upset that he was included in the second book, you will find that those people won’t have glory things to say about her. We tried to interview people who didn’t have that point of view and they still had nothing good to say.

How long did it take to put the film together?

TG: About 6-7 months. We moved fairly quickly on this. I, along with Peter Spirer and DJ Vlad helped with the production to get it done.

What are you looking to accomplish once the DVD comes out on the 14th?

TG: I think the underlying thing in all of this is that you can’t believe everything you read and that every story has another side and everyone has a point of view. Everytime you tell the same story, it gets told 100 different ways. Karrine’s version of events is going to be different from Ja Rule’s version of events. Women always think that guys are wrong when they cheat on their wives and we wanted to show another point of view from the guys.

What’s next for you?

TG: I’m directing a documentary right now for BBC on Miriam Makeba and getting ready to direct another documentary on Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi. I do a lot of TV shows overseas. I used to be a producer for BBC and True Hollywood Stories. I don’t have a specific genre that I stick with. I branch out with different things.

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