David E. Talbert talks Baggage ClaimPosted by Wilson Morales
September 25, 2013
Coming out on September 27 is David E. Talbert’s romantic comedy, ‘Baggage Claim,’ which is based on his best-selling book of the same name and starring Paula Patton, Derek Luke, Taye Diggs, Jill Scott, Boris Kodjoe, Tremaine Neverson, Adam Brody, Jenifer Lewis, Ned Beatty, Lauren London, Tia Mowry, La La Anthony, Christina Milian, Affion Crockett, Terrence J, Rickey Smiley, and Djimon Hounsou.
Determined to get engaged before her youngest sister’s wedding, flight attendant Montana Moore (Paula Patton) finds herself with only 30 days to find Mr. Right. Using her airline connections to “accidentally” meet up with eligible ex-boyfriends and scour for potential candidates, she racks up more than 30,000 miles and countless comedic encounters, all the while searching for the perfect guy.
For Talbert, it’s been a journey getting this film to the big screen. Back in 2010, Fox Searchlight has greenlit the project with other talent involved, and then it was shelved before production started. With the recent success of the romantic comedy and ensemble film ‘Think Like A Man,’ the studio exec came back to Talbert and the process was jumpstarted again with new talent and ready for theaters.
A successful playwright with many theater productions to his credit, ‘Baggage’ is only his second feature after 2008’s ‘First Sunday,’ which starred Ice Cube and Tracy Morgan. With a cast that includes familiar faces, Talbert hopes to make a successful film that will launch other film projects.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Talbert talks about the journey of the film and casting faces without it being just a cameo appearance.
Can you talk about creating this book and then finding a way to make it into a film?
David E. Talbert: The first step is that the studio has to do dig the book. When Fox Searchlight exec Zola Mashariki read the novel and loved it. She had chasing it for a long time. The goal was putting a team of producers together than help develop it into a screenplay. From there, it was figuring out who was going to play Montana Moore. Really, the whole film hinged on who was going to play that role. It’s her movie. The character is in every frame of the movie. When we were able to land Paula Patton, that’s when it started to take off. We had different leads and different version of the movie, but Paula Patton was the one that got the party started for us.
Once you had Paula, did you start tailoring the other characters based on the actors you had?
Talbert: Once we had Paula, we knew that the landscape of actors opened up to us immediately. Paula is a woman, who in her last couple of films was opposite Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington with Mission Impossible: Ghost – Protocol and 2 Guns respectively. The landscape opened up because these were her last leading men and so we knew we could approach a Djimon Hounsou, a Taye Diggs, and it wouldn’t feel like a small black movie. It would feel like a mainstream movie and that’s to Paula Patton’s credit.
With so many familiar names in the film, there’s a fear that some wouldn’t have enough to do to make their mark. As the writer of the film, how did you overcome that?
Talbert: We cast Rickey Smiley, Affion Crocket, Nephew Crocket, and La La Anthony and we knew we would have a half a day with all of them, and the goal was to make everyone from the network be impactful. Each of them had to have a moment with Derek Luke or a lead. They all needed a moment that was memorable so it wouldn’t be a glorified cameo. With La La, you’ll never forget the camera panning down on her looking at the catalogue of shoes because that’s what you think most of the people behind the ticket counter are doing anyway. You’ll never forget Affion Crocket as the angriest security ever, frisking Derek Luke. You won’t forget Rickey Smiley out fronting his stuff. The goal was to make a memorable scene for everyone in the film so that they felt they were part of the success and fabric of the film.
Some see the film as a guide for guys to get out of the friend zone. Is that the case here?
Talbert: For guys, yes. You can get out of the friend zone. It is not a permanent sentence. For the women, the goal is, and as cliché as it sounds, finding yourself first. It’s falling in love with yourself first and that was an important thing for Paula and I with Montana. She didn’t find a guy and everything was great; but she found herself first and then the guy came along.
How was shooting the film? From what I had heard, not everyone was together ever during production.
Talbert: This was a scheduling nightmare and I credit a lot to the producer who pulled it all together for us. It normally would have been impossible to get everyone in this film because we probably have 15 headliners that could be on the poster. To get everyone in this film, it was like a juggling act; but everyone wanted to be in the film. La La found a way to shoot ‘La La’s Real Life’ in the Bahamas and said that she would stop her plane on her dime, have it turn around because we only had a three hour window for her. So, she rerouted herself from Bahamas to get back to Los Angeles for her to be in the film and that the sort of commitment that was put in.
When people see that Tyler Perry and Will Packer have made successes with their films, does that open up the gates for other filmmakers like yourself and give you encouragement that your projects can get the green light for production?
Talbert: I think ‘Think Like a Man’ was certainly a shot in the arm; a successful film with African American cast that we needed. With the films that are coming out, there are some diverse films, and you have a stand up comedy and you have a musical, a period piece, an independent documentary style film like ‘Fruitvale Station.’ You also have ‘The Butler,’ an historic piece. With commercial, popcorn date films, there’s only two of those, and that’s ‘The Best Man Holiday’ and ‘Baggage Claim.’ What I’m happy about is the diversity that we’re able to see now and the difference sorts of filmmakers. With all these films coming out in the fall, most of these filmmakers couldn’t make the other’s films.
Most of your projects come from your books or plays and incorporate an ensemble style film. Can studio greenlight a project like ‘Suddenly Single’ to the big screen?
Talbert: I think it depends on the story and the scope of it. Some of my plays work very well because it fits the scope, and it fits the medium. Sometimes the danger to try and force a round peg into a square hole, and I write what inspires me and what feels like can be on the big screen. For the plays I write, I put together what feels right for the stage. Right now, none of my plays have really screamed out to me. One has, ‘What My Husband Doesn’t Know,’ and that’s the one screaming to me that can be on the big screen.
Is it tough writing a romantic comedy? You need guys like Affion Crocket and Rickey Smiley to sell the comedic portion of the film.
Talbert: La La’s part was hilarious and she’s not a comedian and Taye Diggs’ not a comedian, and neither are Jill Scott and Adam Brody. The thing is to make sure the situations are funny and then you put the people in the situations. I look at ‘Baggage Claim’ as a comedy with romance and heart and inspiration. One of my goals is that I never want people to forget that they are in a comedy. I don’t care how serious the moment is, but we’ll come back out with something funny.
What’s next on your plate?
Talbert: I’m still trying to figure it out. I’m going to do another film with Fox Searchlight because I had a great experience with them.
For those who don’t know you or your work, how do you sell ‘Baggage Claim’ to them?
Talbert: When was the last time you really had a good time out? When was the last time you went out and laugh and laugh and laugh at the movies? I think people will be surprised at how much they enjoyed this movie. I think they are expecting it to be good, but I think they will be pleasantly surprised at how much better it is or even think it is.
