Former ‘Soul Man’ Star C. Thomas Howell Supports Similar Themed Film ‘My B.F.F.’Posted by Wilson Morales
July 12, 2016
It’s been nearly 30 years since C. Thomas Howell starred in 1986’s Soul Man, a comedy about a white man passing for black. Though it was deemed controversial the film was commercially successful at the box office, grossing $28 million domestically from a $4.5 million dollar budget. With last year’s Rachel Dolezal‘s scandal, in which her parents stated publicly that the former NAACP chapter president is a white woman passing as black, a movie inspired by this story was bound to be made.
Hitting the festivals soon with the hopes of being picked up for distribution is the teen drama ‘My B.F.F,’ written, produced and directed by Greg Carter.
The story could be seen as a “Rachel Dolezal meets Soul Man” with C. Thomas Howell in the film as an added bonus.
Produced by Dominique Telson, the cast also includes Malik Yoba, Golden Brooks, Meta Golding and rising stars Khail Bryant and Ainsley Bailey.
Inspired by true events and shot on location in New Orleans, LA. Gemma Brown (Khail Bryant) and Marni Wikins (Ainsley Bailey from Disney’s Shake it Up) and their families have been best friends since they were babies. At five, when Marni lost her mother, she was left with an unfulfilled soul. It was a devastating loss, but thankfully her best friend, Gemma and her family were always by her side. Now ten years later, Marni has the opportunity to find that lost connection with her mother when she learns that her mother’s favorite poet, Samantha Banks will be teaching at a distinguished magnet school for the arts in their area.
The two friends are both excited to apply. Gemma gets accepted, however they soon learn that Marni’s father (C. Thomas Howell) has neglectfully missed the registration deadline and the school now only has seats left for “diverse’ candidates. Realizing that her dreams of getting to know her mother may disappear, Gemma convinces Marni to do something drastic. Things don’t go as quite planned, but the two girls learn a valuable lesson about race, identity, politics, friendship and growing up in this poignant, yet tender, ‘coming of age’ story.
