{"id":67204,"date":"2013-10-23T15:07:30","date_gmt":"2013-10-23T15:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2013\/10\/23\/exclusive-charles-stone-iii-talks-crazysexycool-the-tlc-story\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T08:51:22","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T08:51:22","slug":"exclusive-charles-stone-iii-talks-crazysexycool-the-tlc-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/exclusive-charles-stone-iii-talks-crazysexycool-the-tlc-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Exclusive: Director Charles Stone III talks CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charles Stone III talks CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story<\/a><\/strong>By Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

October 23, 2013<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This past Monday, VH1 scored its biggest ratings with the biopic on pop\/hip hop\/R&B group TLC, titled Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story<\/strong>, featuring Keke Palmer as Rozonda \u201cChilli\u201d Thomas, Drew Sidora as Tionne \u201cT-Boz\u201d Watkins<\/strong> and Lil\u2019 Mama as the late Lisa \u201cLeft Eye\u201d Lopes<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Executive produced by surviving members Chilli and T-Boz, and directed by Charles Stone III <\/strong>(Drumline, Paid in Full, Mr. 3000), the film explored the rise to fame and struggles the trio went through in the 90s.<\/p>\n

The film hit a home run, attracting 4.5 million viewers and making it the highest-rated original cable movie of 2013 and VH1\u2019s highest-rated original movie ever. According to SocialGuide<\/a>, the TV movie was the most-tweeted program on TV Monday night, generating 1.92 million tweets with the hashtag #CrazySexyCool.<\/p>\n

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For Stone III, it represents another highlight in his background. Prior to his film debut with the blockbuster hit Drumline<\/strong>, which made a film star out of Nick Cannon<\/strong>, Stone III was a music video director for many artists such as The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, After 7 <\/strong>and Nenah Cherry<\/strong>. He was also the creator of the popular Budweiser ad campaign “Whassup?”<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blackfilm.com caught up with Stone III as he talked about his involvement with \u2018CrazySexyCool\u2019 and its ratings success.<\/p>\n

How did you get attached with this project?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles Stone III:<\/strong> I was developing a couple of projects at the time and I was also doing some episodic work on television. After I did \u2018Mr. 3000\u2019 with Bernie Mac, I was doing TV work and directing episodes for \u2018Friday Night Lights,\u2019 \u2018Lincoln Heights\u2019 and others. I also did a pilot that didn\u2019t get picked up, but still shot it. I was doing those sort of work and then Shelby Stone, who runs Queen Latifah\u2019s production company and is also one of the executive producers on \u2018Single Ladies\u2019 had recommended me to direct this feature and I said yes. I remember TLC more from when I was directing music videos in the 90s. It was at the same time they were coming into play, from 1990 to at least 2002. I had directed videos from \u201989 to \u201996. Just from that era, I was fascinated by them and knowing their story, it was really attractive. Just like actors, I had to audition to get the gig. I met with them and it all worked out. We shot it last January and worked on it to the spring.<\/p>\n

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With Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas involved with the film, did it make less challenging to cover certain topics of their lives?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> I came on board once the script was greenlit, so there was no development of the script. We ended up adding stuff like the narration and voice-over, but there certain topics I had that weren\u2019t in the script that had question marks such as T-Boz\u2019s love life. We obviously focused on Chilli\u2019s and dabbled with Lisa\u2019s, but with T-Boz, when I came on board, it was quite light and vague. I spoke to Tionne about that and she gave us a little more to play with in terms of her relationship with Dalvin (Degrate from Jodeci); in particular with how they met and all that. She was very explicit about not talking about her daughter\u2019s father, Mack 10. She didn\u2019t want it in the film and that was fine with me. That subject and the death of Lisa was a landmine we couldn\u2019t get into and nor did I they wanted to, as well as VH1 and Pop Films, in respect to the Lopes family.<\/p>\n

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We stayed clear of that. If you ever saw that documentary, \u2018The Last Days of Left Eye,\u2019 there was still some uncertainty to her death. It was also about her period in her life and what I tried to do was to be as lyrical as possible and really express that Lisa ended up passing away in a place where she found peace. We explored her journey to be heard, from her father to the other members of TLC, with her ideas and that was different from what TLC represented as a whole. It was her journey to be heard, but also to find peace. So, when you saw her in Honduras and having that peaceful moment and staring at the waterfalls, you could perceive it to be the doorway to the afterlife. That was the best way to represent her passing regardless of the details of the SUV flipping over and she being thrown from the car and being the only one who died. That was bizarre because the car was packed like a can of sardines, with her friends in the back seat. Those were the two subjects that were sensitive.<\/p>\n

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What about the portrayal of Perri “Pebbles” Reid? The responses on Twitter were not kind to her as the film played Monday night. Was there any thought to getting feedback from her so it didn\u2019t appear to be a one-sided view from TLC?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> There are two things to that. From the point of view from T-Boz and Chilli, what they told was really just hitting the surface in terms of the stuff that was going on that people would consider to be really funky. What they tell me and what they have to the press is that everything that is expressed in the film is based in truth. They didn\u2019t distort anything that makes her seem worse that she was. What\u2019s in the film is the lighter version of what Pebbles apparently did or apparently said. Part of it is also, and we all agreed upon this to a certain extent; and it my goal to show the humanity in regards to Pebbles.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Regardless of the fact that she \u201cgypped\u201d them out of a lot of money, she even said that the contracts they signed are the contracts they signed. The highway robbery of what she did is sort of standard. It\u2019s not like she went into their homes and stole their money. That\u2019s why you\u2019re supposed to have lawyers and all that. It\u2019s their job to decipher the language that the other lawyers create in order to preserve their client\u2019s best interest. It\u2019s not like it wasn\u2019t there or like they did something that was criminal. The contracts stipulated the things that people gasp at. In the film world, with studios, a first time director will get a three picture deal and that\u2019s just to ensure that if the film blows up, they own you for two more films. If they don\u2019t, they will lose out on the product, which is you. But if the film bombs, they wont lose anything. If it blows up, you\u2019re locked in. If another studio comes in and wants to do a film with you, you are screwed because you have to talk to the studio that you have to do more two more films for. That\u2019s all it is. I didn\u2019t talk to the real Pebbles and agreed to film what was in the script based on my acceptance of what I was being told. Even recently on The Wendy Williams Show, T-Boz said she didn\u2019t say anything that wasn\u2019t true. They weren\u2019t trying to bash her but that\u2019s how things went and this is the lighter version of it. There are rumors that Pebbles wants to sue them and all that stuff, and they are like, \u201cwell, bring it on.\u201d That\u2019s the best I can give you for an answer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In looking at the record breaking ratings, why do you think so many people watched it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CS:<\/strong> As much as I would love to find a way to toot my own horn, I can\u2019t because it\u2019s TLC. If you look at their history, the vibration that resonated from their albums is tremendous. They stood for something. They stood for the point of view of young women. They weren\u2019t a flash in the pan, even though they had done four albums, three of which did very well, and two of which has a five year gap in between. That\u2019s incredible and it shows how much love and respect people had for the group. That\u2019s the 4.5 million viewers, and also VH1 did a good marketing job. If the film isn\u2019t good, people will tweet you out of the theater or off television. There is something to be said about what Pop Films created. It\u2019s TLC and they are so beloved.<\/p>\n

You had three fantastic leads in Keke Palmer, Drew Sidora, and Lil’ Mama, who was amazing in her role as Left Eye. We know what Keke can do and we haven\u2019t seen enough of Drew, but Lil’ Mama had folks praising her performance. How was working the trio?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong>CS: <\/strong>First of all, I’m smitten beyond reason because there were a lot of folks who were hatin\u2019 on Lil’ Mama. You make an error in judgment in something you do and people like to hold you to it. I didn\u2019t know about the Jay-Z incident and her getting on stage and people were initially ridiculing her for playing Lisa, but she blew it out the park obviously. Early on during casting, she came in and did her thing. The producers knew right off the bat the she was going to play Left Eye and that was an easy call. T-Boz and Chilli also said that she was definitely channeling Lisa. Mama is not classically trained and didn\u2019t go to school for acting, but for her to come in and give in this raw performance and do a stunning job. I told her that if she wants that career as an actor, it\u2019s there for her. The world will be ready for her and I\u2019m very excited about that. The other ladies were just as great. As you mentioned, we don\u2019t see enough of Drew, and I\u2019m hoping this will pave the way. Drew was consistent and T-Boz was pretty much the glue of the group. She was in the middle of what Chilli and Lisa were going through, and Drew was able to play T-Boz in a solid way, which was wonderful. Keke is great. She\u2019s more seasoned than the other two ladies and it shows. In reality, she\u2019s 19 years old, so her career is just beginning. She\u2019s going to be great, and she was the last to come onboard.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

While you have continued to work, you haven\u2019t done a film since Mr. 3000? Any reason why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

CS: <\/strong>There were other films. What\u2019s been wonderfully humbling about the business is that I\u2019m doing projects where I\u2019m using other peoples\u2019 money to do projects. When you are doing so, you have to take into consideration their concerns to make a great movie but also make sure they will make their money back. With that being said, there were other film projects that I was on that I either stepped away from because I wasn\u2019t getting along with production; meaning that the producers and I had different visions for the film. Years ago, I was attached to a film and sought out the star for the film, and while she loved the script, she told the studio she didn\u2019t think I was right for the project. The studio was wanted to make the movie so I ended up stepping off. There are a variety of things that a director goes through when you\u2019re trying to make something happen with other people\u2019s money. It\u2019s been humbling and blessing that I was able to do three movies in a row, and then there were about six to seven films that almost happened or I didn\u2019t get as I auditioned for it as a director. While I was going that process in the film world, I wanted to do television. There\u2019s a lot of great writing and production coming out from TV now. It\u2019s not the major networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, putting out product, but HBO, FX, AMC and others are also in the mix. I\u2019m still trying to develop movies and there\u2019s a bunch of projects that\u2019s looking good in terms of financing. One of them is a psychological thriller with Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez. It\u2019s like \u2018Thelma and Louise meets \u2018Fight Club.\u2019 I\u2019ll know in another week if it happens.<\/p>\n

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