Moviegoers used to typical Hollywood fare may cynically watch Civil Brand and wonder what's the big deal. Even film connoisseurs may pause and question the underground hullabaloo. But Civil Brand isn't simply a film. It's a statement piece about the injustices that occur when the aim of the correctional system shifts from rehabilitation to profit making. With the advent of the prison industrial complex, bureaucratic, political and economic interests intertwined and wardens became more like CEOs, overseeing inmate production of designer apparel, computer hardware and other goods and services. Above all, Civil Brand is as much about director Neema Barnette's struggle to get the film completed and distributed in an indifferent studio environment.

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During a Q&A at the 2002 American Black Film Festival, Barnette recounted her experiences on the project with a mix of pride, true grit and admiration.

"We worked on this movie two years. I prepped it in two states with two different producers and shot it in 15 days," Barnette said.

Civil Brand was initially scheduled for a 25-day shoot, but its resulting 15 days of principal photography included an extended break in filming. As Barnette explains it, "We shot 14 days in Nashville, then we went back and [the studio] promised an additional day. We waited a year. After I cut the 14 days together, we had 21 scenes missing. We fought and tried to get additional days, [but] we were only able to get one day. So I went back in the editing room, looked at the footage and said what kind of movie can I make with this footage because I can't make the movie that was on the page," Neema revealed to the packed theater.

"We got DaBrat to narrate more to keep the story together and just many long days and nights on that Avid, cutting, cutting and cutting. When I called my tribe here to come from all over the country for that one day…(Barnette's voice breaks)…we did 41 setups in one day," recalled Barnette.

For N'Bushe Wright who stars as Nikki Barnes in Civil Brand, the last day of principal photography was grueling, but well worth it.

"As an actress, I feel like it was pretty hard after working on huge budgeted films and having all this comfort and doing two setups a day." she noted during a recent press junket for the film in New York.

Witnessing Barnette's fierce determination to complete the project filled Wright with admiration for her director. "Watching somebody like Neema Barnette was inspirational because she was very determined and you can't really be a punk when you're dealing with the studios. Basically, you have to know that you as an artist, you make a difference. You can put a rapper in a television show or the movies, but it won't necessarily tell the story and it won't necessarily be as good. So basically, you know your power walking in and that being said [Hollywood] only changes when you know your worth - each and every individual. I feel that Neema definitely did fight the fight and she won the battle," Wright said.

Adding, "once you do a movie like this and you see Neema Barnette go ahead and succeed in her journey, it makes you feel like this is something that I can do also. So even if it doesn't turn out okay, you just continue. You fight the fight. You don't let [anyone] deter you," Wright concluded.

The passion that Wright exhibits after the project equals her strong performance in Civil Brand. To bring her character Nikki Barnes to life, Wright drew upon family and friends. "I didn't specifically go to prison to do my research. I just spoke to the people who I knew that had been in and out of prison," Wright recalled.

From conversations with family and friends, Wright developed an understanding of the dual strands of political consciousness and fear that course through an inmate's veins. For the scene in which Wright's Barnes found herself in solitary confinement, N'Bushe drew upon a memory from her teens.

"When I was growing up, I had a cousin who I admired and she was a booster. We lived in a house, but my cousin lived in the projects and she was always fabulous. She always looked amazing…. A part of the time she was at Lincoln Center dancing and the other times she was boosting. One thing lead to the other, I heard she was boosting and then I heard she was hooking. She was hooking and then she was doing crack. And she was only 16 years old," Wright revealed.

"She had lived downstairs and she was trying to get back into the house downstairs with my grandmother. As she would come by, things would start to be missing. She started to basically steal everything. So, we had to lock her out. We couldn't allow her to come to the house. I remember just one day she was in the vestibule, in the corner, dirty, a mess, smelling…I never forgot that moment. When I decided to do the character, I decided to call her up and ask her [because] she was always in and out of prison," said Wright.

Nowadays, Wright's cousin is doing much better and N'Bushe is doing quite well herself. In addition to Civil Brand, she stars in MVP opposite Wood Harris, which is due in theaters soon. Also, she's in discussions with Greenblatt Janollari regarding a television project centered on her.  M

October 2003