| By Lisa R. Foeman
Helen of Troy’s face may have launched a thousand ships, but it was the superior casting talents of Jaki Brown-Karman, CSA that launched the acting careers of Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Boyz N The Hood), Omar Epps (Juice), and the late Tupac Shakur (Juice). |
 Courtesy Jaki Brown-Karman Jaki Brown-Karman |
| Brown-Karman, who also served as casting director for television’s South Central and Soul Food, Jackie Brown, Eve’s Bayou, Waiting to Exhale, Jason’s Lyric, and Caveman’s Valentine (the newest feature film of Kasi Lemmon, writer/director of Eve’s Bayou, anticipated to premier in late 2000), is a veteran who originally found her niche “because God was blessing me and I didn’t know it.” Unafraid to acknowledge her Christianity in “an industry that represents the worst of Sodom and Gomorrah,” Brown-Karman has developed a pilot that’s “a non-secular television show to put on secular television.” The show, Heaven Set, which is modelled after Brown-Karman’s minister in Los Angeles and will mark her directorial debut, depicts the familial travails of a minister, his wife, and their very talented daughter-singer. Ultimately, the show illustrates “how a curse can be a blessing.”
|
 Courtesy Jaki Brown-KarmanJaki Brown-Karman pictured with her dad, James E. Brown II, at the 1999 Emmy Awards® |
The test now is to get Heaven Set produced and aired. Brown-Karman is currently working with attorneys and the Screen Actor’s Guild to negotiate a low budget television agreement. If successful, this groundbreaking agreement will open a lot of doors for producers and directors, like Brown-Karman, who desire union actors.
|
| In assessing talent in the capacity of a casting director, Brown-Karman looks for “a substantial amount of training” as opposed to just the number of film credits. Stressing the importance of viewing acting as a craft to be constantly honed, Brown-Karman laments, “there are some people out there who think more of their acting than they have credibility.” But Brown-Karman isn’t one to cast a project with preconceived notions about a particular actor. Realizing the existence of diamonds in the rough, Brown-Karman shared “when you think you want somebody who’s a big star, and then some unknown comes along and dazzles everybody…all of sudden you’ve launched a career.”
Disappearing Acts, a project Brown-Karman casted earlier this year, presented a few interesting challenges. The movie, based on Terry McMillan’s bestseller of the same name, is directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood of Love and Basketball fame. Casting the lead characters, Franklin and Zora, was easy. Wesley Snipes plays Franklin; his company, Amen Ra Films, is executive producing Disappearing Acts in conjunction with HBO. Prince-Bythewood tapped her star, Sanaa Lathan, of Love and Basketball to play Zora. Finding supporting cast was problematic. Explains Brown-Karman, “when I started casting for Disappearing Acts a couple of months ago, it seemed like every actor was up for a pilot. It seemed as though suddenly Hollywood just opened the floodgate of all these Black pilots.” Despite this competing factor, Brown-Karman is very proud of the cast assembled for Disappearing Acts. She is even more excited that the film will “squelch the notion that Wesley Snipes is just an action movie actor” and highlight his skills as “a romantic, leading man.” Brown-Karman’s newest project, Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Project is one of historical significance. An HBO film featuring Homicide actor Clark Johnson in his feature film directorial debut and airing in 2001, Daybreak tells the story of how Rosa Parks sparked national attention to and spawned the involvement of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy, Sr in the Civil Rights Movement. The movie, which will be shot in Atlanta, will begin principal photography in late July. Interestingly, this isn’t Brown-Karman’s first foray into casting actors to portray the lives of real people. She casted for both the Jackson Five miniseries and the Temptations miniseries. Noted Brown-Karman, “the actors we find will have at least the essence of the persons they portray, even though we are not looking for look-alikes. Ultimately, we anticipate having an ensemble cast of amazing actors.” Given Brown-Karman’s impressive résumé, I have absolutely no doubt. M June 2000 |