A bunch of months back there was a plea from Marquee that we cast Dania Ramirez in the role of Carmen for the film…

Well, I’m pleased to announce that it looks like our man is going to get his wish. I spoke to my girl Dania, made the hard sell on our humble little vision here and found that she is feeling the story of Sticky. To Dania’s credit, she really got the foster storyline in the piece like no one else. She locked in on the importance of Carmen to Sticky’s development and recognized what an important role she holds in his socialization, in his stunted growth. It was really exciting for me as a director to have a conversation as spirited as the one I had with Dania from the set of a film she’s shooting in New York. She is exactly the type of artist, thinker and teammate that we seek out on the daily. We are so blessed to have her standing with us in the telling of Sticky’s story.

“Don’t know why this had such a profound effect on me, but it did. Dennis Johnson died. Man, DJ’s gone.”

-Hank Boogie -
(my homey and a lifelong member of the Lakers’ family)

A couple years back, I wrote an article for DIME MAGAZINE pleading with NBA owners and GMs to give DJ a shot at a head-coaching gig. It was when DJ was an assistant with the Clips and it started something like this…

It’s strikingly odd to glimpse Dennis Johnson standing mid-court, his shadow stretched long across the storied Lakers’ logo and not see that Kelly green number 3 pushed across his barrel chest and that glint of confidence in his eye as he selects which Hall-of-Famer to get off on this particular possession. A suit and tie have replaced that old Boston Celtic shamrock and Bird & McHale are somewhere in the tundra of Middle America, but that self-assured look remains.

DJ was a good dude, through-and-though.

Hard to know what’s truth out here because you only get pieces of it on the daily. Submit a box to an actor and does it even make it to them before the Agent, manager or handler says no? Did that person really think the script was wack or did his people think the money we have to offer is wack? Are these clowns just saying they want good material at any cost when they step into Charlie Rose’s black box or sit on Tavis’ stage, because all they want is the guarantee of grade A maple syrup in their trailer even if they aren’t eating it?

Hip-hop can yell at the top of its lungs that “this is not a game, people,” but we all know it is. It’s hard to play that game when you care about truth and authenticity. Truth is a clothing brand calling you two days after meeting your team in a loud club during All-Star weekend and laying down on the sword for your project. That’s real. Truth is an actress calling you on your cell from the set of another movie that she’s starring in to tell you that she believes so much in Sticky, in you, in this thing here, that she’s willing to play a smallish role even if her manager, agent and handler tell her not to do it. That’s authentic. Truth is not a rejection from an actor wearing your shoes at an All-Star party and gassing up your project even though he said he’d never do it a month earlier. That ain’t truth. Truth is a lead actor that everyone thought didn’t have the heart, the stomach for this, who is out doing acting exercises on his own in Venice. That’s Sticky.

We got a list, people. We’re taking names. The train is leaving and you’re either on it, or you are getting run over. Believe that.

It’s not good to be anyone associated with BALL DON’T LIE and try to drive the mean streets of Los Angeles these days. The Professor was really, really lucky on Saturday night when he walked away from a horrible car accident without a scratch. Welcome to LA, kid, now stand aside as we total your whip. I don’t mean to make light of things because this kid is lucky that he wasn’t hurt given the fact that his car is about thirty pieces right now, but people in LA don’t know how to handle the rain. Then today, some lunatic woman in Mar Vista decided to unleash her bizarre rendition of road rage Jerry Springer style on me as I calmly drove Washington five miles above the speed limit. Normally in these situations I engage crazy people to see what kind of response I can illicit, but today, for some reason, I remained calm. I think I’m so dialed in on making this picture that I have no time for riff-raff. Either you’re real and you’re bringing it, or I have no time for you. This is my attitude with everyone. Money folks, actors, agents, managers, teammates, and haters. Be about it. It’s time to squash all the small minded folks stuck on tape-delay and unleash Nolan Richardson game pace on folks. It’s forty minutes of hell and it’s time for people to recognize that.

Running the risk of de la not speaking to me for a solid week, I want to shout out his birthday… He turns 30 again (not sure how many times that is now) today. Dude is mad sick, holed up in his Brooklyn apartment revising the new book for Random House while chugging Nyquil, so I think he deserves a shout out.

As he creeps up in the years, de la’s hoops game is getting a little shady. The jumper’s still falling on the good days and he can shake me, but that’s not saying too much. He’s still trying to claim that little two-handed reverse lay-up is a dunk, so I guess he’s still got some athleticism. But while the ball skills deteriorate, the writing gets better. His prose are his new basketball and the kid works as hard as most anyone I know at his craft. Work ethic: That’s what I celebrate today on Matt de la peña’s birthday.

After watching the screen-test, one thing I know is that we need to find a way to pop Grayson a little more. He is so pasty, no front on him - it’s true, that I think doing something with his hair might be the move. We need to set him apart from his environment a little more. I got to work on that as soon as we hire a costume director and a hair/make-up person. His look is going to play heavily into making Grayson worth watching. Rehearsal, look and acting prep on the big dramatic stuff/OCD are the three things I am focused on most right now with respect to Gray. I don’t worry about the basics with him, he has so much in common with Sticky that his truth and authencity will play. The bigger elements need to be our focus as we prep the film and ramp up to the shoot.

Friday, Grayson stepped onto the stage for the first time to formally screen-test for the role of Sticky and he absolutely brought it. His performance wasn’t perfect and definitely isn’t at game-speed yet, but he put the time in and proved to our team that he is both charismatic and willing to prepare. It was not until that morning that I truly felt comfortable handing the reigns of Sticky to the kid they call The Professor. He knows what kind of work it will take and he’s getting a better sense of what comes with this acting game. We now can say with authority that Gray will do us proud and he will be someone that audiences want to watch.

I very much appreciate the effort put forth by all the other actors who showed up to work with Grayson. Hopefully, they will all be rewarded for their energies and BDL will have spots for them. Time will tell.

We are nearing financing on this thing, so a May shoot day is definitely looking within reach. We’re close, people, time to step up the game.