Hometown premiere
Milwaukee-made drama “Trust Nobody” will get a red-carpet movie premiere in its hometown.
Twenty years ago, hip-hop manager and entrepreneur Stevo Love wrote a screenplay inspired by his life growing up on Milwaukee’s west side.
The screenplay evolved into a selfpublished book, “Trust Nobody,” which spawned a sequel, both available on Kindle.
On Friday, the story comes full circle when the movie version of “Trust Nobody” has a red-carpet premiere at AMC Mayfair Mall in Wauwatosa. The red-carpet moment, featuring the movie’s cast, starts at 7 p.m.; the movie starts at 8.
“This is a passion of mine, something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Love, who operates Love’s Celebrity Brands in Milwaukee.
Love, who describes himself as a “celebrity brand broker,” has a lot of passions.
Lately, he’s been active in the liquor business, developing and promoting brands including Ricarda Amor Tequila. But he’s also a promoter. He managed two of Milwaukee’s bestknown hip-hop performers of the 2000s and 2010s, Coo Coo Cal and Baby Drew.
“I’ve been around entertainment my whole life,” Love said.
“Trust Nobody” is about a young hustler named Bricks who, after spending four years in prison, sets out to pick up where he left off.
“In the process of making money, jealousy and greed come in play,” Love said. But, he added, the young man comes to realize that the joy of making money is tempered by the human cost, in lives and relationships. The movie doesn’t have an MPAA rating; based on the trailer, the violence, language and adult themes would bring it a hard-R rating.
“Trust Nobody” was filmed in Milwaukee over just nine days, Love said. Locations include several spots downtown, a dinner scene at King Drive restaurant Mi Casa Su Casa and even a key scene in Love’s old neighborhood at North 47th Street and West Garfield Avenue.
The cast includes rapper-actor Jamal Woolard, former “Love & HipHop” star Shay Johnson and DeMaris Harvey. (Love, who co-directed, also has a brief cameo in the movie.)
Tickets, at $30, are available at Bouchard’s, 7600 W. Capitol Drive, and, if it doesn’t sell out in advance, at AMC Mayfair the night of the screening.
After a second premiere in Jacksonville, Florida, Sept. 5, Love said he’s working on a deal for video distribution, either through streaming or with a cable television channel. And he’s already planning another movie, “Uneven Exchange,” part of which he hopes to film in Milwaukee later this year.
But first, Love is promoting a local celebrity boxing match for a cause.
On Aug. 27 at Turner Hall Ballroom, O.G. Tweezy (formerly known as Young Tweezy, and before that Young Twan) will face Reggie “Smooth Az Butta” Brown from WKKV-FM (100.7), in a bout Love described as a stop-theviolence event aligned with the “Hands Up Guns Down” movement. A portion of the profits will go to charity.
“We’re just trying to show real men can do things” to resolve differences without guns, Love said.