Deon Taylor forges own path in Hollywood
Deon Taylor doesn’t take no for an answer when it comes to filmmaking. And it’s a word he hears all the time.
When no one wanted to make his first film, he made it himself and even persuaded Rutger Hauer to be in it. When the studio said it couldn’t afford Oscar-nominated cinematographer Dante Spinotti for his latest, “Black and Blue ,” Taylor opened up his wallet and paid Spinotti himself. And when he realized the press schedule for his racially themed action film didn’t include places such as Dallas, Cleveland, Detroit and his hometown of Gary, Indiana, he made his own plans to reach those markets.
Taylor knows that some people think he’s crazy for all the extra things he does. But that refusal to be dissuaded was the only way this kid from Gary, who never had any formal filmmaking training, was going to become a director. And after 15 years of doing it his way — independently— Hollywood is finally taking notice.
This year Taylor has two films being distributed by a major studio, Sony Pictures’ Screen Gems: “The Intruder,” a thriller with Michael Ealy and Meagan Good that became a solid hit in May, and “Black and Blue,” a fast-paced police corruption tale starring Naomie Harris and Tyrese Gibson, that opens nationwide this week. It’s