Mo' Boonkey feat. Daunte Brown

On this episode, Danny sits down with Charleston-based filmmaker, Daunte Brown. They talk about Daunte's life in West Ashley, Charleston and John's Island, the perception of Charleston to outsiders, that being an inspiration for his film, "The Boonkey Trail", what got him into filmmaking, switching majors in college, the process from writing a screenplay to post-production and a 5 Questions segment.

Where to find Daunte:

instagram.com/dentyne_3 

instagram.com/theboonkeytrail

youtube.com/@dauntebrownfilms

Intro-Late Night Jam by Infrared Krypto

Listener questions/comments:
foxworthpodcast@gmail.com

Instagram:
instagram.com/dannyfoxworth843

X:
x.com/dannyfoxwrth843

Bluesky:
dannyfoxworth843.bsky.social

YouTube Channel:
youtube.com/dannyfoxworth843

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

What is good, good people? You were now listening to another episode of Since We Last Spoke with Danny Foxworth. I am your humble narrator, Danny Foxworth, and on this episode, we're joined by an extremely special guest. This good brother reached out to me and he was telling me about his film project that he's working on. And I was like, the name alone just immediately piqued my interest, you know, being from the low country and being geechy. And I was like, man, I gotta give this dude a platform. So without further ado, a young filmmaker based out of Charleston, South Carolina, the good brother Dante Brown. Dante, how you doing this evening?

SPEAKER_01 0:30

I'm all right, man. Thank you for having me. And uh I knew the people, like that's the big uh part of the reason why I picked that name. I knew we would we would get here.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

And I'm glad we can find I can I'm glad we can finally link up. So when I do my podcast, I like to take it back to the very beginning with my guests. So let's take it back all the way back to the uh to the early days. Uh what was life like growing up in in uh Charleston for young Dante Brown?

SPEAKER_01 0:56

I would say, so first of all, I'll say uh my daddy's side from Johns Island, my mama's side from downtown, both sides have been in Charleston forever, and I spent like a lot of time going back and forth, and also spent like a little bit of time in West Ashley too. But I got family all around, so I was really all around Charleston. But yeah, man, I uh it felt special, you know, like because I I I moved away from Charleston these past couple years. I still be going, I just been to Columbia, going to school, stuff like that. And um, every time you go back, like it just like reinvigorates like how like good it feels to come from there. But um big family, lots of cousins, lots of aunts, uncles, all of that. And it's something you don't really like notice till you get older and like reflect on it a little bit, just like how special of a feeling it really was. But uh yeah, walking all around downtown with my grandma on that side, being all around the island with my other grandparents and just like just seeing like how different ages of cousins. Like I saw so much of different types of Charleston growing up. So yeah, it was cool, man.

SPEAKER_00 1:58

Dope. And you talking about the different uh sides of Charleston, and a lot of people on the outside looking in don't really realize that. They think Charleston don't really take into consideration the different territories in Charleston, like you said with West Ashley and Johns Island, because Johns Island is is way different from downtown Charleston. And it's really cool that you that you were able to experience both sides of that Charleston area.

SPEAKER_01 2:24

Yeah, I I would say uh a lot of people have an idea of what they think Charleston is, and then a lot of them come here and try to put that idea, like try to change what it actually is. So that's kind of been like an irritating development these past couple years, and it's a big this it's some commentary about it in the Bunky Trail and throughout like a lot of my films. But uh yeah, I I just want to show off what, in my opinion, like what Charleston really is, show like the actual roots and like cause a lot of people don't really realize, like, yeah, it's a cool place, but like a lot of people like the from here, they live here, and like this is their life, and you can't really just like like shake that up and try to push them out, but yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Yeah, and I'm glad you're covering that in your films too. And we're gonna get into the boonie trail. But uh, first off, what scratched your itch for a film?

SPEAKER_01 3:14

Hmm. So I would say just like I guess it kind of developed early on. I got I I would watch a lot of movies. Like I mentioned before, my grandparents, all of them always had some type of bootleg movies, so I was always watching stuff with them. And then, you know, just like cartoons and anime and stuff like that also really affected me growing up. And I would say it's not really something I realized till COVID hit. COVID hit my senior year high school, and then I shipped off to college right after that. And um, I would say during COVID, I kind of like rediscovered my love for movies. And at the end of my college year, freshman year, uh, I sat down and started trying to write my first script. So that's like the moment I realized, like, yeah, that's what I want to do. I just always like storytelling, and I feel like that's the lane that I would excel at the most.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

So was there a particular movie that really just piqued your interest? I can't really say, like, people ask me like, like, what's your favorite or something like that?

SPEAKER_01 4:10

And it'd be hard to pin down one because I just feel like I was absorbing so much. I was trying to absorb so much. Well, all these ones on the wall, but yeah, like definitely played a big role. Um, like, like do the right thing and stuff like that. Jews, a lot of like them like movies I grew up with. And then ah, just so many movies. It's hard to pick, it's hard to pinpoint one.

SPEAKER_00 4:30

Okay. And then um, when you went away to college, you went there for for film?

SPEAKER_01 4:35

No, I I originally went there for like engineering. I I wasn't gonna do that though. I I I wasn't bad at it, but I knew how much more I had to do, and that's just not what I was about. But um essentially, yes, I went there for something else, but I uh really went there with the purpose of like using the school's resources for free so I could like try to make my own stuff.

SPEAKER_00 4:58

So the Bunky Trail. So number one, what what was it that made you come up with the uh with the title? Because I mean as soon as I heard the title, I was like, man, I like this already.

SPEAKER_01 5:12

So I was I don't like I think one day, like, like I was thinking about something like the Bunky, the Bunky Trail. Hmm, that that's kind of funny. It's like I just kind of put it down like a working title, and then people not from Charleston, and then like white people start asking me, like, like, what does it mean? Like, what y'all think it means? And they all start coming up like these crazy different, well, I think it means this and I think it means that. I'm like, whoa, I don't know where y'all getting this stuff from, but like after like they started like giving me all them examples, like, oh I gotta keep this as the title, cause like, because like it's just kind of funny, and it kind of makes sense with the context of the film. It's some it's some people doing some odd stuff. But uh, yeah, no, I after like people was doing all that, I knew I had to make that the title.

SPEAKER_00 5:54

And then it gives off a very touristy energy, like whenever they try to try to decipher what a bunkie is, yeah and then they're giving all these wrong answers. It and I like I love stuff like that because when the outer towners really try to like uh like get themselves immersed in the Geechee culture, and then they don't stick the landing. Yeah, nobody don't be knowing what's going on. So uh what was the creative process like in terms of getting the uh film started? Ooh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:24

So I had actually written and finished about like four other full feature scripts, and my homeboy Jake, who's actually a producer in 80 on the Bunky Trail, we had just come off finishing his like debut feature film called The Class Selection Middle Bridge High. And we had like a nice uh premiere for at the Nickelodeon Theater in Columbia, and after that, we made my short film, and actually the weekend we made my short film just so happened to be the week that Sinners came out, and um, for the longest time I had been like having ideas bubbling for like kind of like a horror, surreal, thriller type thing. And I knew I needed something like that, but I could never come up with an idea. And then after Sinners came out, and then like Note 2, like I knew like, oh, I gotta come up with something like that, because that's what the people want. So after a while, I tell Jake and Alex, another producer on the movie, I'm like, yeah, I'm ready to make this like full feature. So we was debating between the other scripts that I wrote. One called Regal Juice and one called Chuck Town Shuffle, and I was debating on which one, which one of them two I would make. And I'm like, Y'all, give me six months to write this new script, and we're gonna make that one first. And I was like, all right, bet. So from like August to like January, I wrote them script, I wrote the Boomkey Trail script. Uh it was just like so much research and uh just like you know, inner research and asking like my surroundings, asking family, just just like you know, they they upbringing and like what they think about Charleston, like crazy stories they might have. I I just want to immerse myself in the culture as much as possible. And yeah, I was I wrote the script and we we just hit the ground running.

SPEAKER_00 8:05

And so with the script writing process, because I know you have to be really thorough in that and revise. So on average, when you're writing a screenplay, how long does it normally take you until you're satisfied with the with the final result of your screenplay?

SPEAKER_01 8:21

I say like on average, like two years. That's kind of been like what it's been like for me. Uh some took longer than others, but yeah, usually the way it works for me is um I'll like start coming up with ideas, and then once I have like a solid, like, okay, I could kind of do like I have like an atmosphere for the movie, like how I want it to feel, like certain things. I just start like I'll start up with like a notes page and I'll just like jot things down, like a conversation I might have had with somebody or conversation I might have seen somebody else have, or seen some crazy stuff outside, or heard a story about something, I'm like, hmm, that could, that could work for this. And I just jot it down. And after like a couple months of doing that, like I'd be like a good starting place and like I can piece together the puzzle. And I'm yeah, like the script just kind of goes for that. And then once I finish them, I usually like like the way it kind of happens, like I'll be stuck for a while, and then I'll have like some epiphany at like four in the morning when I'm supposed to be sleeping, and like I gotta get everything down so I don't forget. And then like once I usually finish like a first time draft, I just don't look at it for a while because like I just spent so much time doing this, I'm tired of them over. And over as time goes on, I'll come back and like you know, reread it, make changes for like how I feel in the moment, make it just make it better.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

And then once the screenplay is complete, then what's the next step?

SPEAKER_01 9:40

That's always the tricky part, and that's something I'm still kind of struggling with because um I I'll say I watch so many like behind the scenes documentaries of like a bunch of different movies being made from different decades. And I'll say that one thing that's pretty consistent is that like filmmakers in my position usually never know what like the next step is. So that was kind of reassuring to know like a lot of the greats was in my exact same place, but I just feel kind of lost. But I definitely just say uh just making sure you got everything you need, making sure like the script is broken down, you know, like how many props you need, how many people you need for this scene, like, and then you know, on the business side, you know, gotta start thinking about like, you know, crew, cast, how you gonna pay everybody, how you gonna feed everybody, how you gonna house everybody. So I say them definitely like the first steps for like after you finish the screenplay, and obviously besides like getting it in people's hands.

SPEAKER_00 10:32

So your first filmmaking experience, what were the steps that you took to uh see it from screenplay to the uh completion of the film?

SPEAKER_01 10:42

I say the number one thing is patience. Because uh it's time where it just kind of like grinds you down. Sometimes like you think you're making the greatest thing ever. Sometimes you feel like like, oh man, ain't nobody gonna like this. So as long I feel like as long as I like what I've written or what I've made, then uh I'd say I'd feel pretty happy about it. Other than that, I would say uh, hmm, yeah, patience. Cause like I like even like I be editing a lot of my own stuff, and that in itself is a crazy process. Like, and there's always something that goes wrong, and you just gotta like know who you are and like like have be strong enough to see through it because like there's something great on the other side.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

And then when uh you actually finished creating the short film, what was that feeling like? Because I know that had to be a big weight off of your shoulders.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

See, the craziest thing about that is so I was going to USC and I was using a lot of their stuff for free, and then we could use Adobe for free. I spent the whole summer editing the short film just for USC to delete my premiere account, so the whole I lost the whole thing. Oh my God. So after, like, cause that's around the time I started having ideas about the Boonky Trail. So like I didn't look at it till a few months ago, and this was it deleted in early August. So like I was I was so mad I didn't even want to like think about it because I spent all that time working on it. So I say um once I finished the Boonky Trail script, actually, I got back into editing the short film. And yeah, so just I guess having the mental toughness to even go back. Because like I said, I was mad when they deleted my thing. I bet I would have been too. Because I I went to them so many times to see if they could get it back. Because I spent the whole summer editing it and like like I was also mad because you know the crew and cash spent, like had a lot of hard work put into uh that project, which is coming out soon. I I pushed it off like putting it out on YouTube and nothing like that. Cause I want to have like a real premiere for it. I want to invite a bunch of people, like y'all out. I would love to have y'all out and like you know, come watch it. So we're setting something like up that up for the summer. I'm gonna definitely let you know about that. Please do. Uh yeah, so it's done now. I re-edited the whole thing. I'm just waiting for a good time and place to have I want to make an event out of it. You know, I I I'm doing all this for the city. I I wanna filmmaking, and I felt like this would be like a nice you know launching point for other people to just get a little taste of what you might expect from me.

SPEAKER_00 13:17

Right on. So in terms of getting your cast and and crew members to uh film the project, uh how difficult of a of a task was that?

SPEAKER_01 13:29

So when I did the short from Scunny Pack, everybody who worked on that is coming to the Monkey Trail. And they were all just people, you know, I met in school, met through uh Jake's film, like I mentioned before, met a lot of them through there too. Another big help, actually, is my cinematographer for the film will be Dr. this man named Dr. Glover, and he's a professor at USC. And uh I remember we was just telling him about the project, and he was like, hey, like I would love to be the cinematographer. And you know, Dr. Glover, he got a couple movies under his own belt on social on streaming platform and stuff like that. He's done it before, he teaches it, and he's a local dude, he's from Orangeburg. So like the fact that he was interested in it, like, like, like, was a huge help. He's at his own production company, so I know we're gonna get a bunch of crew from him too. So uh that was just a huge help. And yeah, that's well, we're still some more people we find in. Um met a lot of people through Trident recently. They had this Atomicon. I met some people there who I'm gonna definitely reach out to the for like post-production stuff. Okay. But yeah, yeah, it's uh it's definitely been a process and something we've all been contributed in our long way.

SPEAKER_00 14:31

Man, that's all right. And uh I love seeing you know young filmmakers and sp especially young black filmmakers that have an idea and then they see it and they go through the proper channels and they take the necessary steps to see that that idea to completion. And kudos to you, man, for real.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yes, appreciate you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 14:50

Yes, sir, because I know that's not an easy task, just based on what you were telling me, because I had no idea like how arduous of a task that is just making films. Like, I I kind of had an idea, but when you really broke it down, I was like, oh wow, okay. I didn't realize it was that labor intensive.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

Yeah, a lot of people don't realize just how hard it can get. Like, I think you just pick up that camera and start shooting, because ooh, yes, that's that's the I guess that's the easy part, and it really ain't even the easy part. I just mentioned pre-productions. The rhyme even gotten the actual shooting, the lighting and the sound stuff. That's all stuff that takes lots of labor on set. So, yeah, still got a long road ahead, but you know, we working, we grinding.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Hey, slow motion is better than no motion. So um, when can we expect the Bunky Trail to uh be released?

SPEAKER_01 15:38

I can't say for sure. We ran a little hiccup recently, so I had to push things back a little bit. It's still like still in motion, like I said, but I'll have a better answer for that in in the next few weeks. But I'm on it, because like I really do like I don't want to just throw this up on like a streaming platform. I really do want this to have like a real theater release, like cross the country. Like, so I I'm striving for that, because in my opinion, the best movies is the one that like that that make an impact on the culture. Like, like I don't really care how much a movie does at the box office, if it's impacted like the people, if it's like being quoted, if it's like remembered, that's how I like that's how I want my movies to be. I want it to be an event. So I don't want to just like just make it just to make it.

SPEAKER_00 16:24

Absolutely, man. Whenever you make the announcement you're gonna have your premiere, I I'm pulling up straight up. For sure, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 16:30

Like yeah, you already had a ticket, y'all. However, many you need. Like, I want that to be a great event. Uh, we still looking for some places in Charleston, but yeah, yeah, yeah, we definitely gonna make an event out of that.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Yeah, and I'm looking forward to seeing it. So now we're gonna get into the five question segments. So the first and last question I ask every guest I have on here, and questions two through four, 100% random. So, question number one: what would Dante's go-to school lunch items? Go-to school lunch? Ooh. Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

For the longest time I ain't gonna let my mama pack lunch. Okay. But good question. So what does she pack? Whatever she made the night before. Okay. So I'll say like some type of it's made probably some type of seafood. That's all we really be eating. Uh like that's the late all my mom and daddy don't eat no other type of meat but seafood, like straight off the water. Like, so yeah, probably some type of I'll say some type of pasta, some type of shrimp pasta, something like that. I don't know, something like that.

SPEAKER_00 17:29

That man's bringing shrimp pasta to school. Man, my man had to flex on us like that, man. I'm sitting here eating fiestadas and French bread pizza. This man got seafood pasta, man. All right, show's over.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah, my mama was definitely gonna do that. And then like my grandma'll be cooking too, so whatever they made, like I don't know, just packing. My grandma told me she got some okra soup waiting for me now.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Dog. Can you can you inbox me a bowl of it? She cook it too. She she she that's what she used to do. Like, she used to just cook. Well, I love me some okra soup, man. Me too, not gonna lie. Question number two. What's your favorite place to hang out in Charleston?

SPEAKER_01 18:09

Think about that one. I don't want to give no jokey answers. I'll say, you mean like part of the city or specific location? Uh completely up to you. Okay, okay. Favorite place to hang out? I'll honestly just say the island. I I love like cruising around the island. I like the trees covering the sun. It's very it's real relaxing on the island, to be honest. So uh, yeah, definitely like just around the area where my grandmama stays at. Like, that's where me and my cousin be mostly, so yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Uh, question number three. Do you prefer weekdays or weekends? Weekends, days. Yeah, I feel you on that. Question number four. What's a hidden talent that you possess that nobody knows about? Hmm. Hidden talent, okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

I think I could sing a little bit. I think I could sing a little bit.

unknown 18:56

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 18:56

Just a little nine, I ain't saying like I know I'm I'm Michael Jackson and that, but I I could I could do a little something.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Okay, you can hold a note. Yeah, yeah. So what's your go-to song? Like, let's say, like, if it was karaoke night, what would be your go-to? What's your go-to song?

SPEAKER_01 19:10

I actually just went to that karaoke spot downtown on King Street not too long, like a week or two ago. For my birthday, actually, two weeks ago. And happy belated, man. Appreciate you, appreciate you. I sang, it was an outcast song. It was um, I can't believe I'm blanking on it. I gotta figure out what song it was. Cause they got so many.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

Was it the karaoke spot that's right next to Gilroy's Pizza?

SPEAKER_01 19:32

Mm-hmm. Okay. And then before that, I went to um, I think Silver Dollar, but I can't believe, I don't remember which outcast song I sang. Alright, I'm gonna come back to it after the next question, but I'm I'm gonna tell you the song.

SPEAKER_00 19:46

Okay. And then the last question. What was the last thing that really made you laugh?

SPEAKER_01 19:52

I'd probably say my cousin this past weekend. He's just a funny guy. He's actually in the movie. He's gonna be a big part of the cast uh because of that reason. But uh yeah, my cousin Trevor, he's probably he said something funny, man. He always saying something funny.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Okay. So uh did you find out which outcast song that's your go-to karaoke joint?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

I'm so mad of myself right now. It was Roses. Okay, God, I knew I was gonna I was gonna go crazy if I couldn't remember that, man. It was Roses by Cass. That's that's the karaoke song. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

Anything you want to plug or promote? The floor is yours.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

So, yeah, like I said, uh Boonky Trail will be shooting all throughout Charleston very, very soon. I want to shout out the Instagram for it's the Bunky B-O-O-N-K-E-Y trail on Instagram. And then my Instagram is Denteen underscore three, D as in dog, D-E-N-T-Y-N-E underscore three. Uh, it's the uh the Bunky Trail is that for the TikTok account too. And yeah, man, I really am doing this. I I I believe we're coming up on a time that's gonna be like the like the best ever era for black American cinema. And because if you look at like the trends of American cinema, like we're kind we're very much so approaching like a time when Indy is back on top. And whenever that's a indie's back on top, that's when black filmmaking is at its best. And every single time we've like been on a roll, it's gotten cut short. And we're coming up on a time where like it's gonna be this time in charge. I feel like we've taken over every art form except this one because we've had such like a everybody else has had such a head start and compared to us. So I really am doing this, like I want the whole city to be as recognized as it deserves to be, because there's so much talent and just great people in Charleston and really all of South Carolina for us to not be as talked about as some of these other places, because it's not that they're more talented. And in my opinion, like I love all of them, but I feel like we got like the coolest black culture in all of America, and it should be right there in all them conversations. So that's really why I'm doing this, man. I talk. I I I want to be like one of them big launching points, because like we done has some dope stuff, but like we need it needs to be more, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_00 22:05

Yes, sir. So um man, thank you for being a guest on here, man. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I I enjoy learning new things and just you talk again, talking about the filmmaking process and just what it entails, and I just it opened my eyes to a lot of to a lot of things, man. And I appreciate you enlightening me in that process, man. So thank you for watching. Anytime you want to come back on the pod, man, you got an open door policy, straight up.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Thank you, thank you, duh. I really do appreciate you for having me. Like genuinely, I love that you're doing this. Uh, because like I said, we all dope, and yeah, no, I can't wait to come back, can't wait to invite y'all on to like not just like premieres, stuff like that, too, but like like, you know, on set, and it'll be extras and stuff like that. Like I said, I want this to be something that the whole community can be involved in. That's why I like filmmaking. It's like so much different stuff that people could do.

SPEAKER_00 22:55

So uh yeah, can't wait. You and me both. So, man, again, once again, thank you for being a guest on here. And thank y'all for tuning in. Make sure you like, download, or subscribe to Since We Last Spoke to Danny Foxworth. Subscribe to my YouTube channel. You can find me at Danny Foxworth843. There you can find videos of every episode of this podcast, as well as my candle podcast at uh A Wicked Good Time with Danny Foxworth, my baseball podcast at the plate with Danny Foxworth, and Growing Up Low Country with Liz and Danny. Speaking of YouTube channels, if you got a YouTube channel, let the people know where they can find you.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

YouTube channel is Dante Brown Films, I believe. I just changed the name recently. I do think that's the name of. Yep, Dante Brown Film, D-A-U-N-T-E, Brown Films. You can find all my short films there. I ain't put all of them up on there, but you can find a few of them up there.

SPEAKER_00 23:43

And I'll leave I'll put all your information in the show notes, man. No worries. And so, for Dante and myself, this has been another episode of Since We Last Spoke with Danny Foxworth. Until next time, y'all be good. Peace.