The AJC’s Black culture franchise, UATL, kicked off its quarterly Black Culture Movie Night series Tuesday with a screening of “ATL,” followed by a guest appearance from producer Dallas Austin at Plaza Theatre.
The 2006 coming-of-age story starring Clifford “T.I.” Harris, Lauren London and Antwan “Big Boi” Patton tells the story of four friends on the brink of graduating from high school who retreat to a local roller skating rink to escape from their challenges. The story is loosely based on Austin’s teenage years in Atlanta and celebrates its 18th anniversary this year.
“It’s totally me just taking these stories out of College Park,” Austin said. “It’s a whole clip of my life from start to finish.”
Introduced by video and news correspondent Najja Parker after the movie, Austin sat with UATL senior editor Mike Jordan for a 20-minute talkback.
Austin, who’s originally from Columbus, Georgia, flashed back to when he was a regular at Jellybeans, a skating rink formerly near Greenbriar Mall, as a youth. It was the hangout spot where the aspiring musician regularly saw producer DJ Toomp standing behind the turntables, production trio Organized Noize making beats, and dancer DeVyne Stephens having contests against TLC member Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins.
“It’s what we did every Sunday,” Austin said. “I was going just to get away from the crazy stuff that was going on in my life while trying to make it as a producer.”
Austin used “American Graffiti” and films directed by John Hughes like “The Breakfast Club,” “Pretty in Pink,” and “Sixteen Candles” as his muse for “ATL.”
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
The skating sequences were actually Austin standing in for T.I. “ATL” was the chart topping rapper’s acting debut.
“When you see T.I. skate, most of the time it was my legs,” he revealed to the crowd.
A Grammy-winning songwriter and producer responsible for hits for TLC, Madonna and Boyz II Men, Austin produced his first film, also the semi-autobiographical “Drumline,” in 2002.
It was “ATL” that helped Austin realize that Georgia could become a billion-dollar film and television destination.
“This was the film that kicked off the Georgia Film Bill,” Austin told the audience. “Warner Bros. executives told me it would be cheaper to shoot in New Orleans, but this birthed an industry of us telling stories in Atlanta, not New York or L.A.”
Austin worked with Overbrook Entertainment, actor Will Smith’s production company, and Warner Bros. to get “ATL” made. An executive at Overbrook tried to convince Austin to kill actor Evan Ross’ character to add more drama to the film.
He refused and called Smith to plead his case about keeping the story authentic to Atlanta’s skating culture and not glorify violence. “He didn’t understand our culture,” Austin said. “This movie is full of friends and community.” Towards the end of the conversation, Austin video called Ross who expressed his appreciation to Austin for the film launching his career.
He says the storytelling from Atlanta’s music is what helped to fuel artists expanding into film and television.
“Every song is a different story, and we were doing Black pop records,” he said. “We have so many music stories to tell, so we had to expand the business and make it so that people want to be here.”
Years have passed since Austin was a teenager, but he says skating culture is alive and well. He still regularly hangs out with Jermaine Dupri and Usher at Cascade Family Skating and Sparkles Roller Rinks in Smyrna. Skating became part of Usher’s performances during his Las Vegas residency and his record-breaking Super Bowl halftime show.
“Everything Usher did at the Super Bowl is probably what we were doing at Cascade and Jellybeans,” Austin said. “We still do it because that’s always going to be part of Atlanta’s culture.”
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Credit: Jenni Girtman
Tuesday’s screening kicked off UATL’s quarterly screening series of classic films highlighting Black culture, actors, directors and producers. The series launch follows the AJC’s first feature-length documentary “The South Got Something to Say,” released last year, which chronicles Atlanta’s influence in hip-hop music and culture.
UATL’s next movie night is scheduled for June 25. All screenings in the series will be held at the Plaza Theater.
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