“Without a vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18).

At the time I was writing the play, this proverb kept ringing in my head. To some degree it was this admonishment that was the impetus for the play. I wanted to share the importance of this proverb with others while at the same time I was working out something for myself. It’s not that I didn’t have dreams. I had dreams that I wasn’t seeing fulfilled and I felt like I was perishing. I wanted to do something about that. I wanted not only to dream, but to make a difference not only in my life, but in some small way in the lives of others around me. I felt that by presenting the stories of these characters in this play perhaps I could spark some socio-political conversations regarding some matters that were of concern to me and, I thought, to my city, state, and country. I also wanted to actually do something about pursuing my dream as an artist.

“The Addict” was a character in the play that lacked vision. He somehow was not able to reach beyond his circumstances because he had lost his dreams or they were somehow distorted. This character stuck with me long after the production of that play. I think I was most drawn to this character because he most resembled family members and other people in my environment. His challenges and obstacles were familiar to me. The way that he used storytelling to avoid talking about what was going on in his life and sometimes how he used storytelling to speak very clearly about the issues that he faced reminded me of people that I had been around in the the Lower Ninth Ward and Fisher Housing projects in New Orleans. He represented people that I didn’t always see in the theater or in film. He was poor, but not a criminal. Even though he drank, smoked weed, and ocassionally did as he said “a lil coke,” he functioned. He wasn’t a stereotypical “theatrical drug addict” who could barely keep his feet on the ground. He was to some degree in denial. At the same time he was aware of his denial and why he was choosing it. He was less addicted to drugs than he was addicted to being a loser. He was addicted to his excuses and his decision to not have dreams. The character is complicated and complexed.

I incorporated this character into another one-man show a few years later, and I have used part of his dialogue as an audition piece throughout the last decade or more.

In 1999 my church was sponsoring a film festival. Again my desire “to do” something within the community I was involved and with my artistic career was ignited. One day during a service a challenge resounded loudly in my head. The challenge basically was, “Stop waiting around for them to throw you left overs, make your own gourmet meal.” That is a paraphrase, but it expresses the sentiment of what was said.

I went home that afternoon and converted the “The Addict’s” story into a short screenplay. As I wrote the character's story expanded and became less self-centered. The screenplay evolved into how the character's lack of vision and careless behavior affected not only him but also others around him. The screenplay didn’t completely stop addressing the importance of having a dream, but it began to focus more on forgiveness.

I had never written a screenplay before so it was rough. There were no camera directions and few descriptions in it. It was more like a play. I got some guidance about formatting and description from a friend who also attended my church. It was from him that I learned what a script doctor was. I attended a one-day seminar where I received some other valuable instruction. After that I produced 95% of the final script that became “Joe Willie’s Friend.”

Once the script was written I contacted a friend of mine who was an assistant director at a major studio in Los Angeles. He agreed to help me with my script. He was excited to work on the project. I knew that he could help me make it. However, once we started to talk, I saw that his idea for the film was starkly different from mine. He wanted to do a “Fast and Furious” version of the script and that is not the story I wanted to tell. I had to pass up the opportunity to get the film done. I explained to my friend that I was very busy and that I realized that it was not the right time to do the film after all.

It would be five years and several other discussions with other directors before I decided I had to do it or it would never get done.

I learned of the first time filmmaker package through Shannon Kendall. I applied for a camera package and initially was denied. I then had to say “NO” to the rejection. I had to explain to the people at Panavision the significance and relevance of my film. Below is an excerpt from the letter I sent on July 14, 2004:

I want to plead the case for my film. I believe that it is a very good story. I believe it is timely and interesting.

My story deals with forgiveness. We live in a day when the 911 Comission says that our CIA was basically mismanaged; that it's intelligence was shabby and faulty. We have been told that the CIA's lack of information, lack of communication within its own organization and with other governmental and intelligence organizations may have lead to or, at the very least, interfered with the prevention of 911. We've also been told that incorrect information was given to the Congress and the President of the United States, which was then used to start the Iraq war.

It is a time when the President and his cabinet are suspected of hyping what many think they knew was inaccurate information to start the Iraq war.

Whether we agree with any of these observations or not, they do cause strife and contention in our nation, and an atmosphere where "forgiveness" is needed and desired whether or not it is always being requested.

"The Passion" was released this year and became one of the biggest movies of all time. A little movie called "Saved" has done quite well at the box office. People seem to be looking for movies about spirituality, about positive change, about communication, about overcoming, about forgivenss.

My movie is a simple story. It is not about a big drug dealer in "da hood". The characters are real people, people that I could have met growing up in New Orleans. They are parts of people that I knew from my working class neighborhood that I spent the first 12 years of my life, and parts of other people I met when my mother, sibliings and I moved into the Fischer housing project in New Orleans. They are not gang members, but they do have struggles.

It is about real people dealing with each other and life.

I would really like the chance to make this movie well. I would appreciate it if you would reconsider letting me have the items that I requested.

After a series of calls, emails and letters to the person who manages the First Time Filmmaker program and to his boss, I was awarded a Super 16 Camera Package with over 1.2 million dollars worth of equipment. I really had to keep my eyes on the prize and persist in pursuing my dream and I believe God smiled on the project as well.

There were a number of other hurdles along the way. However, on the last four days of September 2004 we shot “Joe Willie’s Friend” and at the end of June 2005 the film was completed postproduction and all.

That’s how it happened.

Wilson Bell