HAMILL - The Movie: Producers’ Statement
This just in… I got this from a confidential source. It is a e-mail correspondence to all people who got involved with Matt Hamill - The Movie from K’Dee Miller, who is the Producer of this movie.
—–Original Message—–
From: K’Dee Miller(at)xxxx.xxx
To: getinvolved(at)xxxx.xxx
Sent: Fri, 9 May 2008 2:13 pm
Subject: Matt Hamill Statement–Update 5/9/08
For all those concerned, Matt Hamill’s stance and official statement on the Hamill project is below. I would appreciate you forward it along to all the necessary channels, as you did with the casting notice and subsequently the casting controversy.
As for the auditions, we continue to support our original vision, as well as Matt Hamill’s, and will continue our search for Deaf talent to play the other Deaf roles. Although RIT and Gallaudet have recently chose not to support our casting endeavors, the hearing community remains true to this vision, and therefor our casting will still occur in the New York City area. I encourage all interested contenders to contact casting(at)xxxx.xxx to schedule an appointment for a New York City time slot.
Look for an official statement in the next few days on behalf of K’Dee Miller Productions, LLC, Eben Kostbar, and the entire Matt Hamill Production Crew. We want to thank all of our supporters, deaf and hearing, who have remained constant in bringing this vision to life, even through the recent controversy.
Sincerely,
K’Dee Miller
Producer/ Hamill
___________________________________________
Amy Cohen Efron here: I would strongly advise K’Dee Miller and her production company needs to read this website below.
The website is called: NTCP - Non-Traditional Casting Project - Listening with Open Eye
Click the icon below.
May 10th, 2008 at 1:15 am
All I can say “Good luck”! because we are not going to be silence anymore.
-Gary
May 10th, 2008 at 1:37 am
Oh gosh, I feel so haughty here! I guess Matt Hamill is going along with K’Dee as she looks like an easy one to bag if you know what I mean. Chuckling. Chuckling.
May 10th, 2008 at 4:12 am
Maybe, unlike you, Matt does not see life through a deaf vs. hearing prism.
GET. OVER. IT.
May 10th, 2008 at 8:40 am
Aimee,
Thank you for exposing K’Dee and what they are trying to do. Don’t let them run a PR campaign making the DEaf community look bad. They ned to do one simple thing:
Hire Def actors and actresses to perform all the roles of Deaf actors and actresses. Not some, but all. Once they get it, we, the DEaf community will support their movie 100%.
The way they are trying to use Matt Hammill against us is sickening.
Also, please don’t xxx out K’Dee’s e-mail above. He needs to hear from the Deaf community and know how serious we are about this.
May 10th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Matt has control over how this movie is being made, so, no one is taking advantage of anything. Ya’all need to read every thing that Matt said on his web page. And if you’re not good at reading English, find someone to translate it for you.
This is getting ridiculous. It’s no wonder people don’t want to deal with deaf people and their “angry stances” on every little itty bitty iota fly that lands on a deaf soup!
May 10th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Fret not, it is Matt Hammill’s loss, not ours. Ali Muhammed was awarded honourary degrees from some universities, including Princeton University, University of Vermont. So, Gallaudet or the NTID would NOT award Hammill an honourary degree.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I wrote a screenplay called “strong deaf” that was a hybrid of sorts - chronicling a student, CARL DUPREE who was killed at Gallaudet by campus securityin ‘91 and the DPN. This was back in ‘95. Winona Ryder was given the script without my knowing and she JUMPED at the opportunity to play the leading deaf role. It was in my contract that a deaf actress will play the role of a deaf linguistics student. Ii could have “sold out” and went for the money. At the time Winona was the hottest actress in town. But i stuck to my guns and said “no”
I am hearing. in retrospect. Did i make the right choice? It is 13 years later and the film has not gotten made. It would have been made in a heartbeat if I would have cast winona. I could have bought a house with the money.
i’m on the fence on this one… because having witnessed so many films afterwards - that cast hearing actors in deaf roles — I feel like I stood up for deaf more that deaf themselves stand up for deaf. I’ve witnessed a split in the deaf community… No unity. Personally, I think it’s a travesty that deaf are not being cast for deaf roles… and I think deaf ought to support those projects that feel the same way — unfortunately we only hear the outcry when mistakes happen and ignorance prevails — instead of hearing the deaf voices when SUPPORT is needed.
There is also another project by John Shestack about DPN. He too wanted to cast deaf actors for deaf roles. Guess where his script is? Gathering dust…
What a mess. I am 47 years old now and i see history constantly repeating itself. I think over the years the project which maintained the most honor is “Love is Never Silent” — a good film that represented deaf with realism.
When hearing are cast — the result is always a stinker - EXCELLENCE always threatens MEDIOCRACY. Lesser minds and lesser talents, don’t see the value of deaf in deaf roles and go for the “name” meaning — the filmmakers look OUTSIDE of themselves and reach for anything that will get their films made — mesmerized by hollywood lure… in the process — selling their soul. The great films are great because they look within. Did Francis Ford Coppola cast germans to play italian in “The Godfather?” No way. The really truly great films understand the importance of authenticity — and there are countless deaf actors who are qualified to help make a film great!!!
Thanks for reading…
May 10th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
http://www.MattHamill.com
Matt is standing by his choice
of a hearing actor to portray him.
That’s the sum of it all.
May 10th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
“This is getting ridiculous. It’s no wonder people don’t want to deal with deaf people and their “angry stances” on every little itty bitty iota fly that lands on a deaf soup!”
Dude — it’s no different than black-face… “little itty bitty?”
There are thousands of roles created everyday… and only a handful of deaf roles created in a decade. Don’t you think the honorable and consequently the creatively most appropriate thing to do would be to CONSIDER a deaf actor for a deaf role? Let the auditions begin and may the BEST ACTOR EARN the role? A deaf actress (to remain unnamed) once said. “When hearing actors play a deaf role… they are busy trying to act deaf. when deaf play deaf roles they are busy being the character.”
And another inquiry — how are deaf represented in the most powerful medium on the planet - film…. A medium that has such power to shape the ideas, perspectives on a culture?
“itty bitty” is less a reflection on the subject you’re comment on than it is a reflection of your own self.
ANY other profession. would not tolerate this discrimination — what if there was a deaf surgeon that is better qualified than hearing… a deaf educator… a deaf scientist… a deaf football player… and they did not get the opportunity to even compete — because they don’t have a “name” There are many things Rhanda Haines (director of “Children of a Lesser God”) and I don’t see eye-to-eye on as well as heated conversations I’ve had with Ned Tannen (at the time president of Paramount Pictures). But looking at the uphill battles of “celebrity driven” product… AT LEAST — THEY had the integrity to cast a deaf person for a deaf role — when a LOT more money was at stake.
consider it…
May 10th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
One last thing for those who want to push this farther… There are “equal opportunity” aspects of the producer’s contract with SAG (Screen Actors’ Guild) relating to auditions, you may want to pursue. This came into play during the uproar over “Calander Girls” when the same thing happened. Quality deaf actors like Ed Waterstreet and others were overlooked for a much smaller role (and a hearing actor was cast)… A national protest began in support of those deaf actors, spearheaded by NAD…
It caused so much embarrassment to Penny Marshal (the producer of the film) that she upstaged the lead actor when he was on Lenno… She TOTALLY distanced herself from the film… so from a grass-roots perspective… you CAN make a difference… this kind of controversy can bury a film’s earnings and standing..
May 10th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
In other words… my advice? If you are serious about protecting deafs’ equal access — and serious about accurate portrayals of deaf in media… get a press release out ASAP to the AP and UPI… begin now before they even start rolling camera!
May 10th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Please keep in mind that this HAMILL film is an independent LOW BUDGET film as opposed to a single-source funded feature film. The lead actor of HAMILL is also one of the producers of this film. It’s not surprising that he’d want to do HAMILL himself and he looks nothing like HAMILL unless he has to take steroids to pump himself up. In Hollywood, if it’s your own sandbox, you have every right to play in it whether you like it or not because the money is in their hands. Just don’t contribute money to a film if the producers are taking this film on the wrong path.
For proof, check out K’Dee Miller’s credits on IMDB.com. She doesn’t have any producing credits to her name.
If I was Matt Hamill, I would wait to see how much further he could take his career. I’d sit back and wait for a much larger feature film deal from more reputable film production companies. This film is cheapening his legacy as a deaf MMA fighter. I think Matt needs to fire his agent and get a REAL agent who can get him a good deal for optioning his life story. He’s going to stay poor if he make bad moves for his career.
I feel really bad that someone is ruining it for Matt by doing a low budget film when he could get a much better deal. However, it is his life and he has the right to choose whatever he wants for his career. I’ll always a fan of his. Matt’s no filmmaker nor a businessman.. just a MMA fighter. I think he got ripped off. I hope we all can continue to support him in UFC.
Matt.. A word of advice. I don’t care if your friend is doing the lead role in HAMILL. This is a business decision. Just because you like someone as a friend doesn’t mean he’ll serve your business interests well. Get a good Hollywood agent and he’ll get you a deal that will set you up for a long time, even after you retire from MMA.
May 10th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
I agree with Bob. It’ll be interesting if this project is a SAG sanctioned film production or not.
May 11th, 2008 at 1:57 am
NYC Deaf ppl must disrupt this casting …
R-
May 30th, 2008 at 2:36 am
This is a fantastic idea. I’ve been involved with MMA for a long time, and I have never seen someone come along like Matt. He has not only overcome a significant fighting handicap (fighters listen to their corners throughout the fight, which Matt can’t do), but he is a class act. Look no further than a post on Sherdog that appeared just a couple of days ago about a father bringing his handicapped daughter to meet Matt. The link to the thread is: http://www.sherdog.net/forums/f2/my-daughter-met-matt-hamill-today-788067/. That summarizes Matt in a nutshell. This is a shoe-in for a great, great movie. And please incorporate the scene of Matt jumping into his coaches arms after winning the NCAA DIII wrestling finals (actual event).
June 3rd, 2008 at 10:18 am
[...] Statements of Matt Hamill and Eben Kostbar NEWS FLASH! NTID/RIT cancels HAMILL (movie) auditions! HAMILL - The Movie: Producers’ Statement Lighting A Candle in the Deaf Darkness Dis and data…Deaf issues on my mind [...]
September 15th, 2008 at 3:37 am
[...] Statements of Matt Hamill and Eben Kostbar NEWS FLASH! NTID/RIT cancels HAMILL (movie) auditions! HAMILL - The Movie: Producers’ Statement Lighting A Candle in the Deaf Darkness Dis and data…Deaf issues on my mind [...]