NFL Terrell Suggs' Coalition with Director Monica Mingo
Super Bowl Sunday gave the Baltimore Ravens' linebacker Terrell Suggs a chance to show what he's got on the field, but today his film, THE COALITION, gives us a chance to see what he's got on his mind. Women!
It was after the Ravens lost the 2009 AFC championship game that Suggs formed a film production company, then he became part of the American Black Film Festival's Pro Hollywood Initiative and helped encourage more professional athletes to become film producers. Suggs teamed up with director/writer Monica Mingo to produce and co-script this comedy about super star athletes who date too much -- and what these women did about that.
No doubt, Suggs brings some true-to-life stories to the big screen, but it's director Monica Mingo who had to translate them into visual, emotional, and ultimately light-hearted stories. Ms. Mingo graciously gave us an exclusive interview about her vision while co-writing and directing the film.
Q: What did you and Terrell hope to accomplish in making THE COALITION?
A: The vision for directing the film was for it to be as close to the reality of a super star ball player's life as possible. My personal viewpoint is from that of a storyteller. I sit back and listen. I pay attention to my surroundings. When I hear things which sound interesting ... I store it away. When Terrell and I sat down to put this story to paper, it was after listening to lots of different things which have happened to lots of different people. We changed it all up to make it an interesting story but it was basically put together through a series of viewpoints from MANY different stories.
Q: As a woman director, did you try to frame the film from the women's point of view?
A: The movie is pretty much from the perspective of both the guys and the ladies. You see both sides. You see the men doing what they do (pursuing beautiful women) and justifying it by being extra loving to the women they actually love. See ... these guys aren't BAD guys ... they seriously just love women. They love the women they actually truly love and they love women they meet and want to spend a brief amount of time with.
Q: Why focus on all the bling?
A: We wanted and NEEDED to show the lavish lifestyle in order for it to work.
Q: What's it like being a woman director telling women's stories of dating pro ballers?
A: I know all kinds of people. I know all kinds of stories as seen in my body of short films. I hope to be able to tell lots of different stories from many different viewpoints and believe that with proper research ... anything is possible. I'm sure it's the same for male directors. We just want to tell stories as we see them in our head. In a story like THE COALITION, I needed to know how the guys would naturally react as well as how the ladies would, in order to translate those reactions and feelings effectively.
All you fans of sport dating, it's time to make a date with THE COALITION!
