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MARC LEVIN INTERVIEW
HBO: What made you decide to go back to Little Rock and film?
MARC: The original was seen by so many people, that both our company and HBO received requests for a follow up. While shooting the update, we realized that we should structure the film so those who hadn't seen the original could appreciate this new film on its own.
HBO: Why did you choose to focus on Leifel, Marvin and Moran?
MARC: The footage we have of Kool Aid, Trig and others was fantastic but it didn't project the movie in the way we wanted. It really didn't have an organic story in the way Leifel's did. The pieces aof Leifel leaving prison and meeting Marvin again worked in that vein. Hopefully, we'll be able to show follow ups on the other gang members in the DVD.
HBO: Were there any surprises when you returned to Little Rock?
MARC: There's been some progress since we were there, such as the government's creation of intervention programs and after-school programs. Although they were a community in denial at the time, they eventually tackled the issue from the enforcement side, prevention and intervention side and the gang violence decreased for a while. Now with the slow economy and more resources earmarked for the war on terror, funding isn't there to support these great community programs and you see this gang activity starting to increase again. We'll just have to see what happens. I guess the biggest change is the way the gangs are a fixed part of the community. 1983 was the climax of the crack wars and gang activity was centered on battles for territory. Now, that that's over, these gangs are, in a weird way, like the boy scouts. You have generations of members of both gangs who are fixtures in the community but they are not at war with each other.
HBO: Is there anything in the film you could have changed and if so, what would that be and how would you have changed it?
MARC: I wish we could have gone a little deeper into Moran's life. I wish we could have aptured more of "a day in the life" stuff. Which isn't just the gangster stuff of guns and violence, I'm talking about the kind of personal everyday issues. Things like managing different girlfriends and being the father of their children while living in a relatively small community where everyone knows everybody. I wish we could have explored that and other personal aspects of his life more. I also would have liked to have gone deeper into Leifel's history with his brother -- how they grew up together in the 50's being the only black family in that neighborhood. I also would have explored Leifel's gang history of how he brought the Crips to Little Rock after spending time with his brother in LA where the gangs were fierce.
HBO: Any chance this story could evolve in to a continuing story where you look at these men and how their lives evolve over the next few years?
MARC: Little Rock is a substantial city but is small enough to track lives and see trends so it does have that potential.It would be interesting to see how Moran will be influenced by his stint in prison. Then you have Marvin who's so important in the film because he is intuitively optimistic about everything, which is something you don't see enough in these stories.
HBO: So what's coming up next?
MARC: I'm doing an indie film focusing on the "Jews run the world" conspiracy theory. Secondly, we're shooting with Outkast's Andre 3000 to follow his political awakening via the Democratic and Republican conventions. Next were doing a film on the unsolved murder of a fashion writer. The film will focus primarily on her family and their journey to determine what happened but how they've had to make peace with it so they can move on with their lives. I also have a feature I'm trying to get off the ground about the "Low Lifes" - a Brooklyn street gang in made their mark stealing polo shirts to wear as their signature uniform.
HBO: What's up with the gang members from the first film that are not shown here?
MARC: Trig went into the service and served in Middle East and the first Gulf war. He's now stateside and is raising his two children on his own. Kool-Aid is in prison who's now gone from "..it's not about black and white but gang red and blue" to being affiliated with the white power groups due primarily to his prison experiences. KK ended up in Florida and did prison time and is now trying to start a new life. Taz has now moved out west. Steve, the county coroner in the first film, now works in youth programs in North Little Rock and has become a lecturer on gang and gang issues.
Let me add one thing. obviously there are some depressing moments in the film, funerals and such, tough sides of the war at home. It's easy in this "post-9-11" time to forget there is and always has been a war on our own homefront. As we try to remind people around the world that we want to change the world and bring democracy everywhere else, we've must remember that we have lots to take care of here at home. I hope in some way this film helps put that on the radar as it hasn't been discussed in political debates. When people say to me "What's the solution?", I say remember this is reality and when you see Leifel's story as a hopeful story, you see how you can change and move forward. Furthermore, it shows that its going to take people like him who were on the front lines of the street wars to help us find solutions. For me the saddest thing is to think of us as a society that would say to someone like Leifel and Marvin, "Why are you wasting a time trying to make a difference? We're not going to encourage you to change. Change is our responsibility". I hope the film sensitizes viewers to that. Trig mentioned in the first film that world's going to end in one big gang war. Now in this film you have Moran comparing Bin Laden to any gang leader doing what he has to do. I never thought that 10 years later, these perceptions could be right. There's a truth in what they say even though it's so extreme.
Marc Levin, along with producer Daphne Pinkerson has produced numerous films for HBO, including the recent "Heir to an Execution: A Granddaughter's Story," plus "Mob Stories," "Prisoners of the War on Drugs," "Execution Machine: Texas Death Row," "Soldiers in the Army of God" and "Gladiator Days." Their HBO documentary "Thug Life in D.C." won the 1999 Emmy® for Outstanding Non-Fiction Special, while "Gang War: Bangin' in Little Rock" won the CableACE Award for Best Documentary of 1994, as well as a Silver Medal for Best Documentary at the Houston International Film Festival.
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