All is set for a highly anticipated premiere of ‘On The Side’. Meet Film creator Ku Diggs
Ku Diggs was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey where he first began to discover his passion for the Arts and desire to create. Now residing in Atlanta, the talented writer, producer and director is driven to create material that has a meaningful impact on viewers. Mr Diggs was recently an honoree of Who’s Who in Black Atlanta in Media and Entertainment.
We were delighted to catch up with the adept film-maker for an exciting one-on-one before the premiere of his much anticipated film On The Side coming up this March 31st in Atlanta.
DUNIA Magazine: Congratulations on the upcoming release of On The Side. What can you tell us about the film and why the story needs to be told?
Mr Diggs: On the Side is a film told from the perspective of the other woman. Also, depicting the untold conversations that happen when in a situation like this. I feel the story needs to be told because it is something that currently happens everyday, but I feel the story has never been told in a manner that people can relate to. Hopefully, when people watch the short film it can give them insight and a perspective they haven’t thought about previously. For example, I feel that females don’t personally feel that men discuss this topic with their friends and get insight from them and I wanted to depict that this is not the case. I also feel that alot of women look at the person who is the other woman as a bad person. I wanted to show that this is also not the case when watching the film. I tried to set out and change some perspectives from what people may previously have had.
You studied Audio/Video Production at Georgia Southern University, how does this help in your filmmaking?
Mr Diggs: Studying video production, at Georgia Southern, was beneficial as it gave me the core tools in doing film. I learned a lot about how to conduct and work with a crew as we had many projects where you wore many different hats. Those core tools I learned have helped me tremendously today when I am on set. It was very important to me in getting the schooling as it allowed me to pursue this dream fearlessly. I was thankful for the knowledge that I learned, but always want to push and not only surpass the bar that has been set but to create a new bar.
Crown Jewelz Films which you created specializes in creating “gems of work”. What types of films will your company be primarily making (and why)?
Mr Diggs: My company primarily will be creating films that tell truths and are of things that happen in real life. I feel there are enough fictional movies out that entertain people, but very few films that people can relate to as being real. I tend to wanna make films to be Edutainment meaning I want people to be educated on the topic, but entertained at the same time. My goal is to create and take film back to the days when after watching a great film, you went home and spoke about how great it was and how you can relate it to your own life. I feel that the topics and creation of those topics that we have will bring something to film that I feel has been missing.
The Atlanta Premiere of On The Side is coming up on March 31st, how special is this for you and the cast members?
Mr Diggs: I am really looking forward to the screening of this project as it allows friends, family, and industry peers to come out and view a project I feel proud about. I am also happy for the actors to come out and see themselves as they did a GREAT job. We had fun in filming the project with alot a laughs and jokes. I am wanting them to come out and see what hard work and dedication to their craft of acting can produce and for them to push forward in acting.I feel when people see the film they will see the great job all the actors did.
You were born of Liberian parents, how has your Liberian heritage shaped you as a person?
Mr Diggs: Being born to parents from West Africa Liberia has taught me values, work ethic, and to have a no quit attitude. I say this as my parents wanted a better life for their family and by any means were not going to quit until they achieved this.This has shaped my mentality as the industry has its ups and downs but I will not quit until I achieve what I set out for.
I also take my father’s mentality of “whatever happens figure it out” as problems will arise, and my mother’s creativity as she is also writer. It also shaped my mentality to have a “we not me” mind state. I take that on set alot as I always say and think WE are all working together to accomplish a common goal….that’s a Great project. Growing up with African parents also allowed me to Dream Big as looking at them they would say they accomplished dreams of theirs so why cant I. I also set out to make my parents proud to let them feel and know that their journey was not for in vain.
What can readers expect from Ku Diggs in upcoming months and years?
Mr Diggs: In the upcoming months and years people can expect to see more impactful projects and a feature project of my award winning short film Jackpot that I wrote and directed and co-executive produced with Forrest Tuff of One Vision Production. This is also a project I am very proud of and when the feature comes to fruition people can see and understand just what I am bringing to the table. The goal is that after watching a film I created, people will say, “He just dropped a gem”. To them meaning that they just watched a precious and rare project ….like a gem!
MOVIE TRAILER
PREMIERE
444 Highland Ave NE #311
Atlanta, GA 30312
Time: 6PMEST
ALSO BY CROWN JEWELZ FILMS – JACKPOT
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