RST JOURNALBehind the Scenes at Roll Bounce September 2004 Sept 1 Sept 9 Sept 10 - Pt 1 Sept 10 - Pt 2 Sept 11 Sept 12 Sept 17 Sept 19 Jan 5, 2005 Back to Journal Index BILL’S NUK-n-KRANNI GIRLS & THE BILLETTES Bill made some special friends while working on Roll Bounce, including Elise Tolson and Judy Jordan. The two ladies and their daughters made themselves permanent fixtures around the movie set from the time filming began in a Chicago residential area until it finished at Lynwood Skate Center. Bill affectionately refers to them as the “nook and cranny girls” because he would see them in the oddest places at the oddest times. “If I was walking around the building, I’d find them next to the phone booth. Then they’re in the snack bar. Then they’re extras. Then I catch them in the lunchroom....hiding between two trucks...in the parking lot between two tents. The man is putting on the air conditioning and they’re two feet away. They’re nothing other than the nook and crannies,” he said. Judy and Elise are honored to have the title and jazzed it up by spelling it Nuk-n-Kranni Girls. Elise is “Kranni,” Judy is “Nuk,” and Elise’s youngest daughter Jade is “n.” They refer to Angelle Tolson and Elizabeth Jordan, the teenage daughters, as “The Billettes.” They all served as extras during the final weeks of filming.
back row, l. to r. (Judy/'Nuk,' Bill and Elise/'Kranni')
When the ladies first met Bill, they were inspired once they heard what he was doing with the young actors in the movie. They were very impressed with his enthusiasm and style. They had never heard of him before but now, from his example, they are moved to begin working on their own projects. “I was telling Bill that Judy and I were agreeing with each other that we need to expose [his] documentary to other students,” said Elise who is an educator. “We need to get it in the schools and let these children know they don’t have to do drugs or join gangs. They can do something worthwhile for their lives.” The women were not skaters before this experience but now they plan to learn. Elise is hoping to get her husband on wheels too. He was also impressed after meeting Bill and found him to be very debonair. The Nuk-n-Kranni Girls & The Billettes won’t soon forget their summer experience and feel a sense of closeness to Bill because of the “hilarious” yet endearing title he gave them. - Kim Muhammad -
Mike “Diddy” Giles (MG) had a response to the article “It's a Wrap” posted in the Behind the Scenes thread. It was reported that he left the set early and an actor had to fill in for him to complete filming of a final scene. Diddy had a lot to say, so I'm posting his comments in this separate thread. [There may be rebuttal/response to some of his comments from Tyrone Dixon and/or Bill Butler since they are mentioned in his remarks.] ***************** RST - You said you lost a lot
of respect for Tyrone and Bill?
Mahaujah didn't give them too much of a problem because basically he was like, there was a thing about if you snap with them they'll look at you like you're acting niggerish or whatever the case may be. It depends on how you take care of business. You don't have to curse at people unless it comes to that. I’ll curse at you, don't get me wrong, if it comes to that but at first I started off trying to be nice. The first time they messed up our checks - they were missing days - I don't know why Fox films dealt with a company that didn't issue checks right. It wasn't just my payroll that was messed up it was particularly anybody in the movie, the money was coming short. First it started out, our place of living - Tyrone gave me the wrong interpretation that I was going to be staying in a house with him and some interns were going to be living there.... He gave me the information but he blew my head up to make me think that I was going to be staying some place and would be a priority of his, sort of like I was going to be his next of kin there. I get there, was staying on a blow up mattress that had a hole in it, I’m sleeping on the floor half the time, I didn't have a key to his apartment...he was staying with two other guys...and I couldn't get my clothes half the time so Bill was nice enough to let me stay with him. I’m still staying on the floor with Bill but he eventually .... signed the papers for me to stay at this apartment. It was pretty trashy and crackheads lived there and they were always following me around because everybody knew I was in a movie....that turned out to be bad. I ended up, we had to move to Indiana. So we move there and Tyrone is like, ‘‘If you move there, they're gonna pay for you to stay in a hotel........It seems like as long as they got what they wanted on film, nobody gave a damn about me, Mahaujah or Anthony, where we stayed at....I’m a grown man, Mahaujah and Anthony are [grown men]. If I wanted to stay by myself I should be able to do that. I didn't come out there with Mahaujah and Anthony, they're cool with me and all of us are real close but I didn't come with them, I came by myself. RST - They had you three in the
same place?
I dealt with it because you pretty much have to go through some type of bull every time it's gonna be something great, I was prepared for that, you have to go through some bad sometimes, everything isn't going to be perfect. In dealing with all that, we moved out to Indiana, Bill took us to Indiana because we were taking up space in his house so I guess he was like, ‘we’’e got to get these guys out of here because they're taking up a lot of space..’ We moved out there thinking that our place was going to be paid for. We’re the main five character doubles, if I would have died or been in a car wreck, if anything would have happened to me, Mahaujah, Anthony, Redd or Leroy they would have set the dates back on the movie so far, it wouldn't even come out on time. They would have to teach somebody all over again, look at how much drama it caused just because I left - which I’ll get to that - why I left. We ended up staying out there and they didn't pay for the hotel. We didn't have a place to stay, for one, and me and Mahaujah spent $400 between us on a place... which they should have paid for but didn't. One morning they wanted us to come to the set and we were like ‘no, we're not coming because after we leave here we don't have a place to stay and you may shoot until 11:00 tonight. After then, nobody is going to want to hear about where are we going to stay. People are going home they're not going to worry about us.’ Our paychecks were never on time, you have people with children. I have twins, Mahaujah has three kids, my car was about to be repossessed, at one time my cell phone was turned off because I wasn't getting my money on time. Any time I tried to talk to Tyrone or Bill, Bill would fight certain battles for us sometimes but Tyrone definitely wouldn't fight any battles because I guess he wanted to be looked at in a certain way with the people at Fox. I can understand, you don't want to burn bridges but if you know, if me and Mahaujah weren't on those DVDs or if we weren't those premiere skaters he needed, there wouldn't be no Tyrone Dixon. It wouldn't even be us, if we weren't around, no matter how good Bill and Mike are, you can say whatever you want to say...but without the premiere skaters, it wouldn't have happened. I've seen the tapes of the people they were trying to get for these parts and it just didn't work. It was like, we figure we're the skaters, the ones making this come together, the least you can do is act for us. [Tyrone’s] telling us we're gonna be in this movie, it's gonna be this and that.... and then [he's] fetching lunch and sh*t and kissing azz to people. I understand you have to go through some red tape sometime to get to where you need to be, but if you hear people saying bad things about the people you're depending on, the least you can do is be a man, grow a backbone and be like, ‘Look, I know this guy personally, he's not that bad, he's probably just trying to find out where his money is.’ It was like, you talk to Tyrone and he'd dodge you or he may talk to you like he's gonna do something but eventually he probably won't. RST - What are the things that
were being said about you?
The money thing turned up even being worse, we were always missing days and this, that and the other. [Originally] I told them I would come [there] but I would only come if I could come back on the 23rd because my job wouldn't let me stay longer. When I got back home, I lost my job and still don't have another one. I got fired from my job for one. I came back home because my money still wasn't right, I was in a worse position coming out there than when I was when I left home. I can do bad by myself. Just for the record, I still haven't received any money...anytime I call the office to find out where it is, ‘‘We sent it. It's in the mail, or we sent it back to payroll.’ I even called the payroll company to find out where the money was. I talked to Mike, Randy, a lot of people. Nobody is worried about our money. - To be continued -
RST - You all weren't getting
paid daily?
No. I worked three whole weeks before I got one paycheck. They were giving us per diem, if they give you $300 per diem, like me, Mahaujah and Anthony all three of us received $300 per week to live off of. Per diem is cool but if they're telling you you're gonna get an apartment...these things should have been set up for us before we came out there. They weren't. Then they had somebody looking for one for us but I know the problem they ran into was that if you're looking for an apartment for somebody you're going to have to have a certain work history. We had no work history because we just came out there for a movie....If they ignored your work history, you still would have to have two months rent to put down or at least the first month's rent which was $1200. You just got there and they're giving you $300 - I’m sorry, you're about $900 short. Those were the problems they were running into and they wouldn't tell us but all three of us figured it out walking around looking for places to stay. We ended up staying out in Indiana, paid for our hotel the first couple of weeks and we weren't supposed to pay for it. Then we switched to another hotel and told us from that point on they were going to pay for it. After we went through hell of arguing, I went through mad arguing and that's probably where I got this reputation that ‘‘Mike ain’t about no sh*t.’’ At that point, I was ready to go home especially if I don't have a place to stay at. It’s like we were getting paid money to reinvest in a place to stay and that makes no sense. Why would I make a deal to come film a movie at some place to get paid money but I still have to pay for my own place to stay. I could have stayed at home. RST - You said initially Throne
said you would have a place to stay when you got out there?
It’s like me inviting you to come to my house. If you come to my house, I got you...I’m not gonna ask you when you get there, ‘Oh, you don't shower with a washcloth and towel?’ I’m gonna make sure you have those things .... I’ll be like, ‘‘If you need to shower, just let me know. This is where this is at, etc., help yourself.’’ None of those things were being taken care of. Nothing. Whenever we stayed in hotels, we didn't have a place to cook so you know we were eating fast food every night, so $300 a week, you still have to wash your clothes, still have to pay for your own hotel (they weren't paying us yet) - what money do you have? If paychecks are late and they were never on time and when we call to find out where they are, they're being real smart and short with us like, ‘‘Why are you calling about your money?’’ We’re talking to Bill and he’s making excuses about Mike in the payroll office is dealing with millions of dollars and he can't keep up with it all. He has a major budget.... I don't care what your job is or how much money you're supposed to be in charge of, if somebody told you that you were going to be in charge of 15 or 30 million dollars, you better be in charge of every red cent and don't lose track of it because that's your job. If you can't handle it, quit. Nobody should put anybody in charge of any more money than they can handle. If that's too much money for you to handle, you need to give your job up. I talked to Mike yesterday, [ Sept. 7], to find out where my money was. He said he put it in the mail. O.K., yeah - he put it in the mail. First the checks came to the office then they sent it back to the payroll company. I called the payroll company and asked if the checks could be sent to me. They told me ‘‘no’’ because Mike requested they be sent back to him to get sent to me. When I called him, he said he already sent them off but that was a week ago. I haven't seen a penny of this money yet. He told me this yesterday, that he sent the money off but I also talked to him last week and he said he was gonna make sure the money got to me. Everybody's annoyed by me because I always want to know what's going on or where's the money because they have a reputation of doing bad business and not being professional. The only thing they understood was cussing and arguing, that's the only thing they understood. If you cussed or argued enough or made it seem like you were going to take it to a higher level, then they got on their job. If you were nice and went through the proper code and talked to somebody like you had some sense - nah. RST - Did you have to cuss some
people out?
He told me if I stayed, he’d put me in a hotel - we filmed until 11:00 at night. I missed my 3:00, 6:00 and 8:00 flights, I slept in the airport overnight on the floor because Jeremiah told me ‘‘I’’ll get you a hotel.... and we’re gonna get you a redeye to Virginia if you stay. We really need you on this.’’ I chose to stay. After lunch, he came back and said, ‘‘You know what - if I find you a hotel, I’ll have to find everybody else one who has a problem. I really want to help you in this situation but I just can't.’’ I said, ‘‘It doesn't surprise me that you said that.... everything always turns out bad anyway, don't worry about it, just forget you even talked to me.’’ I told him that to his face, I said, ‘‘I’’m from the hood. I live in the hood to this day and I’m used to bad things always happening. You don't have to clean it up and lie to me...just tell me the truth’’ I ended up saying ‘‘forget it,’’ I slept in the airport all night, Bill took me to the airport and i stayed there from 12:00 that night until 8:00 that morning and I caught my flight back home to Virginia and then I came back I told them on Wednesday [Aug. 18] I was still leaving the 23rd. They paid for the trip, I didn't pay for a plane ticket there, they paid for me there and back so I pretty much told them I was going back home and they were like.... ‘‘we’’re still going to need you to do some taping.’’ I said, ‘‘Nah - I’m not doing anymore taping. I taped my last routine I had to do a couple of days ago and that was the last one we were on schedule to do.’’ We weren't supposed to be doing anything else and I still needed to get home to my job and I still wasn't getting paid the money I was supposed to have been getting paid. Everything was bad and then to make everything worse, Thursday night dude on the crew, I forget his name, he was a little Puerto Rican kid, they were throwing a party and they said they were going to trash the hotel. A lady from the office came there on Wednesday night [Aug. 18] and said if anybody did anything bad they were going to kick everybody out of the hotel. It didn't bother me because I’m always in my room chilling, I don't go to parties. I never even went to the party they had Saturday night, [Aug. 21], for the end of shooting. I don't even associate with the people on set, the cast - nobody. I never associated with anybody because I always wanted to stay to myself because I didn't want to be in any trouble.....I don't like getting close to people. When you get close to someone they think they know you and try to use these things against you. So they had this party in the hotel Thursday night, I was sleep in my room. We go to work Friday, tape about 13 hours and I come back to the hotel. Basically they told me I couldn't go upstairs to my room because they said Roll Bounce wasn't paying for any skate groups anymore. I wasn't part of a skate group I was one of the Garden Boys doubles, I wasn't a skate team - we were supposed to be important. I didn't panic, i called Russ, he was the second assistant director....He said, ‘‘ We’ll pay for five days a week and you pay for the place on the weekends.’’ I’m from Virginia, where am I gonna stay and why would I use the money you're paying me to find a place to stay when I’m living in Indiana now. Where am I going to stay at? At this point, I was homeless - me and Mahaujah. We’re out in Indiana and you're telling us you're going to pay for a place to stay in Indiana and on the weekend we don't have anyplace to stay at. I called one of my friends to take me back to Chicago. I stayed at Bill's house and at that point I realized if you keep going through the same situation and failing at it, God's trying to tell you something. If you keep finding yourself in the same spot every time, God doesn't want you to go down that road anymore, He wants you to make a turn. I realized from the time I was out there until the time I went back home, I went through drama after drama. It was not meant for me to be there longer than I was and He made it to the point where I was homeless. I scuffled up a ride back to Chicago which was far out from where we were staying......I slept on Bill's floor for two days then carried myself to the airport and went home on their flight that they paid for. No one told you the things that went on out there they only told you that I left without permission....and the film turned out great, they had to get Brandon to double for the double, etc. They tell you a bunch of BS but they never tell you the things that cause a person to do anything and I’m not a mean person, I tried to stay the whole time and play ball with these people. I never wanted it to come to a point where I left - I would have stayed if I was treated right but at a certain point when you realize you don't have a place to stay, this wasn't the first time I didn't have a place to stay, it was like the second or third time. At this point I wasn't willing to spend another $200-300. Mahaujah actually spent $300 without me on a place to stay that weekend. He called me that morning and said he was going into a meeting with Jeremiah. I told him to let me know if he could get reimbursed for any of the money that they owed me and [him].... Mahaujah called me when I got to Virginia and said, ‘‘they wouldn't give me any of the money and after we film today, I’m gone,’’ and he did just that. But they paid for his stuff because he stayed. I just wasn't prepared to deal with a bunch of BS and as far as Bill
was concerned, if I could have got in contact with Tyrone I would have
told him the same thing I told Bill, ‘‘Don't say sh*t to me when you see
me.’’ It’s not that I’m totally mad at him, I’m more disappointed that
he sold his self respect out for me for a spot he has in the future...If
it’s meant for you to do something in life God's gonna make sure you do
it, you don't have to sell yourself short or disrespect the people you
were around at one time so you can get somewhere further in life.
If he ever calls me again to do anything, I will not do it. I’m not gonna go through the same type of drama I went through in Chicago. That was hell and I wish I would have stayed at home. I lost my job and everything...I went through a lot of stuff being out there. It was terrible. - To be continued -
RST - Give me the time line again
on your housing situation.
RST - Who picked the hotel with
the crackheads, was it Roll Bounce?
I'm teaching people how to skate and I’m paying for my own hotel while you have people who all they have to do is remember lines and play on set and go off their fame and stardom and they get whatever they want. They're paying me money, the per diem they were giving me it was enough to cover my hotel but I thought I shouldn't even have to pay for that. It was enough to buy food, I was eating out five days a week It was crazy but I dealt with it and I paid around $130 a week to stay at this joint. I stayed there two weeks and then we moved to Indiana. I paid an extra $200 to stay in this hotel that was like $48 a day. Me and Mahaujah spent $200 a piece and we stayed there for awhile. This was the Motel 6 in Indiana. They moved us from the Motel 6 over to the Super 8. The only difference was that in Motel 6 anybody could walk up to the door...it wasn't too much of a move up. It still was trashy RST - Where was the Motel 6 at?
RST - It was you Mahaujah and
Anthony?
I’m trying to get some sleep, I’ve got to tape in the morning - I’m not worried about that. I’ve got a girlfriend and kids at home, I’m not worried about some little children A lot of what they were doing, I had done already and it wasn't fun to me anymore so me and Mahaujah chose to move away from the city so we could be more available for work This is what they told us to do so we’re thinking they're going to pay for our hotel rooms from the time we were out there until the time we leave. When the people threw the party, I guess they trashed the hotel really bad and I can't blame the hotel management, they found out about it, called Roll Bounce and basically told us we had to go. I didn't find out until I came home but when I found out I had to adjust to the situation. RST - Who trashed the rooms?
At that point I said ‘‘forget this.’’ I know I’m not under contract so if they did want to do something, they couldn't sue me. I was so mad so I did the right thing and went home. When I got back to Virginia I realized it didn't matter. I found out all kind of things that Tyrone was saying like I’m on his ‘‘S’’ list and he’s not gonna mess with me anymore. I stayed there with you for 2 ½½ - 3 months and you're gonna dog me and trash my name out over 24 hours because I left? In 24 hours you're gonna talk sh*t about me and I stayed there 3 months for you? RST - Who told you what Throne
was saying?
But Tyrone telling all these things about me, and I knew the only people that talked to you were Tyrone and Bill talked to you on a daily basis, all the time. RST - Not Tyrone - me and Throne
really don't deal, but Bill has been my only contact.
He worked his azz off on the movie, he was doing a lot of different jobs. Be real about it, if you know you don't have any power don't act like you do. If you had just told me from the get go, ‘‘look, I’m gonna try to get you out here for this movie, it’s gonna be hard but I’ll try to help you...I don't have much power but I’m in kind of good with the director so if you have a problem just bring it to me...’’ I would have respected that but don't tell me, ‘‘you're gonna be in the movie, you're this, you're that’’ and when I get there all he’s doing is picking up the director's wife and running him back and forth to work all day, you keep the car as a favor and you're just fetching lunch. You're an errand boy. Half the time you're talking to the director he’s got his head turned, he ain’t trying to hear sh*t that you're saying. That's it. I thought he had so much power but he didn't have anything. RST - I didn't know a lot of
that was going on.
Throne didn't have anything to complain about because he could fly his kids out if he wanted, he had a car, he could go around, he was getting money. We didn't have a car, we couldn't fly our family out - we weren't getting paychecks sometimes. We were getting paid through a whole different payroll company where nobody even gave a damn where the money was coming from. So what do you have to complain about? Nobody wants to hear these things, they just want to blame me and Mahaujah for being stubborn. Anytime they saw us they knew Mahaujah would talk more to people and I let him talk to them first. If they didn't hear what he had to say then I would come in and talk. One day he was like, ‘‘look man, I’ve got three kids and you sit here in the office dealing with the money...’’ He was really getting on the guy and the guy [Mike] apologized. They were going to front us the money but said we had to pay it back and I told him, ‘‘if you give me any money that you owe me, I’m not giving it back because (1) I shouldn't be in this position to begin with, (2) I don't’’ have any business getting a loan from the place I work for, so I wasn't giving any money back. I wanted them to front me all the money, the last week I was there, I wanted them to front me all that they owed me before I left so I wouldn't have to chase down any money from Virginia - the same thing I’m doing now. When I’ll see it, I don't know but I’m gonna sue somebody if I don't. [Mike] said the money's on the way. I'm gonna wait one more day for it to get here and he didn't even tell me what day he sent it, he just said he put it in the mail already. I know one thing, I’ve sent money from Chicago before and it doesn't take that long to get here. I’m gonna wait a little while longer and if that money isn't here, we’re just going to take it to a legal level. I don't mind suing somebody, I don't have anything but time - it doesn't matter to me. RST - I’m sorry. I didn't know
a lot of this was going on.
RST - Did you know they were
filming that last scene?
Our last routine, we did Hollywood Swinging and finished on Tuesday or Wednesday, [Aug. 17 or 18] and they made us get dressed up everyday for nothing, just to stand around and go to sleep on the set. We were totally finished, all they had to do was the jump Redd did - they were doing that stunt over and the battle which was scheduled for Mikey and Mahaujah.... That was the only thing that was left, we didn't have anything else left to do so I didn't understand what the problem was and if they had one, it wasn't a skating scene so they could have used ....Bryce or Brandon, I’m sure they had enough people who could have finished it. At that point, I was fed up and didn't have a place to stay and didn't want nobody trying to talk to me anymore. It got real bad, Jeremiah didn't think high of me - Bill told me [Jeremiah] didn't think high of me at all and thought I asked too many questions, he told me that to my face. .... I was annoying to [Jeremiah] and I know I was annoying him and he was one of the producers. There were two producers, Bob Teitel and Jeremiah. Bob was the nice one, Jeremiah was the azzhole and Malcolm was real nice but stuff may have been given to him in another way so he may think something different of me too. I don't have any reason to lie about anything. Leroy, Redd, Playa Mike, Dwight, Steve, The High Rollers, everybody knows the true story of what happened. They know why I left. I didn't even know about the article until I got home and went to a skating session on Wednesday...A skater named Don told me it was on [RST] and I said I already have that site. So I slept and I woke up and looked at it and was like, ‘‘oh no - I can't believe this.’’ RST - I didn't think the article
was slanderous at all. I had been told you felt it was.
There was no possible way I could even do something like that. Why would I come to Chicago, film a movie and just leave? It don't even sound right, why would someone even believe something like that? That I’m just there shooting, smiling in pictures having a great time one minute then the next minute they can't find me and I’m on a plane gone. Really, why would I do something like that? There's a reason behind everything, there's a cause and effect to every situation....I’m not even that type of person, it’s not even in me to do something like that. That's one reason I was mad about it because I know I’m not like that, Bill knows I’m not like that and I’m like, why would he even let it go that far, and as for Tyrone is concerned, with all the stuff he said...me and him were cool at one time but now, I know he’s got some big stuff lined up and he wanted me, Mahaujah and Anthony to be part of it. If I can't trust you in Chicago, what makes you think I can trust you if [we’re] off skating in another country?.... I know Bill has a lot of stuff he has lined up for skating too, especially this movie has given him a total chance to do something big and I know he’s gonna do the best he can. Bill is a genius when it comes to skating, routines and his style - he’s a genius but he was disrespected too but I guess he looked at it like he didn't want to back track again. He’s 70 so I understood his situation, he doesn't have that much longer to live so he probably decided to bite the bullet. Jeremiah cussed Bill out one time when he was trying to help everybody. The skating rink that was in Indiana*, they made a deal with Lumber Liquidators to put the floor down. Bill wanted a wood floor and seeing how he’d designed a rink before he was the best person to do this. Bill had the deal made, they brought the joint in but the floor was slick and he didn't want anybody to get hurt so he had a sander come in and sand the floor down... Jeremiah sees this and comes in and goes, ‘Bill what the ‘‘F––k’’ are you doing' and ‘Mother F––k this' and 'blah, blah, blah.’ Just totally cussed Bill out, you would have thought Bill was a slave or something, he was using mad profanity outrageously. Bill didn't even say anything, he just walked out. Was that the right thing for him to do? Yeah and no. I say, ain’t nobody gonna be cussing at me like that, I’d probably beat them up, but Bill just walked out. Jeremiah should have just walked through the building and said, ‘‘I don't understand what's going on, this floor cost a lot of money,’’ and I’m sure Bill would have explained it, but it didn't go like that. He cussed Bill out and I heard later on he apologized to Bill in private. If you can cuss me out in front of a lot of people, you need to apologize in front of a lot of people. That's how that went. I wish Bill a lot of success in what he’s doing with the skate tour and everything and hopefully he’ll get some good skaters to be on it but I won't be on it. I’ll give him anybody's number he wants but I’m not going on it. That's it in a nutshell, there was always some type of drama going on.....My only advice is for future journalism, if it’s ever something bad, just try to chase down the other half of the story. I’m a nice person to a certain degree and I couldn't blame you but for so much because you're just trying to do your job but whoever told you - as far as Tyrone or Bill - I lost a lot of respect for them. Bill may have another chance of speaking to me later on, I still think he’s a nice guy when it comes to skating routines and everything but as far as me and this personal issue is concerned, I’m really not feeling him right now. - End of Diddy's comments - *NOTE: The hotel and rink that Diddy stated were in Indiana, are actually in Illinois but closer to the Indiana state line than to Chicago.
i called the roll bounce office and attempted to reach "mike in payroll" by phone on september 8, but he was not at his desk. a lady who answered the phone took a snotty attitude when i explained why i was calling - which was to get a comment from a spokesperson at roll bounce concerning the things diddy had told me about not receiving his pay. she refused to give her name or title and stated she would not even take a message for the payroll department. instead of directing me to one of the film's media relations persons she chose to take an attitude and said something about diddy was the one who "left the set with 2 days left on his contract." she didn't like it when i told her he never had a contract and said she couldn't give out any information regarding his payroll anyway. i hope diddy gets his money.
Click here for the latest photo report featuring some of the skate groups from the film. Here are some comments from a couple of the skaters from "The Slick Boys" group: Elon Watkins The experience was wonderful. We were exposed to different styles and we were able to mix styles that were choreographed by Bill and a few of the other gentlemen from his group. We were able to combine the JB style with various other styles, including more rhythmic dancing on skates. It helped us broaden our horizons as far as skating and bring it to our local rinks to show others the new styles we acquired. Patrick Marshall The experience has been good, the fact it's bringing back skating from past times that all of us have done a long time. Now, a lot of people will start seeing skating and different things we do and it'll probably get [them] into the skating scene again. It's real exciting that they're coming back to actually show what's been going on for years starting to repeat itself. The fact that everyone can skate well, it's good to see it's being shown on camera how everybody moves and different styles of skating we have. It's a great experience. THE SLICK BOYS:
MOVIE KEEPS TEEN OUT OF TROUBLE Working on the set of Roll Bounce was a summer experience many of the teen extras won’t soon forget. One youth in particular, Jason McNabb, 17, found himself removed from his normal surroundings into an atmosphere he hopes has changed his life for good. “I’ve met a lot of different people. Where I stay, it’s mainly Black people so I got to see different nationalities,” he said. “It’s keeping me out of jail too...I was hanging with the wrong crowd, hustling to make money but now I get paid to talk to girls, skate and have fun.” Jason was asked to be an extra when he came to the set with his uncle who was handling other business. Before then, he had not been skating since he was 9-10 years old, a fact everyone saw evidence of the first time he put skates on. “It’s funny because the only reason they tell everyone the rails aren’t real is because I flew over [one],” he explained. “I was trying to skate fast and was coming around the turn and ended up falling over the rail.” He plans to start skating on a regular basis and believes skating will be very popular again after the movie hits theaters next year. He also believes the film will inspire a lot of young people to skate which should keep them out of trouble. His immediate plan, now that filming is complete, is to participate in a Job Corp program in another state. He feels if he chooses to associate with the same crowd by staying in Illinois he will find himself in trouble again - but he is determined not to let that happen. “I’m going to stop hustling and gang banging...When I get out of [Job Corp], I am going to have a job and leave all that gang stuff alone,” he said. RST wishes Jason the best and hopes he is staying on the path he discovered while working on Roll Bounce. - Kim Muhammad -
UPDATE praise god! diddy has received his money but also was told that he may not be listed in the credits of the film when it comes out and that any scenes with him in it may not be used. he said that when he sees the movie, if any of his moves or his image is in any of the scenes he will pursue a lawsuit if he is not credited for them. a woman in payroll, who refused to give her name, , stated that since he didn't have a contract, they weren't obligated to include him in the credits. so we'll see what happens when the movie comes out next year. diddy says if he ever gets a call to do something like this again, he will decline. "I have more fun skating for free instead of for money," he said. |
