Rize (2005)

Director:

David LaChapelle

Release Date:

5 August 2005 (Canada)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Plot:

Rize chronicles a dance movement that rises out of South Central Los Angeles with roots in clowning and street youth culture.

Plot Keywords:

Dance | Clowning | Gang | South Central Los Angeles | Clown

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Larry Berry	...	Himself
Tommy the Clown	...	Himself
Dragon	...	Himself
La Niña	...	Herself
Miss Prissy	...	Herself
Kevin Scott Richardson	...	Music producer
Christopher Toler	...	Lil C
Ceasare Willis	...	Tight Eyez

Directed by
David LaChapelle

Produced by
Drew Carolan	....	line producer
Marc Hawker	....	producer
Coleen Haynes	....	line producer
Ellen Jacobson	....	executive producer
Ellen Jacobson	....	producer
Scott F. Kaplan	....	line producer
David LaChapelle	....	producer
Stavros Merjos	....	executive producer
Walid J. Mouaness	....	line producer
Barry Peele	....	executive producer
Rebecca Skinner	....	executive producer
Anthony Talauega	....	co-producer
Richmond Taleuega	....	co-producer
Karim Torki	....	associate producer
Ishbel Whitaker	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Amy Marie Beauchamp
Jose Cancela

Cinematography by
Morgan Susser

Film Editing by
Fernando Villena

Production Design by
Jeff Higinbotham

Makeup Department
Gregory Arlt	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Darcy Jennings	....	production manager

Sound Department
Christopher S. Aud	....	sound editor
Ryan David	....	mix stage recordist
Mat Dennis	....	sound recordist
Tyler Duuring	....	sound mixer (as Tyler Tosh)
Michael J. Fox	....	adr mixer
Terry Garcia	....	assistant sound editor
David Giammarco	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tim Hays	....	sound mixer
J. Paul Huntsman	....	sound supervisor
Mark L. Mangino	....	dialogue editor
Mark Patino	....	field sound mixer
Gregory H. Watkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
Robert Cannon	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Michael Carter	....	visual effects artist
Gregory Creaser	....	digital intermediate colorist
Stephen Jennings	....	digital effects artist
Ruth LeFaive	....	visual effects producer
Gerald Ragland	....	on-line assistant editor
Steven J. Scott	....	digital intermediate colorist: EFilm

Camera and Electrical Department
Donovan Davis	....	key grip
Sean Hellfritsch	....	camera operator
Leda Maliga	....	additional cinematographer
Barry Norwood	....	additional photographer
Haydn Pazanti	....	film loader
Sasha Rendulic	....	camera operator
James Roddy	....	camera operator
Joseph M. Setele	....	camera operator
Michael Totten	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Sharice Babakhani	....	assistant editor
Denise Brown	....	telecine producer
Bob Fernley	....	digital intermediate producer
Kim Graville	....	telecine producer
Dave Hussey	....	lead colorist
Brian Jones	....	assistant editor
Jack Lewars	....	assistant color timer: Efilm
P.J. Marsiglia	....	colorist
Sin-Halina Sy	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Tim Hays	....	music playback operator
Will Kaplan	....	music editor
Jonathan McHugh	....	music supervisor
Jonathan Scott Miller	....	soundtrack producer
Fredrik Sarhagen	....	score mixer
Anthony Talauega	....	music producer
Richmond Talauega	....	music producer
Suren Wijeyaratne	....	music mixer

Other crew
Monique Barrett	....	production assistant
Irwin M. Rappaport	....	production attorney
Natalie Reubens	....	production coordinator
Sally Steele	....	publicist
Richmond Talauega	....	choreographer
Brandon Trones	....	production assistant

Thanks
Christina Aguilera	....	thanks
John Byrne	....	special thanks
Eminem	....	thanks (as Marshall Mathers)
Lauryn Hill	....	thanks
Elton John	....	thanks
H. Scott Salinas	....	special thanks
Suren Wijeyaratne	....	thanks

Production Companies

• David LaChapelle Studios
• HSI Productions
• Darkfibre Entertainment Ltd.
• Got Films

Distributors

• Lions Gate Films (2005) (USA) (theatrical)
• Rapid Eye Movies (2005) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Bo Casper (2006-2007) (Italy) (all media)
• Eagle Films (2005) (Non-USA) (all media) (middle east)
• Filmfreak Distributie (2005) (Netherlands) (all media)
• La Fabrique de Films (2005) (France) (all media)
• Lionsgate (2006) (UK) (all media)
• Officine UBU (2006) (Italy) (all media)
• Prorom Media-Trade (2005) (Romania) (all media)
• Redbus Film Distribution (2005) (UK) (all media)
• Solopan (2005) (Poland) (all media)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for suggestive content, drug references, language and brief nudity

Runtime:

86 min | Argentina:86 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:PG | Australia:M | Ireland:12A | USA:PG-13 (certificate #41728) | Argentina:13 | Germany:6 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

David LaChapelle Studios

Trivia:

Dedicated to the memory of Quinesha "Lil Dimples" Dunford.

Quotes:

Tight Eyez:We're not gonna be clones of the commercial hip-hop world... because that's been seen for so many years.Somebody's waitin'on something different... another generation of kids with morals and values... that they won't need... what's being commercialized or tailor-made for them... custom-made, because I feel that we're custom-made. And we're of more value than any piece of jewelry... or any car or any big house that anybody could buy.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Make You Dance

Great Documentary, Great Story

Before the movie starts there is a note to the effect that none of the camera work has been speed-ed up. Once the kids start dancing, you know why this is mentioned.

The film starts with historical footage of the Watts riots in 1965, and then the Rodney Kind riots of 1992. Things are ablaze. People are getting beat up.

And then enters Tommy the Clown who is a hip-hop clown and I guess celebrity in Watts/South Central. He is a sweet man who has taken in kids who's parents are in jail, abandoned them, etc.

The dancing in this film is amazing, to be sure...you will wonder how people can move like that, so fast, so crazy, particularly when you see a 4 year old girl or a 300 pound woman do it.

But what was more astonishing was the kids in the movie. These kids have a right to be the most angry, aggressive, horrible kids ever. And yet they are generally thoughtful, generous, and very wise.

I realize some of this is in the editing, but a 20 year old kid who takes care of his siblings while Mom is in jail until she gets her act together is quite a human being, and most of these kids come across like that.

They dance as an expression of their anger, as a way to create family, and an alternative to the gang families that pop up in the void of traditional nuclear families in places like South Central.

Yes, at the end there is a scene with a bunch of them dancing in slow-mo and it looks like they've been oiled up and their hair is fabulous and you know, so what? David LaChappelle has a background in photography, and if anybody deserves to pretend to be supermodels, it's these kids.

Great great movie.