Curtis Scoon the formula to BET’s American Gangster success
Curtis Scoon (aka) The Snake
Charmer is the man behind BET nationally acclaimed series American Gangster is a man that takes a disadvantage and turns it
into his advantage. I had the honor to be introduced to Curtis Scoon by my closest friend Mr. Vivian Blake. When Vivian Blake reached out to me, informing me that he was being featured on that smash hit show American
Gangster and that he’d asked the Producer Curtis Scoon to interview me as part of the production of the segment.
After the acquaintance of
Mr. Scoon , I found myself intrigued by the young man’s
persona. One tool that I feel is a master key to his undoubtedly masterful skill of success as a Producer/Writer is his
ability to listen. Curtis as I refer to him now has mastered the art of listening. Curtis even listens to your thoughts. The
questions he asks maybe answered by what you want published, but this Kat reads your real thoughts. He makes no bones about
having a past with politically incorrect actions, but he took his mistakes and life hard knock lessons to create a testimony.
That testimony is that you can fall but rise, and rise he did. Curtis refused
to be a victim and showed others that may have found themselves in his same situation how to get the victory over whatever
pitfall life may present.
Curtis said “I live
my life by this. A blessing and a curse are one in the same, the difference being in the application. So no matter what life
sends my way, I am going to find a silver lining and make it work to my advantage. My knees aren't going to bend or buckle.
My reputation goes back over two decades. I have to admit my role in that”. “It has a lot to do with the company
I’ve kept in the past. I’ve been associated and affiliated with people who maybe, aren't that good. But that was
then and this is now”.
Curtis went on to say “Now
I’m producing on television”. I was a consultant on the Fat Cat Nichols episode season one of American Gangster,
I actually co-produced the Supreme episode of American Gangster in season two and season three I was the lead producer on
The Shower Posse episode that featured the Leader Vivian Blake”.
Curtis says that in rap, the
bad guys always run off with saddle bags of money, cases of champagne and beautiful women. That's not the reality, that's
entertainment. Curtis shows the tragedy of what that lifestyle is. Curtis added “When you watch American Gangster on
BET, you don't see a lot of lavish lifestyle or French Riviera trips. You see a lot of struggle. A lot of wasted talent, a
lot of misery. Hip-Hop has redefined the term "gangster." Now gangster means "cool." Your rims are "gangster," your watch
is "gangster." I always knew "gangster" to mean being able to impose your will, through the use or threat of violence. Gangsterism
is violence at the core. And no matter what, it always ends up the same”.
Then he went into the segment in which I was contacted for The Shower Posse and my knowledge of my dear
friend Mr. Vivian Blake. Curtis remarked “I show it for what it is, and it's ugly and it's violent. And no one was as
violent as The Shower Posse. Being a gangster isn't about popping bottles and driving Bentley's. Again, it’s about using
violence to impose your will. The Shower Posse was a group out of Jamaica, West Indies, who through political connections,
rose to power. They were headed by Jim Brown in Jamaica and Vivian Blake in America.
They've been accused of over 1400 murders, while making millions of dollars shipping narcotics into the
country and sending money and guns out. It's important so people can see the raw brutality of it. Maybe if people see what
means to be a gangster, maybe kids won't aspire to be one”. American Gangster's Shower Posse special aired November
13, 2009.
Curtis says that he’s
working on a couple of scripts, “The Shower Posse Movie” which he collaborated with Vivian Blake before he passed. Presently Director/Writer Nick bsp;Cassavetes has committed to work with Curtis on this Project
. Curtis is also working a script titled 10-13 which is NYPD code for "officer down." He said
when he first started writing the script, he wrote it with Ice Cube in mind to play Lorenzo “Fat Cat” Nichols,
because he looks like Cat. But when he discussed that with Cat, he told him immediately, that his preference was for 50 Cent
to play him. And his reasoning for this is because 50 Cent is from South Jamaica, just like Cat. Cat also knew 50's mother
Sabrina. And more importantly, he remembers 50 as a little boy.
Curtis Scoon’s extraordinary
ability to go into the real underground world and portray it in such away that even the mainstream can see a in-depth view of why. Why men and women will take the risk that they take, all in the name of survival.
He eliminates the presumptuous mind that thinks that all criminals need to be killed and locked up for life. I feel that American
Gangster at least gives us the opportunity to hear both sides of the story.
In closing Curtis as I call
him, Scoon as he’s known said to me “If you think I’m sleeping at the wheel you have anything coming”.
This Brother keeps it 100, he isn’t intimidated by the left or right. He’s from the Streets and he knows the streets.
Curtis makes the hardest criminal susceptible to telling him the things that the average person in his position couldn’t.
I visualize continuous success for this young Producer, Author, and Screenwriter… Peace out…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/world/americas/24jamaica.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/jamaica/7730461/Jamaican-PM-accused-of-blocking-drug-lord-trial.html
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/15/v-fullstory/1630392/jamaican-leader-caught-in-the.html
This link is to the documentary produced by Curtis Scoon. 40mins
http://thehoodtv.com/2009/12/american-gangster-the-jamaican-shower-posse-40-minutes-video/
http://www.boomshots.com/?p=3252
