With Louisville, Ky experiencing its deadliest year since 1979 – politicians and residents are scrambling for solutions. As of November 30, 2015 – 76 homicides have been committed in Jefferson county – compared to 54 in all of 2014. Even more startling is that this recent rise in violent crime isn’t unique to Louisville. Many police departments from large cities across America are reporting similar violent crime statistics.
The FBI and other crime experts have yet to determine why there has been such a rise in violent crime but many suggest that “turf wars” related to the illegal drug trade play a significant role. Whatever the reason – residents of the communities that are experiencing the highest rise in violent crimes wish that their once peaceful neighborhoods would return to the days of tranquility.
A Louisville filmmaker – Remone “B-Nu” Wilkerson isn’t waiting for politicians and law enforcement agencies to devise a strategy against the violence in his West End neighborhood. He has taken it upon himself to use art as a tool to help the curve the violence. His latest movie – “A Troubled City” – addresses the criminal lifestyle that many young inner-city youth fall victim to.
“The concept of the movie is a man’s will to make a change in the city and when opportunity presents itself he acts on it and is able to make a change and give back. The film shows the transition of the main character – Marcellus – struggling with the influence of the street life – to changing his life and making a positive change in his city.” – Remone “B-Nu” Wilkerson
Wilkerson is a licensed barber who currently owns the barber shop “Brand Nu Kuts” and began writing scripts for movies and documentaries during his spare time – in the late 1990s. He later formed the independent film company – B-Nu Films – and began the process of bringing those scripts to video.
Wilkerson is a self-taught filmmaker who writes, films, edits and produces all of his theatrical creations himself. At times he may enlist an additional cameraperson to assist with the filming process but he is the driving force behind the creativity.
“I’m always trying to do something creative and I’ve always tried to keep Louisville in mind when I do something. I made two documentaries before I made my first movie. I made, ‘From the Booth to the Streets Vol. 1′ and ‘From the Booth to the Streets Vol. 2′. I also made a Vol. 3 but I never released it.
The first two documentaries were basically about rappers in the city [Louisville] that were expanding their brands and I was interviewing those guys and shooting their videos – free of charge – and then featuring the videos in my documentaries.” – Remone “B-Nu” Wilkerson
Being creative is often a gift and a curse for Wilkerson. He’s constantly inspired by everyday life so he finds himself working on new material – often during the same time that he has a movie on the market. This process has allowed him to create several scripts but has also conflicted with the marketing required to properly promote his released films to the masses.
Wilkerson is changing his marketing strategy this time around. He is focused on circulating “A Troubled City” to as many residents of Louisville as possible – due to the recent rise in homicides and violent crime. He feels as though this movie has the potential to resonate with many young people who are currently involved in criminal behavior or are exposed to its ramifications.
“I hope this movie inspires people to think about what your actions are and how they affect the people around you.
In this film a young man loses his life and it brings a lot of pain, not only to his mother but to the city as a whole because he was well known. Many people knew him as a young child so when he was murdered it touched a lot of people.” – Remone “B-Nu” Wilkerson
Wilkerson began filming “A Troubled City” in the city of Louisville in the summer of 2014 and filming was complete in the middle of 2015. All the actors are residents of the city of Louisville.
“The greatest gift that I received out of filming this movie was that the people of Louisville helped me film this movie. There were a total of 64 cast members and to get 64 people to come together and do something – I thought was amazing.
That was part of the blessing because I just asked people that I knew to do me a favor and they actually came out and did that for me – and I don’t have a lot of money to pay anybody but the people came out to support my vision.” – Remone “B-Nu Wilkerson
A Troubled City is currently available for purchase at Better Days Records, on the website www.atroubledcity.com or by contacting FilmMaker Remone Wilkerson on Facebook. As a promotional tool – Wilkerson is also releasing the film for free in 12-15 minute episodes on his Youtube channel brandnubnu. There will be a total of 7-8 episodes – with a new episode being released every few weeks.
Remone “B-Nu” Wilkerson can be contacted by email at atroubledcity@yahoo.com or on Facebook at FilmMaker Remone Wilkerson. Episode 1 of a “A Troubled City” is available below. Rated R – Parental Discretion is advised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Rv5-skiEzI
Brad Harrison is a journalist/motivational speaker/entrepreneur and on-air personality. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with cum laude honors from the University of Louisville. In October 2015, he started UrbanMaxx Magazine to provide positive role models for Urban residents that reside in at-risk-communities and lack positive leadership in their lives.
For booking or advertising – contact Brad Harrison at bradharrison@urbanmaxx.com