A “Milestone” for Coleman

Pasadena Now Managing Editor André Coleman’s first film “Milestone” will premiere at the Regency Academy next month. 

Growing up in Pasadena, André Coleman loved to go to the movies at a long-gone movie theater that featured beautiful Egyptian paintings and a giant screen in a single auditorium.  He dreamed of someday making his own movie and having it play there with an audience of family, friends and other locals coming together to see his imagination come to life.

That theater eventually morphed into Pasadena’s popular Academy Theater, and next week, Coleman will indeed achieve his dream when his film “Milestone” plays three times a day from Aug. 9 to 15 at the now-Regency Academy. 

The fictional documentary explores a small town embroiled in civil rights unrest that receives a proposition that could change the world. There’s just one caveat: the people have to come together and put their differences aside.  

“I think the nation is obviously polarized for a variety of different reasons. And I think we are at a point where we need to realize if we all came together? If we put our differences aside, we could do anything. Our potential is unlimited,” explains Coleman. “And the movie is literally about one small town that has a chance to achieve everything if the residents can just come together but unfortunately, when they get that offer, they’re in a moment of strife and chaos and political unrest, just like our country is right now.”

“It’s the ultimate crisis and the ultimate opportunity at the same time. And then the film is really about who we are in those moments.”

Coleman relied on a cast of more than 25 area actors, and gives great credit to his executive producers Onika Johnson and Stuart Johnson for helping him bring his ideas to fruition.  He is especially thankful for the work of Director of Photography Stacy Savic, whom he credits with making the film vibrant through inventive camerawork that helped keep the fictional interviews of the cast visually compelling.

“It is a dream project that’s gone through lots of iterations over 16 years. The first time I started playing around with the script was in 2008 when Obama first went into office, and the nation became polarized,’ he recalls. “It’s been a fun ride and it eventually evolved to a point where technology caught up to the idea and it could be done without spending a gazillion dollars, which made it easier to do the story.”

The film was shot for next to nothing.

“We touch on a lot of issues: workers’ rights, racism, a woman’s right to choose, erasing history, and even leaving people out of the conversation. I think this story tells parts of the Black Experience with a twist,” said Executive Producer Onika Johnson. 

 “By the end of the movie, we’re exploring things that are really happening today, even here in Pasadena. People fall into that mindset of ‘I hate you just because you don’t agree with me.’”

“We need to get past that, period. Now, we’re in a presidential election. And we hear talk of race and gender.”

“It is when we enter a crisis that our rights are the most fragile. And that is a big point in this film.”

While Coleman was always confident in his ability to weave a fascinating tale with crisp dialogue, he at first realized that he wasn’t equipped to do it justice visually as a filmmaker. He considers his “film school” to be the time he spent working on numerous projects for other people in the area, including directing a sitcom.

“Milestone” plays from Aug. 9-15 at the Regency Academy, 1003 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.  Showtimes are at 12:30, 2:50 and 9:45 pm.  Tickets can be purchased at www.regencymovies.com/movie/milestone