Exclusive: Director Matty Rich on The Inkwell’s 30th Anniversary and advise for young filmmakers
Today (April 22) marks the 30th anniversary of when The Inkwell hit theaters. Directed by Matty Rich, the 1994 romantic comedy-drama starred Larenz Tate, Joe Morton, Suzzanne Douglass, Glynn Turman, Jada Pinkett, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Adrienne-Joi Johnson, Morris Chestnut, Duane Martin, Mary Alice, and Phyllis Yvonne Stickney.
A shy, troubled young man who set his own house on fire and has an imaginary friend, is sent to a vineyard where he finds himself in the middle of his political-arguing, party-loving family and his love torn between two girls.
Coming off the success of debut film, Straight Out of Brooklyn, this was Matty Rich’s second film and his first with a studio. Having done SOB with a budget of $450,000 and making nearly $3 million at the box office, for his second effort, Disney gave him a budget of $8 million for The Inkwell. Unfortunately, the critics and box office results weren’t kind with a low rotten tomatoes score and only $8.9M at the gate. However, once the film hit VHS and DVDs, it became a cult classic.
Rich was also the director and screenwriter of the video game, 187 Ride or Die. He serves as a professor at AFI and has taught students at Sundance.
Blackfilmandtv.com’s Wilson Morales caught up with Rich as he spoke about the film 30 years later and the advise he would give young filmmakers on working on their first studio film.