Dash
NEW YORK -- Hip-hop impresario Damon Dash has pacted with Lions Gate to produce, direct and star in "State Property II," a sequel to the company's 2002 Philadelphia gangsta pic, one of the first film projects out of Dash's Roc-a-Fella Records stable.
Pic marks the third stint behind the camera for Dash after co-directing Universal vid title "Paper Soldiers" and going solo last year on insider hip-hop satire "Death of a Dynasty," which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.
Lions Gate will finance the feature, to be produced through Roc-a-Fella's Dash Films and ROC Films, a division created specifically to shepherd projects involving the label's music artists.
Screenplay for "State Property II" was penned by Adam "Blue" Moreno from a story by Dash and Moreno. Beth Melillo is co-producing. Shooting started March 4 in New York on the 16mm feature.
"This is my third project as director but the first on which I've really prepared properly to do what a director needs to do," Dash told
Daily Variety. "Being in the movie business as long as I have been, there are certain expectations, so I've really had to crack down and study."
Story follows three rival gangsters fighting to own the same turf. Dash and rapper Beanie Sigel reprise their roles from "State Property" as a Harlem-born hustler forced into a vicious territory war and an imprisoned drug lord struggling to keep his gang on the map, respectively. Victor Santiago (aka Nore) stars as a flashy Miami playboy plotting to take over the Philly streets.
"Damon has made an incredibly impressive transition from music to film and has demonstrated an ability to be artistically and financially successful in both areas," said Lions Gate president of production Mike Paseornek.
Lions Gate is planning a 2005 release. Produced by Dash and directed by Abdul Malik Abbott, original feature was a profitable pickup for the distrib, grossing $2.1 million theatrically and segueing to video and DVD to generate a further $5 million.
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