Invisible Life, the ground-breaking novel about an alternative love story penned by now-deceased author, E. Lynn Harris, is about to take its impact a step further. The story that changed the perception of what “gay” looks like, ushering in for black women both education and suspicion about “down low” brothers, is headed to the big screen.
Proteus Spann, an accomplished film producer, casting agent and good friend to Harris, purchased exclusive rights to Invisible Life and the remainder of Harris’ brand and, now, has made it his mission to broaden the audience that the intriguing novel was able to reach. Not only did Harris’ work illuminate the fact that gay isn’t as static a term as many previously had believed, but, more importantly, it also shed light on HIV and AIDS and their unique impact on the black community.
Rolling out recently spoke with Spann to provide him with the opportunity to explain why it’s so important to him to spread Harris’ message. –gerald a. radford
ro: What led to you owning E Lynn Harris’ body of work?
Spann: I want the public to understand that this [purchasing the rights] came about in 2005-2006 before he [E Lynn Harris] died. So, this is about me getting the rights and having ownership, and it’s important to emphasize the ownership because I own the book and all the characters outright, his entire catalog of Invisible Life up until In My Father’s House, and I bought In My Father’s House and Mama Dearest in January of ’09, and Lynn passed in July of ’09. All of this was completely done. That’s important because you’ll have a lot of naysayers, and a lot of people will want to know, “How did you come up with this?” But it’s been done.
ro: There seems to be an air of defensiveness regarding the transaction.
Spann: With all the jealousy and hating, there may be someone who will challenge me, but, in 2006, I became the US copyright owner. Do your research before you come.
It’s important to understand that this didn’t happen posthumously. I’ve been working on the musical [Invisible Life] since I first bought the book. I hired Ashford and Simpson to write all original music for the musical, and they did incredible music, which the NY Times has heard some of it and has commented with a positive review. So, the musical is ready to go. But, it was easier to finance the movie as opposed to the play. So, that’s why I’m doing the movie first.
ro: You appear very passionate about this project. Why?
Spann: One of the reasons I bought the rights to the book is because the book impacted me. When I first read the book, it answered a lot of questions that I had, and it spoke to a lot of the things that I was going through, and there was no other novel or no other book to do that and especially if you didn’t have parents, as I didn’t. Invisible Life answered a lot of questions, and it not only answered questions for me as a man and as a boy, but it also had great impact on women.
ro: Was that impact as detrimental to black women and relationships as it was great for creating awareness?
Spann: I would say the impact was positive. It made a lot of women suspicious, but one of the things that Lynn always said was, when he wrote that book, he said one of the things women should know is who their men are sleeping with, and that’s what the book did. It made women question what was going on. The way it was presented, it took it to another level, with women being made aware.
ro: Homosexual subject matter may not be considered groundbreaking anymore with the big push for gay right and the enormous strides that have been made.
Spann: What made the book stand out from other books and what will make this movie stand out from other movies like Broke Back Mountain and a few other ones is Lynn not only dealt with sexuality but how some of the choices you make in your life affect other people, your family, your religion, where you work … and a lot of novels or movies don’t deal with that. A lot of times when you deal with sexuality, it’s a me, me, me thing, but Lynn spoke about how the choices you make affect other people and other things around you. So, we haven’t had that yet, especially black people on screen.
ro: Do you have any fear about not being able to capture the intriguing essence of the book?
Spann: If I had just started this, i would say yes, but after courting the musical and going through so many drafts and changes and workshops and what have you, and going through different scripts, I don’t have any fear anymore because I know the story. I know what needs to happen, what needs to be told because I’m not doing it for the money. I’m doing it because the story needs to be told the right way. The movie needs to be as epic as the book because I strongly believe the book saved lives.
ro: Will this have an indie feel, or will it be big budget?
Spann: We’ll be successful. I went out and got some of the best in the business. I have the team of producers and writers.
ro: Will casting follow the same pattern, the best in the business?
Spann: My background is casting. There are a lot of ways to go, but I want to say that we’ll look for the best people to play the roles. At this time, we’re open to all — unknowns, A-list actors … It would be great if some of the A-list actors would step up and try to play these roles. I think a question should be would some of these actors be afraid to play these roles, to play Raymond, to play Kyle or Kelvin or Basil?
ro: Afraid to portray potentially career-killing gay roles on screen?
Spann: I think some of the actors are going to be afraid, but I don’t think we’ll run into that problem. The characters are in their 20s, but Hollywood hasn’t developed roles for black actors who are in their early 20s because there aren’t many black movies starring young attractive males and females. So, they haven’t really had the chance to hone their skills. This would be a great vehicle for it, and the adult roles aren’t that controversial.
ro: Harris made great strides with his literary body. His legacy is now in your hands. Any pressure?
Spann: My goal is to continue that legacy and to develop a brand, to establish the brand that’s already there through publishing and his novels. I want to take one of the few remaining black brands and make it even bigger and better, to turn his novels into theatrical plays, Broadway, TV series … This is a true American brand that hasn’t been touched.
This is the reason I’m still here … to do this. It’s my passion, it’s my life, it’s what I’ve been doing for the past five or six years.
