New York Times best-selling writer Carl Weber has successfully left his mark in the literary industry and now has embarked on a new journey by bringing one of his best-sellers to the big screen. With The Man in 3B screening in 36 theaters, the film has been expanded to eight additional theaters.
How does it feel to have successfully brought one of your novels to life on the big screen?
Wow! Anytime you write a book and it goes on the big screen or any of those screens, it’s like your super moment. So, I’m ecstatic and the movie has been so much more successful than we could’ve expected, especially considering the fact we didn’t have a big budget like the movie The Perfect Guy did nor the advertising. But to have such a great turnout was amazing.
Creatively, what frame of mind do you get in to write such great novels?
You know, it’s kinda weird. I’m what you call a warm weather writer. Which means, I usually go somewhere really warm and I write. Although, I live in New York now, I usually go to California or the islands. That’s where I start the whole preparation process for the six months it takes to write a book.
Where else would you like to see your film expand to?
Well, we just recently just signed a deal with BET to air the The Man in 3B in spring 2016. Things are really going in the right direction. I’m still ecstatic and excited for the next film in the works.
Do you think now is a good time that people can really appreciate more African American books, films and shows?
I’ve been feeling that way for the last 20 years. I knew from the book industry that now is our time. The film industry is a little bit different, because you have to find finance here and find the right crew, a director and the actors that actually want to be a part of the project and it’s not as easy as one would think.
How do you determine which actors you want in your movie?
Well, unlike most people that are dealing with the screenplay and stuff like that, I was blessed to not only have written the book, but I also wrote the screenplay. I was one of the executive producers and my company, Urban Books Media, was also one of the financiers. As an executive producer, I was involved in the casting process and I also listened to my fans.
What advice would you give other young, Black writers?
Well, my advice for any kind of author whether they’re Black or White is to finish the project. The biggest issue is only about 5 percent of the books that are novels get finished. So, you have to finish the book before starting the next process.
Make sure you check out “The Man in 3B” in theaters now. To get more exclusives of the film and the cast, visit https://www.themanin3b.com/.
