On Oct. 8, 2016, on BET’s Centric “Hollywood Hearts” premieres at 8 p.m. The romantic drama is the brainchild of award-winning singer and performer Bobby V who leads the cast in this complicated love story. Bobby Wilson is a music artist living the typical rock star lifestyle of flash, too many females and an inflated ego. He is battling internal struggles and finds it difficult to give up for the woman he loves and the life he wants to build. After a tragic turn of events and friend-interventions, he realizes who and what really matter.
“Hollywood Hearts” is directed, written and executive produced by Tangie B. Moore of Tier 2 Films. Since co-founding Tier 2 Films, with her husband Ric Atari, Moore has inked several deals and placements with Discovery Studios, WEtv, EOne, Sprite, BET Entertainment/Viacom and Samsung.
Here, Moore tells readers how she and Bobby V. met, how her mother’s death in 2008 after a battle with breast cancer has impacted her, and the joys of family and filmmaking.
Tell us your backstory.
I published Good News magazine for a little over six years, from 1999 to 2006. I am a journalist by trade. I love telling stories. I am a storyteller. The digital revolution happened and news moved to online, print media lost its way for a little while. Good News was a glossy, full color general interest, lifestyle magazine that distributed nationally. We were on the newsstands between Essence and Upscale magazines. With blogs and other online media outlets coming up, the print world took a hit.
My mother, Glenda J. Black, was my co-publisher, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. With all that was going on in print media. We printed our last issue with Tyra Banks on the cover in 2006. I was at a cross road. I asked God, what do I do now? This has been my life, my dream, my passion. My husband he said, ‘You are still a storyteller. That doesn’t change. It’s your passion. How will you take it and move forward?’ My answer was television and film. I decided to transition these stories from print to the screen. I wrote and directed my first independent film in 2010, All I Want. I was able to get a really cool distribution deal with Walmart 30 days later. It was better than I thought. The film did well. I kept honing my craft and developed myself as a director and writer. We did “Couples Therapy” which aired on BET last year.
The Creator, the Universe has been supporting my steps in everything I set out to do. I am blessed to be able to have a certain amount of success. It has been a journey. Everything that I hoped for I am realizing and it’s coming to pass.
Where is your hometown?
This is a funny story. I am from Little Rock, Arkansas. We moved to Atlanta in 1991. It’s so funny everything that is going on with the presidential elections. I grew up with Chelsea [Clinton]. Bill Clinton and Hillary were actually good friends of my parents. [Moore’s dad is a prominent Atlanta minister — Rev. Jerry D. Black, pastor of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church.]
Your mom was a very, very beautiful spirit.
Thank you … she is so missed. She is looking down. I know that she is very supportive. I hear her every day. She is very much still in the picture.
[Glenda J. Black’s, B.A., M.Ed., career spanned as a teacher, real estate agent and magazine publisher. The first lady of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church for 16 years founded the Sisters of Faith non-profit organization, which was dedicated to promoting breast cancer awareness and survival. In her obituary, her family described her as a woman who “faced her personal challenges with cancer with tremendous fortitude, poise and grace. Glenda became a strong example of how to endure hardness as a good soldier.” She died on Thursday, July 3, 2008, at her home.]
She was my life, she was my rock. It was really a rough time for me when she passed away. My best friend and husband said we are going to get back up, that’s what she’d want for you. And he said, let’s go [all hands on deck] for this film company.
What’s the origin of the concept for Hollywood Hearts?
“Hollywood Hearts” is Bobby V. and Ben Brown’s concept. They brought it to me. I liked it. I went away and wrote the script. They brought me on to direct the film. It’s lightly based on Bobby’s life in a sense. As he goes through the evolution, he realizes love conquers all and is the last thing standing. The other stuff is an illusion. He gets over himself when he understands his truth.
Tell us what “going away to write” means for you?
I leave my home. I am a wife and mother of three: Yahliel, 12; Kindred, 9; and Mica, 6. The film company, Tier 2, is busy. I am being courted to be a writer for a show on NBC. I came up with a scripted series and they love it. I am in communication with Dreamworks and NBC about it.
We have a show premiering next year on weTV. We have a whole lot going on on the business side in TV and film. We are really making our imprint in the industry.
When I say step away, I really hone in. I like to tell stories that are multilayered, to really relate to the characters and to focus on stories that will really move an audience. When I am trying to get it done relatively quickly, I have a special spot that I go to for three to five days to escape and get quiet.
How did you and Bobby V. meet?
I didn’t know Bobby V. personally. Ben introduced us. Bobby told me what he really wanted to do. I’d only heard about him and I was curious if he could handle acting. We laugh about it today. He has become a really good friend, he’s warmhearted, a good guy and jokester who kept us laughing on set. I was really proud of how well he did in the film especially considering he’s never led a film before. It’s his first lead role.
