Writer and director David E. Talbert recalls conceiving the idea for First Sunday, his feature film debut, after attending a function at a Baltimore church. "My friends and I went across the street to get something to eat. As I was sitting there looking back at the droves of people emptying out of the church, as well as the people that were in the café, I thought about what would happen if someone plotted to rob the church," he says.
Talbert, the creative force behind more than a dozen award-winning plays, shared the concept with his manager and producer David McIlvain. "That's how I work. I'll tell a few people about it and see if their eyes light up," says Talbert.
"David had pitched the story to me several years ago and it stayed with me," says McIlvain, whose producing credits include The Exorcism of Emily Rose and the upcoming Tim Allen comedy, The Six Wives of Henry Lefay. "About a year later, I called him up and said 'I've been thinking about your idea. I'd like to get Tim Story involved.'"
Tim Story, an A-list Hollywood producer and director, first made a name for himself with the comedy hit Barbershop. He was in Canada directing Fantastic Four when he got the call from McIlvain. "He gave me a one-sentence pitch," says Story. "I was already familiar with David E. Talbert's previous work. I was sold immediately because it was in the same vein as Uptown Saturday Night, Soul Food and Barbershop. I love those stories."
So does Talbert. "Those Poitier-Cosby films were my favorites," he says. "I always wanted to make a new version of Uptown Saturday Night where a straight man and a funny one are thrust into the most unthinkable caper that they then have to pull off."
The idea of setting the film in a church made Story laugh out loud. "I grew up in the church, and I know there was always this building fund that they just kept raising money for. At some point you go, 'okay, they've got to have $2 billion by now.' It made sense to me as soon as he said it, for guys to think that they could rob the building fund."
The church setting was a natural for Talbert, a "PK" (pastor's kid) whose great grandmother, grandmother, mother, father and uncle were all preachers. "The church experience is a part of the fiber of who I am," he says. "I wanted to honor the legacy of the millions of people raised in storefront churches, and the colorful characters who inhabit them today."
Against this backdrop, Talbert created a second, more serious story. "I also wanted this film to be about a father and son," says Talbert. "How far would a father go to protect his child and keep him near him? We explore that notion with Durell and Durell Jr. I grew up in inner city Black America in a lineage of fatherless households. So I thought it was very important to show a father taking responsibility and willing to fight for his son, although a little misguidedly, as Durell does in the film."
The producers quickly put together a team of experts to guide the first-time filmmaker through his transition from stage to screen. "In David's case, we had somebody who had never really been in the movie business," says McIlvain. "What he brought to the table that makes him effective as a director is experience in working with actors and doing live theater for twelve years. It was necessary for him to get people to help transform him from a playwright to screenwriter."
Talbert is grateful for the seasoned film professionals who helped him put together a first-rate film. "I really had talented, experienced associates to help raise this story," says Talbert. "David McIlvain helped me develop it. Tim Story took me under his wing and guided me in how to show a story, not just tell it. Screen Gems president Clint Culpepper took me out to 'social' dinners on Saturday nights only to set me up to go over the script page by page by page, which I really appreciated."
Even before a single line of the screenplay was written, Talbert sat down with Story, who served as a producer on the film, to discuss the process of building a film script. "We started by breaking out the structure," recalls Story. "Then Dave went off and did his first draft, brought it back and we just kept working on it."
It was clear to them both that Talbert's strength lay in his knack for creating compelling characters. "One of the films that we talked about a lot was Barbershop, in the sense that it captured this neighborhood feel, and it captured the characters," Story says. "That's one thing that he knows like the back of his hand." 
The script caught the attention of Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez, producing partners and principals in Cube Vision. "What sparked our interest was David's exploration of what somebody would do to protect his family," says Alvarez. "Durell's been thrown a few curveballs, but at his core, he is really a good guy who wants to do the best thing for his son. He is struggling with many issues that fathers who are having a hard time making ends meet struggle with. This idea was very interesting to us."
Multi-talented actor, filmmaker and musician Ice Cube was also attracted to Durell's plight. "Durell is blinded by his love for his son, whose mother wants to move away with him to another state. He's desperate and at his breaking point," says Cube. "So he gets pulled into LeeJohn's cockamamie schemes, like selling tricked-out wheelchairs and robbing a church to make enough money to keep his son in Baltimore."
The subtle cultural statements made in First Sunday also intrigued Cube. "This movie takes place in a church, but it doesn't have to do with religion. It deals with the conscience of the church. At the end of the film, Durell and LeeJohn redeem the church and the church redeems them," explains Cube.
Talbert was excited to have Cube play Durell because, as he says, "Cube represents every man from the inner city. He naturally has this internal fury coupled with a gentleness that is Durell.  It's Cube's ability to effortlessly toggle between the two worlds that makes Durell a multi-dimensional character." 
Knowing that Cube and Alvarez had shepherded the work of other fledgling directors, including Story, through the development and production process was also attractive to Talbert. "Cube and Matt have taken many directors to the promised land," says Talbert. "Matt Alvarez fought to surround me with the best cast and crew. His sensibilities are dead on. Cube is a gifted actor and was a generous directing coach for me during the filming process."
The Cube Vision duo enjoys working with new filmmakers, but Alvarez is quick to point out that with his extensive stage experience, Talbert was no newcomer to dramatic storytelling and working with actors. "First-time directors are typically very collaborative, which we really like," says Alvarez. "Dave Talbert is directing his first feature, but he has written and mounted several plays. He has great instincts, a fantastic rapport with actors and an inherent trust in what he can deliver to the audience, in addition to being very collaborative. He's the real deal."
Talbert says the production of First Sunday took a village of people to realize. "As the director, you get all the credit and all the blame, but without the input I received, I would not have been able to transition from a playwright and a theater director to a filmmaker," he says. "It's been the most amazing creative experience of my life. I feel like everything I've been doing the last 15 years on stage and in novels prepared me for this. This film is my thesis. And everything I do will change as a result." 

ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS

Considering his portfolio of high-profile accomplishments, there is not a box big enough to contain the creative voice of multi-award winning writer, director and producer DAVID E. TALBERT (Writer/Director/Producer).
He was hand-picked to write and produce an NBC special for Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, collaborated with hip-hop icon Snoop Dogg on a best-selling novel, launched record-breaking stage tours of his plays (including his latest, "Love In The Nick Of Tyme," starring Morris Chestnut), created a reality show for TV-One entitled David E. Talbert's StageBlack, and wrote and produced First Sunday, his feature film directorial debut.
Born the great-grandson of a Pentecostal preacher, Talbert's roots run deep in the business of hope and inspiration. For more than 15 years, Talbert has been one of the highest grossing and most recognizable brands in urban inspirational musicals and comedies. His 12 blockbuster plays, which include "Love on Lay-Away," "He Say She Say," "The Fabric of a Man," "His Woman His Wife," "Mr. Right Now," "Love Makes Things Happen," "A Fool and His Money," "Tellin' It Like It 'Tiz!," "What Goes Around…Comes Around," "Talk Show Live," "Lawd Ha' Mercy" and "Love in the Nick of Tyme," have been seen by an amazing 2.5 million fans. His work has received an astounding 24 NAACP Award nominations, and won five, including Best Playwright for "The Fabric of a Man."
The soundtrack to Talbert's eighth play, "His Woman His Wife," skyrocketed to the Top 20 on Billboard's inspirational album charts. Talbert's debut novel, Baggage Claim, became an instant national bestseller, climbing to #2 on the "Essence" bestseller list. In home video, Talbert pioneered the concept of inspirational plays on DVD by making by his seventh play, "Mr. Right Now," the first ever available. His plays are now enjoyed on DVD in over 20 countries, spanning four continents.
A graduate of Morgan State University, Talbert earned his Bachelors degree in marketing. He later attended New York University, where he enrolled in its accelerated film program. Talbert's plays continue to tour the country, and he and cast faithfully visit and lecture at high schools and colleges, creating mentor programs and inspiring the next generation of artists, actors and producers.

THE ART OF ORIGINAL FILMMAKING

HOME