Noah’s Arc Creator, Patrik-Ian Polk Responds to my Blog Posting
Patrik-Ian Polk leaves a comment on my blog posting. Patrik just know I still appreciate your work and as I said the film clips look amazing and hilarious!
========
While I appreciate you promoting the NOAH’S ARC movie, you should be a bit more careful about quoting second or even third-hand rumors and gossip that has no basis in fact or reality. The NOAH movie was written by myself and one of the other writers from the series, John Gordon. We went through three or four re-writes (which if you know absolutely ANYTHING about how movies get made, then you know that is more than standard for ANY script development process). But I’m less interested in quibbling over some random person’s opinion, than i am in asking why you, in what I gather to be an attempt at a thoughtful and thought-provoking gay/black-themed blog, would quote some hazy friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend source as though you had read it in the New York Times. As you continue to grow and pursue your own goals and dreams of making films and TV, I hope people will be as kind to you as they have been to us- and I hope the ones who aren’t kind won’t have too much of a negative effect on you and your ambitions.
I, along with everyone involved, am very proud of the NOAH’S ARC movie. I’m proud on a personal level because for me it’s the realization of yet another dream. And I’m proud for us as a community, because it’s one more step in my mission as an artist to bring thoughtful and thought-provoking representations of the black gay lifestyle to film & television screens. I learned a long time ago that you can’t please all of the people all of the time, and to try to do so is foolish. I’m the first person to admit that NOAH’S ARC is not for everyone- no single piece of art can be for everyone. But for those who do enjoy the show, our goal was to continue the series in a bigger and bolder way, befitting a move to the big screen- and thankfully, I feel we have accomplished that. I’ve said it before, but trust me when I say it again-y’all ain’t ready. September 2008…
xxoo, Patrik
=========
Thoughts anyone?
Jared said,
June 9, 2008 at 2:03 pm
mmmm….
Darius T. Williams said,
June 10, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I’m with Jared…mmmm
toddyenglish said,
June 10, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Oooh, someone overdosed on the bitch pills.
Still love Noah’s Arc though!
tdubbs said,
June 11, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Wow he read u, but he did have a good point about quoting unreliable sources
Xem said,
June 15, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Im NOT too Sure that Im impressed with the Movie Clip that I just saw. HOWEVER, Im rarely as WOW.d by Movie Trailors, as I am with the actual project, in itself. I DO plan to SUPPORT Patrick and his Groundbreaking Series. I only HOPE that this will be the foundation for projects of a more supreme calibur to follow.
David said,
June 17, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Patrick,thank you for bringing our voice to the small screen,and the big screen,I am a black gay male erotic cartoonist,and so many of the chracters and situations in the series remind me of stories I wrote for my comix.
I am a huge Noah’s Arc fan,and I can’t wait to see this movie and all the sexy ass black and latino men.
barbara white said,
June 17, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Mr. Patrick- Ian Polk I love you and ii love Noah Arc I never understood Gay man but i do now i love there friendship there love for there partner I realkly adore Wade and Noah i really hope you let Wade and Noah (the really Wade ) continue therel relationship When i watch your show i don’t see gay people i see people in love Your doing a really good job at showing the world that
Lonnell said,
June 18, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I wish the film success. The series was a poorly acted, hurriedly written train wreck, but I soooo LOVE it! I bought the dvd’s and fell in love with the show. I was thrilled that someone had the fortitude to blaze the trail. The movie clips were a colossal bore…other than the fact that everyone looked good. I simply applaud Patrick and crew for getting it done. I just hope there are more compelling scenes coming forth in the finished product. Patrick is right, Noah’s Arc is not for everyone. It is however for many and they continue to connect. So love it or hate it, we must respect it. After all, have any of us gotten a project off the ground that far? Yeah, right. No need to hate on Noah’s Arc, it is what it is! Delicous eye candy, campy LA drama and a does or two of super extra fab! Continued success! By the way, is this a theatrical release? Logo? straight to DVD? What’s really going on? LOL.
aSeaNamedSolaris said,
June 24, 2008 at 2:52 pm
Hello, Queer kid,
I come to your blog by way of ToddyEnglish. I think blogs are a sensational platform and it’s wonderful to read them filtered through Black/Queer perspectives.
I cannot blame Mr. Polk for “putting you in your place” so to speak. I mean, think about it for a moment: you have this project which is your baby and you have someone (who does not have a project of their own, I gather?) criticizing it. And yeah, I agree with most of the comments about how shallow the show is, but I am just grateful to see these delicious black, interracial, and latino men on the small screen. Where else do we see ourselves reflected? And do we not remember the episode where Brandy tells Noah the script is in trouble and they bring in Baby Gat or Gap or whatever his name was? That’s Hollywood! Unfortunately it’s not about substance, it’s about entertainment. And when it’s about entertainment you do what Hollywood tells you to do. So many artists have to cater to that until they come to a place and time where they have the clout and the money of a Spielberg or Stone and can make movies as they see fit.
As much as I would have like to have seen more substance in the Noah’s Arc series I was just grateful to see gay black men on the screen. I valued that. Even other movies like Ski Trip, The Reception and Dirty Laundry, we can all pick them apart but in the end, it’s just nice to see our community reflected on the screen. Look how long it took Blacks to make it past slaves, criminals and drug dealers on the screen. Look how long it took Gays and Lesbians to make it to the screen. We are just getting reved up. In another decade you will see a whole other calibre of black/gay filmmaking and perhaps the introduction of more transgender films. It’s a slow process.
I don’t know what your original comment was that sparked Mr. Polk’s response but he obviously did not take it lightly. It kind of reminds me of Youtube. I love to watch the classical performances. Everybody’s a critic, lol. But until you yourself post and subject yourself to the criticism, it’s probably hard to understand why a poster might be offended or take to heart some of the comments.
And by the way, a Black gay republican? You mentioned you spoke of or explained this. Can you direct me to the post where you did this. I am terribly curious.
urB'n sKoLa said,
June 30, 2008 at 9:06 am
Folks looking for more substance and black gay/queer/sgl men, they should definitely check out “The DL Chronicles.” The name put me off, but the content is well worth the viewer-ship who want more of black gay roles.
On another point, I think that Mr. Ian-Polk coulda eased up on the colors, fonts and stylizing. That just read as “doin’ too much.”
QCoC, you really need to step your research game up. You asked for it if you didn’t fact check.
queerkidofcolor said,
June 30, 2008 at 3:08 pm
Hello Krystal:
Firstly, I would like to thank you for that wonderful piece you wrote on Sakia Gunn, it was beautifully written. I recently saw a documentary about her entitled Sakia Gunn: A Dream Deferred. It was a moving and powerful documentary.
Secondly, I actually created the stylizing and fonts seen in Mr. Polk comments—not Mr. Polk himself.
Thirdly, as far as fact checking goes I did fact check. But you as a journalist and as someone who works with a mainstream queer organization knows the importance of keeping sources anonymous.
And lastly, it’s QKoC (queer kid of color) I guess we could all use some help with fact checking and research.
I hope you had a lovely weekend. And I hope you’ll have a lovely week.
Thank you.
Steven said,
July 14, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I thought his comment was poorly written, considering. Meandering and unnecessarily hurtful.
I also don’t like the way you edit quotes, though– if you’re going to do that, you need to at least put in a disclaimer that the emphasis is yours, not his. I know the colors are your editing, but how about the caps? Either way, it certainly colors[pun very much intended] how the reader receives the text. So I might be overreacting.
Either way, it sort of makes me not want to support NA, to be honest, but I suppose I couldn’t allow one comment to get in the way.
Much love, of course
from one Steven to another.
Kneesee said,
July 17, 2008 at 12:08 am
When Will the Movie be out. I am a married female lover of Noah Arc and several of my friends. It is never a good idea to quote unreliable sources so getting your coat pulled on it will help with the next time. Cravinggggggggggggggg Noah and Wade………………..
Chris Jackson said,
July 26, 2008 at 6:54 pm
I talked to my director, Patrik Ian-Polk on thurs (July 24, 2008) and he stated to me from his London loft that Noah’s Arc – Jumping the Broom will indeed be released in theaters in October.
It was about to be a direct to video release after a small window on the logo network until a recent test screening in NYC where the Logo/viacom executives witnessed for themselves the test numbers go through the roof on the movie. It tested in the high 90s for people who viewed the movie as favorable and 98 percent stating that they would encourage their friends to see the movie as well. The platform release will be in new York, Los Angeles, Chicago, DC, Detroit and go wider when the movie starts to make bigger money.
I am a straight African American screenwriter proud to be in business with such a visionary writer/director and producer of Patrik’s ilk.
You see Patrik is attached to direct from my screenplay a horror-comedy A WEREWOLF IN COMPTON, so he doesn’t only do gay themed projects. Patrik and I considering LIL’Wayne, Chris Brown and Samuel L. Jackson to star in in A WEREWOLF IN COMPTON.
My last writing partner was John Singleton (Boyz in the hood, Hustle & Flow, Shaft). JS and I created CRASH and have a project setup at Universal Pictures entitled MAxx aka “The Untitled Chris Jackson Project.” however our partnership didn’t end well we remain courteous toward each other.
Before working with John Singleton, Robert Townsend and I were working together and enjoyed years of creating magic on the screen.
However, working with Patrik Ian-Polk on WEREWOLF IN COMPTON has been one of the best experiences of my career.
Chris Jackson
Ethel Gordon said,
August 27, 2008 at 2:49 pm
Please, Please, Please keep Jensen on the show. I just started watching it and had to order the DVD’s because you miss the good stuff in BetJ. But one thing for sure
Keep Jensen, I don’t know what I’d do without seeing those gorgeous
dimples.
Thanks for listening,
Always a fan,
Ethel
Cjagxdwx said,
December 13, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Thanks!,
sandrar said,
September 10, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
effestife said,
November 16, 2009 at 2:51 am
Hey everyone just wanna say hello and introduce myself!