"The major theaters have distribution companies they deal with," said Chelsea A. Brown, 22, president of 3G Films, Inc., an East Oakland-based movie production company.

Oakland, however, has the Grand Lake Theatre near Lake Merritt, which often makes room on its marquee for a political statement next to blockbuster movie titles.

So 3G Films -- fueled by a talented trio of Trenten Gumbs and cousins Richard Gumbs and Desmond Gumbs -- managed to schedule its new film "Is It Worth It?" at the Grand Lake for one showing: 7:30 p.m. February 19.

The action-adventure movie, which features recording artist Beenie Man, then moves to the Four Star Theater, 2200 Clement St., in San Francisco, at 9:30 p.m. February 23, and back to Oakland at the Parkway Theater, 1835 Park Boulevard, at 9:30 p.m. March 16.

Filmed in Jamaica and the Bay Area and co-produced by Southern California film crew Bent Outta Shape Productions, the movie is already being shown in the Caribbean and Europe.

"We did a lot of scenes in Oakland ... at my aunt's house by Lake Merritt and my place in East Oakland," said Richard Gumbs.

A 75-member cast includes 45 Bay Area actors, among them Oaklanders Nick Harper, Jerome Caldwell, Terrence Hatter, John "Ras Kidus" Cornelius, Gena Sexton, Khamani Malik Griffin, Vergia Batty, and Hayward actors Samuel Marshall, Cloteal Gumbs and Rhea Palmer.

Challenges ranged from securing financing to getting a distributor.

Breaking into the U.S. market isn't easy, which is why local artists appreciate the Grand Lake and Parkway as outlets for talented filmmakers or small-budget film festivals.

Using a $500,000 budget, 3G Films forged ahead. Trenten was the director and crafted the script. Richard ran the camera and took six months to edit the piece. Desmond, who has an office at Warner Bros., worked on the financing as a producer.

A Previous Hit
Desmond had directed 3G's first production, "Rude Boy: The Jamaican Don" (Trenten wrote the screenplay), and they teamed up with filmmaker Bentley Kyle Evans of Bent Outta Shape. That movie was a hit in the Caribbean when it was released in 2002, and it's now on DVD and available in Europe.

This year, Sony Pictures will distribute both "Rude Boy" and "Is It Worth It?"

Harper, 57, a velvety-voiced radio personality, worked at many Bay Area stations, including KBLX and the late, legendary KDIA. "I play a gangster, driver and gopher," said Harper, who landed the part during a family reunion in Hayward.

"I was at a barbecue a few years ago and I ran into Richard and Trenten. I've know them for years. It turns out we're cousins," said Harper, who went to high school in Denver and later graduated from Stanford University with a communications degree. "Trenten knows how to bring out your personality ... and you can't miss a line."

Sexton played a struggling girlfriend of a drug dealer who was contemplating leaving that lifestyle. "I decided to leave him and focus on raising my son and college," she said. "As a real-life single mother of two, I could relate to doing that."

Her real son, Khamani, 5, played her son in the movie. Khamani also played Eddie Murphy's son in "Daddy Day Care" and is now in the UPN sitcom called "All Of Us" with singer LisaRaye.

Longtime Love of Music
"We spent a year making this movie ... about half the time in the Caribbean," said Trenten Gumbs, a 1984 graduate of Berkeley High School, whose passion for music started at age 5 when his parents took him to see a marching band. Trenten took his musical drive to Los Angeles, where he wrote and produced songs for major record labels, including Motown, Sony, MCA, Capital and Universal.

He ended up working with such major artists as Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle and Stevie Wonder.

Richard Gumbs, who graduated from Castlemont High School in 1989, worked on music videos for numerous recording artists, including Hammer, E-40 and Master P. He also designed an album cover for Eddie Murphy.

For more information about 3G Films, call (510) 830-7148.

The Oakland Tribune: Cityside
Leanne McLaughlin, Managing Editor
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