Q: After a decade of constantly being on screen or on TV, why become a producer now, and why executive produce a documentary about the psychological abuse of the beauty industry for your first time in that role?

A: Hard as it may seem, I’ve been on TV and film screens for over two decades now. But I decided to become one of the executive producers for this film because Darryl Roberts, the director, came to me with such a strong idea and some interesting footage. He had an idea but wasn’t sure what direction to take it in yet. Of course, it made the rounds about which specific direction it should take but he always knew he wanted to investigate the problem that America had with our images of beauty. That was very interesting to me. And when I saw the footage of Gerren and a couple of other little girls, I thought immediately that it should center around what this “hard sell” was doing to young girls. Mainly because I have three daughters. We talked a little more and I was in. I never thought about this being my first time behind the camera or anything like that. I just thought that it was a strong subject and something that would be interesting to examine.

Q: Did you come into this project having a strong personal opinion about the beauty industry and its effect on the women in our country?

A: I’ve always thought that this country had an unhealthy obsession with the idea of beauty but have never actively done anything about it. Until now, I guess.

Q: After this experience, do you have a different appreciation of what it takes to get the cameras rolling?

A: Well, making a documentary is very different from making a narrative film. I’ve made a couple of short narrative films and am about to make a feature-length film. Documentaries are, or seem to be, primarily created in the editing room. Even though you have a strong idea about your subject from the beginning, things start coming together as you start editing. Then you start to realize that if you could get an interview with this type of specialist or someone from this line of work or someone with this point of view it would really help your piece. It starts to make sense and gain shape and come to life the more you edit. But Darryl did so much of that work. It really is his film. I just helped him out. But I definitely have an appreciation for the patience and tenacity it takes. Darryl did a hell of a job.

Q: Tyra Banks – Groundbreaking influence on young women who should be celebrated or dense self-promoting ex-model leading girls like Gerren down the wrong path?

A: I think Tyra Banks is continuing her career and trying to hold the industry that made her famous to a higher standard than they had when she was coming up. She knows so many inside details and I think that trying to take the industry down is useless. She seems to be letting the average person get a glimpse behind The Wizard’s curtain and allowing everyone to see that none of these people are perfect. She has her own personal flair in the way she does it and that’s okay with me. She has earned the right.

Q: After working on this project, do you watch commercials and look at ads differently?

A: Honestly, I don’t watch much TV anymore. I have come very close to cutting it out of my life entirely. And the couple of shows I do watch are TiVoed anyway. So no commercials for me!

Q: Finally, could the French ever convince you that you weren’t good looking?

A: Nothing against the French but I don’t really listen to anything they say or do. So the answer would be no.

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL, 7:15 p.m. today (and again at 10 p.m. Wednesday) @ Magnolia. Michael Beach will appear at today’s premiere screening.

By John Wildman, Staff Writer

“America the Beautiful,” written, directed, narrated and produced by Darryl Roberts, is one of the most important documentary films of this decade.

In a society where “celebutantes” like Paris Hilton dominate newsstands and models who weigh less than 90 pounds die from malnutrition, female body image is one of the more dire problems facing today’s society. In “America the Beautiful,” Darryl Roberts illuminates the issue by covering every base he can think of. Child models, plastic surgery, celebrity worship, airbrushed advertising, dangerous cosmetics – no rock is left unturned.

Roberts, inspired by the documentary style of Michael Moore, hired a crack team to help him put the film together. The executive producer is Michael Beach, who has worked with many acclaimed directors, including James Cameron, Robert Altman and Tony Scott. The film’s supervising editor is Kurt Engfehr, who actually worked with Michael Moore on “Bowling for Columbine” and “Farenheight 9/11.”

What is astounding about “America the Beautiful” is how affecting the film is. After seeing it, you’ll want to make sure every one you know sees it as well – and not just women. Roberts includes the male gender in his documentary as well, interviewing them for commentary and even spending a few minutes on male body image (an issue that one of the film’s other producers plans to explore further in a film of his own).

Another impressive aspect of the film is its timeliness. With Brazilian models dropping like flies, Nicole Richie looking thinner every day, and the rate of plastic surgery constantly on the rise (with the clientele getting younger and younger), America needs a film like this.

Roberts even addresses the popular Dove campaign ads, particularly the one in which an ordinary woman is transformed into a goddess on a billboard using a team of stylists and Adobe Photoshop. As the ad plays within the film, Roberts good-naturedly comments he set out to make a film that would enlighten women on the unrealistic expectations that advertisements set for women, but Dove beat him to it.

Much of “America the Beautiful” documents the life of Gerren Taylor, a 12-year-old runway model. It’s unsettling to watch Taylor’s meteoric rise to fame, even though the legal age for runway modeling is 14 here in the United States.

Even more disturbing is Taylor’s self image once she doesn’t get called for as many jobs as she used to, thanks in part to her overbearing stage mother. Taylor refers to herself as ugly, hinging her opinion of herself on fashion designers and modeling agents.

“America the Beautiful” is not for the faint of heart. Many scenes, particularly the ones focusing on plastic surgery, are sickening and difficult to watch. The lengths to which some women will go to become and stay beautiful makes your average crash diet look like child’s play.

Some scenes will infuriate viewers, like the ones in which Roberts exposes doctors who call themselves “plastic surgeons” as mere doctors who have taken a one-day course in plastic surgery and have only practiced procedures on tomatoes. The practice is more common than you think. Of the doctors on the television show “Dr. 90210,” only one was an accredited plastic surgeon. The others are regular doctors or OB-GYNs who have attended a short plastic surgery workshop.

Most educational were the scenes focusing on other cultures. “Vagina Monologues” author Eve Ensler discusses her time spent in African countries where negative body image simply doesn’t exist. A Harvard professor discusses her time spent in foreign countries before and after said countries got television and the profound effect that small change had on body image in those countries.

Overall, Roberts has crafted a documentary that exposes America for what it is: beauty obsessed. The movie is touring film festivals right now, but Roberts hopes for a theatrical release as soon as possible. “America the Beautiful” is funny, shocking and enlightening and is important enough to merit as many people seeing it as possible.

I went to the screening of the documentary America the Beautiful last night at the Magnolia Theater for the AFI DALLAS International Film Festival. My wonderful friend Steve accompanied me and we had a wonderful time. It was a bit chaotic upon arrival due to the mass of people in the lobby, drinking and mingling. Once in the actual theater, there were not enough seats. I purchased my tickets about 3 weeks ago so I had a big question mark in my head. It turns out that some volunteers and workers fancied themselves a few seats and were told, “No, No – gotta get up.” Thank goodness b/c If I had not been able to sit down, I would have raised some hell.

Anywhoozy, finally, we were seated and before the film started, the director Darryl Roberts, spoke briefly. I forgot my camera and the one on my cell is not so good so no pics – sorry! Ok, moving on, I loved the film.

At its narrative core, America the Beautiful focuses on Gerren Taylor, a very young girl caught up in the world of high fashion. Along the way, director Darryl Roberts crafts a thought-provoking, funny, and even sad look into the way our American society dictates–and then contradicts– what is “attractive.” From the messages perpetuated by corporate advertising to the fatal chemical components of cosmetics, no topic is safe from examination.

I loved the way Roberts was able to weave Gerren’s story with how the beauty and fashion industry affect what our culture values as beautiful and worthy.

The film was also quite funny at times. One of my favorite scenes was when Gerren was in Paris, and a rather expressive agent tried to tell her she needed to lose weight. Her English was not so good so she used body language. She sucked in her cheeks and stood tall, then slouched, stood tall, then slouched saying, “…more…this.” Gerren is like 6 feet tall and a size 4 if not smaller. The fashion industry is great, no? Another highlight was commentary by Vagina Monologues writer Eve Ensler. That lady is freakin’ hilarious and somehow so poignant.

You have to see this film. And when you do see it, you will understand what I mean by saying, “Revlon, tsk tsk. Shame on you!”

Chicago, IL (BlackNews.com) – From Barbie Dolls to pop stars, America has an unquenchable thirst for physical perfection.
It’s this obsession with beauty and glamour that is the focus of America the Beautiful, making its world premiere this month. The film is scheduled to be screened, March 26 and March 28 in the international documentary category at the American Film Institute’s (AFI) Dallas International Film Festival. Exclusive Interview with America the Beautiful focuses on Gerren Taylor, a young model whose lanky appearance used to be a source for teasing by other kids, but is now her greatest asset. Over a two-year period the film follows Taylor as she transforms from an innocent 12-year-old to America’s next top supermodel.

Chicago Filmmaker Darryl Roberts ventures into the lives and mindsets of celebrities such as Paris Hilton, magazine editors, plastic surgeons, beauty experts and Jessica Simpson as he searches for the cause of America’s unhealthy obsession with beauty.
Beautiful will make you think, laugh and shake your head as Roberts divulges everything from the ingredients found in cosmetics to surprises about television’s top plastic surgeons.
“America is on a quest for physical perfection, fueled by the greed of a few companies that get proportionally richer as our self esteem tanks,” Roberts said. “The film shows where this stems from and how it is probably not in our best interest to buy into it.”

Roberts is writer, director and producer on the film. Executive producer is Michael Beach and producer and supervising editor is Kurt Engfehr.
Roberts is president of Sensory Overload Productions, based in Chicago, IL. His previous films include the highly acclaimed How U Like Me Now, a look at relationships in the 1990′s. Roberts’ career began at WKKC-FM in Chicago. He has served as host of WMAQ-TV’s Hollywood Hype and has directed some of Europe’s hottest commercials and music videos.

A native of suburban Detroit, Engfehr has edited for the Lifetime Network (The Ruby Wax Show), CBS (The Sports Illustrated for Kids Show) and several music videos. He served as senior editor for Michael Moore’s The Awful Truth (1999) and won an American Cinema Editors Award for his work on Bowling for Columbine. He also worked with Moore on Fahrenheit 9/11.

Beach has worked with many acclaimed directors, including James Cameron, Robert Altman and Tony Scott. Beach worked opposite Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston in Waiting to Exhale (1995) and played a cheating husband in 1997′s Soul Food. He has also acted on ER, in A Family Thing and independent film Asunder.

America the Beautiful, is a timely and relevant social documentary, seeming especially topical since 2 models recently died from eating disorders, one in Brazil, immediately after walking off the runway and the other in Spain. America the Beautiful, is currently making festival rounds before going into theatrical release.

http://www.blacknews.com/pr/americathebeautiful101.html

Friday, March 30, 2007
Samantha Urban Review

Monday, March 19, 2007
America The Beautiful Forces Look in the Mirror

Friday, March 30, 2007
Actor’s Corner: Michael Beach Interview

Tuesday, March 27, 2007
AFI Dallas – He Done Good
Sunday, April 22, 2007
LA Times – Our Bodies Beautiful