Behind the Screen: The Last Black Man in San Francisco

Two best friends, a house, and a changing city. That is all you really need to know going into The Last Black Man in San Francisco. Those are its core elements—the things that make the film itself so special. But what you won’t get to see on the big screen is the backstory of this beautiful film. It’s the brainchild of actor/writer Jimmie Fails and director Joe Talbot, natives of the golden city of San Francisco. Over the course of more than a decade, they envisioned and created The Last Black Man in San Francisco.

While production of the film might have begun around five years ago, it really started when Talbot and Fails were kids (Fails says they met around the time he was 11). Both say that they would always see each other around, but it wasn’t until they had a long, vulnerable talk that they truly become friends. They would walk around their neighborhood and just talk. During one of those talks, Jimmie told Joe the story of his childhood home and how his family ended up losing it. The film is based on Jimmie’s life story, which is why it feels so incredibly personal and real. 

Funny enough, when they initially had the talk about Jimmie’s life they jokingly mentioned the idea of turning it into a movie. Over time, they would have informal talks, bringing up the idea with friends to make sure it was interesting and something people might actually watch, and eventually created a concept trailer that garnered lots of reviews and reached people all over the world experiencing the same thing—making them realize this crisis was happening on a global scale, not just in San Francisco. One of the people who wrote to them and offered help was producer Khaliah Neal. They also decided to write to a pre-Moonlight Barry Jenkins, whom they looked up to. Barry was living in San Francisco at the time and read drafts of their script and gave notes. All it took was Talbot commanding a camera, Fails on his skateboard narrating his life story, and San Francisco as their backdrop.

That trailer and the people who wrote in paved the way for their successful Kickstarter campaign, which launched on April 26, 2015. (If you look up that Kickstarter now, it has obviously since closed, but you can see just how much effort and passion these two poured into this project.) The campaign had everything you would want—a team that was passionate, plus incentives to donate like getting your name in the credits as a producer, meeting the cast and crew, and private screenings of the movie for the really high tiers, all the way down to a poster and super dope shirt of the movie for the lower tiers. Joe and Jimmie gave people the background of the film, a PDF of the script, examples of all the storyboards they had (which were done on lined paper and with color pencils, it seems), examples of original music made by Talbot, and of course, that concept trailer which has unfortunately since been put behind a private Vimeo link. 

By the time the campaign closed, it amassed 1,447 backers racking up $77,318 to make the film. Unfortunately, that still wasn’t enough to make a full feature film. So instead of throwing in the towel, Jimmie and Joe created a short film: American Paradise. Their short went on to play at Sundance in 2017, which led them to meet the people at Plan B Entertainment, Brad Pitt’s production company. Joe ended up going to the set of Ad Astra and talked with those in charge, expecting a kind decline, but it turned into an exuberant yes to back his film.

On January 22, 2018, almost three years after launching the campaign, they gave an update: “It’s Finally Happening...And We Need Your Help”. Even though they couldn’t say much other than the film was to begin shooting that spring, we now know that A24 and Plan B Entertainment teamed up with Jimmie and Joe to make the movie. They went from two struggling artists to making a film with the help of A24, which by that time already had movies like Lady Bird, Moonlight, and Room winning awards left and right, and Plan B which was behind films like The Departed, 12 Years a Slave, and Moonlight. They went from thinking they had to shoot their film with friends and inexperienced actors to working with the likes of Rob Morgan, Tichina Arnold, Mike Epps, Jonathan Majors, and the legendary Danny Glover. However, it was important to both Joe and Jimmie that they keep the essence of their vision for Last Black Man intact, so they did continue to work with friends who were there from the start, with native San Franciscans and artists from the Bay Area, and people they have known since childhood.

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What Jimmie and Joe went through to get their vision made should stand as an inspiration to all independent filmmakers. It sounds glamorous that their indie film backed by A24 and Plan B premiered at one of the most prestigious film festivals in the world—and has since been distributed all across America—but what these two artists had to go through in order to get there…they deserve it all. Most filmmakers that try and get a project off the ground from scratch with nothing but an idea and some friends never see the light of day. Some just straight-up give up because they don't receive enough funding. Others who manage to create a piece of art might not get the chance to share it with the world for years—or ever. Not only did these two get to create their vision, but they also got to share it with the world—and it’s one of the best and most important films of the year. At Sundance, they won two awards, the first going to Joe Talbot, who was presented the Directing Award for the U.S. Dramatic Category for his feature directorial debut. The second was a new Special Jury Award for Creative Collaboration. After all those years of hard work, persistence and never giving up hope in their vision, it just makes sense that they would end up winning that particular award.

What began as a story shared between two friends—one who never acted a day in his life and one who never even finished high school—has become essential viewing. Even though Jimmie and Joe have said they had aspirations to make the film years ago, the message they are sending with The Last Black Man is more impactful than ever. This film is for all the misfits of the world trying to fit in and find a place to call home. It is also a film that should serve as a testament to all filmmakers to pursue your passion and never give up, because nowadays there are more ways than ever to create your vision, even if it takes years—it is worth it.