arts & entertainment

Meet Howard Rosenman, a producer for both the
1976 and 2012 versions of the Motown-inspired film
about a sister singing group.

Suzanne Chessler

movie is less about victimization and
more about empowerment."
The film, which stars season six
American Idol winner Jordin Sparks as
oward Rosenman, an executive
Sparkle and. Derek Luke as her boyfriend
producer of the upcoming fea-
and manager, Stix, spotlights Rosenman
ture film Sparkle, is not one to
— but only very briefly. In a scene filmed
keep professional secrets.
in L.A., he portrays a landlord showing
He travels inside and outside the coun-
try with a seminar, Hollywood Sell, reveal- Jordin Sparks' character her apartment
after she moves out of her mother's home.
ing how he built the career he wanted
Rosenman, whose long list of cinema
since childhood and advising others how
credits includes Father of the Bride, Bu
to pursue their own cinema dreams.
the Vampire Slayer and The Family Man,
Rosenman, who has not been to Detroit
thinks of Sparkle as a crowning achieve-
although Sparkle was mostly filmed in the
ment because of the aspirational nature of
city, may soon visit the area. He is consid-
the African American characters.
ering a presentation of his seminar at a
"In the new movie, Mara Brock Akil,
local temple soon after Sparkle opens on
who wrote the screenplay (her husband
Aug. 17.
Salim Akil directs the film), made the
The new film, a remake of an earlier
family semi-affluent," Rosenman explains.
version, is the last big-screen project of
"Whitney Houston's character owns a
singer-actress Whitney Houston. It fol-
dress shop.
lows three young sisters pursuing a sing-
"In our
ing career with
original movie,
Houston portraying
the family lived
their mother.
in Harlem, and
"The ear-
they had hardly
lier [1976] version
any money.
brought [writer]
In this movie,
Joel Schumacher
they're upper-
and me out to
middle class."
Hollywood and was
Rosenman,
the first feature
with strong
that I made,' says
ties to Israel
Rosenman, 67, in
through his
a phone conversa-
parents, whose
tion from his West
families lived
Hollywood home.
there for many
"I loved it a lot
generations,
although this is a
and the resi-
much better movie.
dency of his
"The first movie
sister, can point
was set in 1956
to Jewish char-
Harlem, and the
acters in both
second is set in
versions of
1968 Detroit. The
second has a fresh- Tika Sumpter (Delores), Carmen Ejogo (Sister) Sparkle. In the
and Jordin Sparks (Sparkle) in Sparkle
first, there is a
er, lighter tonality;
Jewish mob-
it was shot more
beautifully with fewer dark overtones. The ster, and in the second, there is the owner
of a record company.
R. Kelly music that has been added to the
One of his films, A Stranger Among Us,
Curtis Mayfield score is great.
stars Melanie Griffith as an undercover
"There's a political overtone to this film
that the first one didn't have. In 1968, there cop investigating a murder in a Chasidic
community.
was all the sensibility of the civil rights
"It's all about the Chasidic Jewish
world that didn't exist in 1956 so the new

Contributing Writer

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world from which I
come and to which
my sister has turned
[in some ways];'
says Rosenman, who
observes holidays with
family and puts on
tefillin every day in
keeping with a prom-
Howard Rosenman: "There's a political overtone to this film
ise to his grandfather.
that the first one didn't have. The new movie is less about
"I made the movie
victimization and more about empowerment."
as a tribute to my
sister's way of life.
documentary being made about the con-
She's not exactly Chasidic. Her world is
ducting visit. The two became close, and
called `Yeshivish: which has a Lithuanian
Bernstein convinced Rosenman to follow
component, a more rigorous intellectual
his career instincts.
component, even though it also has a lot
After Rosenman took a leave of absence
of the mystical and heart qualities of the
from medical school, he worked for
Chasidic world.
Katharine Hepburn on Broadway, found
"My nephews go to the Mir Yeshiva in
employment with an advertising agency
Jerusalem. It was originally in Poland and
and went on to develop a film company for
moved to Shanghai during the Holocaust.
an associate.
It moved to America and Jerusalem after
Television movies, including Isn't It
World War II."
Shocking? with Alan Alda and Louise
A classic movie showing the effects of
Lasser, preceded the initial Sparkle, which
a much earlier war — between the North
became the trajectory for a series of suc-
and the South in the United States —
cesses in dramatic and documentary
turned Rosenman's attention to filmmak-
productions
ing.
"Motown inspired Sparkle, and I think
"My mother took me to see Gone With
the Motown catalogue is [among] the
the Wind when I was 9 and living in New
greatest',' Rosenman says.
York, and when I came out of the theater, I
His growing success with films was
felt overwhelmed and asked who made the
diminished by the loss of friends due to
movie," he recalls. "My mother said Clark
AIDS, and he became active in helping
Gable and Vivien Leigh, but I wanted to
those suffering with the catastrophic illness.
know who hired them.
"I first knew about AIDS in the sum-
"My mother researched it and told me
that David 0. Selznick produced the movie mer of 1980, when I went to a funeral,"
Rosenman says. "I was so wild dur-
and hired the stars. She got me the book
ing the 1970s — when I made a lot of
he wrote with his memories of making
money from The Main Event with Barbra
Gone With the Wind.
Streisand — I [mistakenly] thought
"At that time, I knew what I wanted to
maybe I had the disease.
do, but I got frightened. I went on to start
"My friends were dying so I decided
medical school, but in 1967, when the Six-
to get involved with a charity and
Day War broke out, I volunteered."
helped invent Project Angel Food, which
That initiative actually helped launch
provides meals-on-wheels for those
his film career.
with HIV/AIDS. I helped create it with
Leonard Bernstein, who had traveled to
conduct the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra Marianne Williamson (a spiritual author-
lecturer who has led the Warren-based
after the fighting stopped, met with the
Renaissance Unity Interfaith Spiritual
volunteers and recognized Rosenman,
Fellowship), and it's now one of the biggest
who had been a waiter at a New York club
charities in Hollywood."
the musical icon frequented.
Bernstein gave Rosenman tickets to the
concert and asked him to be a gofer for a
With A 'Sparkle' on page 32

August 9 • 2012

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