David Hunter Jr. Impacts, Inspires, Entertains with Made For More

David Hunter Jr. is the co-founder of Made For More Entertainment. He is based in Los Angeles. He created a web series called Honest T, centered around six (6) friends who meet once a month for a year to honor the memory of their friend that passed away once a year prior. The first episode starts a year after his death. The second episode is 8 months after his death. The 3rd episode is 4 months after his death and the 4th episode is 1 week after his death. This is broken up into webisodes, but we are pitching it as a television series. Due to the serious nature of my past health experience.

indieactivity: How did you put the crew and cast together? Did you start writing with a known cast?
David Hunter Jr. (DH): I didn’t start writing with a known cast but there was one role that I wanted to be played by an actor I knew. Carlos Coleman. He is a friend of mine from years back and once I had him locked, I felt good about reaching out to the other actors.

What and how long did it take to complete the script?
David Hunter Jr. (DH): The script took about 1 month to complete. I wrote it by myself, but I did get notes from trusted friends in the industry who work as writers in various capacities. I also got notes from the director, Michael Vaughn Hernandez as he has a lot of experience working in scriptwriting on his show For The Love of Jason on AllBlk.

When did you form your production company – and what was the original motivation for its formation?
David Hunter Jr. (DH): Made For More was founded years ago and is based on the principles of creating contact that impacts, inspires, educates and entertains. I am an actor who had a health scare, and I was unable to act for a couple of years. During this time, I started writing and became aware that I was “made for more” than just being an actor.

I co-founded the company with my brother Daniel K. Hunter and my good friend Tatiana M. Johnson. After experiencing a near death health trial, I was made very aware that life is fragile and from that moment on, I wanted to make content and be part of projects that would outlive me. So that is the principle for everything we do. It must matter and make an impact. We don’t just create for the sake of creating. There is a lot of thought, planning, preparation, and prayer put into this process.

What was the first project out of the gate?
David Hunter Jr. (DH): The first project out of the gate was a podcast called Post In Black. Post In Black was founded by my brother, Daniel K. Hunter and focuses on celebrating Black Excellence Behind the Lens. We shine a spotlight on the postproduction world and the African Americans who work in that field that many are unaware of.

During the film production, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot? And why?
David Hunter Jr. (DH): In our second episode, there is a scene with a lot of emotion, and we have 6 central characters that we need to highlight and focus on at various points. We had such a talented group of actors that they made shooting this complex scene with dialogue from everyone feel natural and it flowed so well but it wasn’t easy. Again, thank goodness for such a talented group.

What worked better in this latest production that mightn’t have worked so well in the last one you did?
DH: Planning, Planning, Planning and more planning. Also, Patience. There’s a quote that says, “you can’t rush what you want to last forever.” I feel that way about this production. We took our time with casting, and developing the script. We took our time with having rehearsals over zoom via covid and then once on set, we made sure we worked out the kinks before hitting record.

Then in post-production, we took our time and made sure to hire the right editors and colorist and sound mixer because it would be a shame to shoot all this footage and then do an amateur job in post. The project was filmed 8 months before we showed it to our actors and team, but it was worth the wait.

You must have donned several hats on this film, the measure of your input required intellect, effort, tenacity, skill (…you know better). What did it take you to put out all these qualities to get the film done?
DH: I’m the writer and producer of this project and then I also am the only member of our Made For More Ent. team that currently lives in Los Angeles full time. That being said, none of this can be done without having a good team. So proper delegation and trust are huge. You must empower others so that everything doesn’t fall on your shoulders. There’s a lot I must do but I don’t have to do it all. I joke with our team during the meetings, but our company is called Made For More. It isn’t called Made For Dave. And to close, I have a strong faith in God, and I really prayed that things would come together in the right way which I’m happy to say, they did. 🙂

What about independent filmmaking and the business do you still struggle with?
DH: I struggle with doubting myself. I know I’m talented but when you don’t see the results as quickly as you’d like, it can be very hard. I also have struggled with managing my expectations. Sometimes we get discouraged because we’ve been working, and it’s been 3 years or 4 years or 5 but what we don’t realize is that this is a 6-year journey. So, you could be getting tired and frustrated in year 5 not realizing the breakthrough is just a year away.

Where do you think your strengths lie as a producer?
DH: I’m a connector. I love people and I have been able to connect with so many, so my relationships are very strong. The strengths of others are obvious to me, I place them where is best used. I think that’s a very important part of producing.

Let’s talk finance, How did you finance the film?
DH: We have been blessed to have financiers come in and greenlight a lot of our content at Made For More. That has been a HUGE difference maker and a HUGE blessing for sure!

How much did you go over budget? How did you manage it?
DH: We didn’t go over budget thankfully. Doing our best not to play with the money!

How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make a dent without it nowadays?
DH: Marketing is EXTREMELY important. A project can make a dent but it’s going to need a lot of help to do so. I’d recommend putting the marketing fees into the pre-budget so it’s already known what is needed after the project is completed.

Tell us about marketing activities or efforts on this project – and how it worked or didn’t work?
DH: Having multiple people in the cast and no true leads means everyone is a lead so everyone is promoting their work equally. Then, I think having a project that people feel good about promoting is key too. Our team really loved working on this project so they want others to know and that has helped with promotion for sure.

What do you hope audiences will get from the presentation of your film?
DH: As with every project you create, I hope they like it…lol. I hope it sparks conversation and leads to us building a fan base as we want to take this project to the next level and to network tv. We recently were awarded Best Web Series at the National Black Film Festival in Houston, Texas and that was such an honor. Truly grateful for the responses so far!

What else have you got in the works?
DH: We have a lot of content on the way but our biggest project coming up is a powerful short film called TERRI. It stars RON G, HILLARY PHILLIPS and MAJOR. I also starred in it and wrote it. It centers around a couple that is trying to cope with loss after experiencing a terrible tragedy that changes their life forever. It’s a film that we are really proud of and I can’t wait for everyone to see it. Also, Post In Black is currently in Season 3 and we have a lot of guests coming up for the show as we enter the Summer and Fall of 2022. We’ll be screening Post In Black at the Micheaux Film Festival this Summer.

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