STORAGE24 - WIN OR LOSS?

How does the UK really measure success when they WANT their own people to fail. - (P.S - The Guardian have hated me for a long time)

2011/2012 (like Jan to Jan)was a decent year. Well that’s what it seemed like to you guys anyway. The truth is I don’t even think I worked that year. What happened though was 3 movies I shot the year before in 2010/2011 came out and a series unfortunate events (Those are actually average books btw) made the year not hit the way they should have. Also all the movies could've been better.

The first was THE KNOT Directed by Jessie Laurence Co written by me and two others, based on my old College friend’s idea. It was a rom com that was supposed to come out on Valetines’s and be the first wedding film that year, but after the distributors fucked up and tried to steal the film and money. Universal had to step in and save it and it came out in October and ended up being the last wedding film that year, which nobody wanted.

The 2nd was FAST GIRLS It did okay actually and was Directed by Regan Hall and First written by me and Jay Basu. Others were added later. The olympics was in the same year but the IOC would not let us use anything to do with branding so the event in the film was just “The worlds.” which affected the Box Office a lot.

The 3rd was STORAGE 24 Again only Co-Written and Directed by Johannes Roberts. Starring Bigger names than me even at the time. Like Laura Haddock. The shoot when fine but when it was time to release and after, things went weird.

One of the first things that happened was I told the marketing team at the time. Do not reference the HOOD movies because the audience is not the same. I wasn’t listened to and one of the UK trailers even had a grime track on it.

That audience didn’t come and the film did not do massively well here in the UK. In fact it was maybe the lowest grossing i’d been in at the time. (and all of this affects your value as a talent)

But what happened next is what’s interesting. Despite not doing well here. The film started selling.

Worldwide.

Territory after territory was picking it up, and doing either home entertainment release or cinema and making the coolest posters as they did. (which you can see below) And although you want massive success in those places it didn’t matter what it made in the territories, because the sales of the film were making its money back.

Then came the big sale. It sold to the US for a nice high price well into 6 figures. The film did and has done what’s it’s needed to do, but here’s where things took a turn back then.

The company that bought the film for the US then wanted to get it shown on USA Television and had a very specific deal with broadcasters and streamers.

The deal was as follows.

• If the film has been in the cinemas in the USA it would be bought for over a million dollars.

• If it does not appear in cinemas the sale price would be less than half of that.

The solution for them. Release the film on one screen for one day, to unlock the 1Million+ (which was not mine, but their money. A % of which would go to recoupment)

Why would you NOT do that? The choice was met with Glee from all involved. Except one British newspaper. Guess Who?

The Guardian. Instead of celebrating that a young man from an estate had done so well he’d sold films to the USA with complex, money making TV deals. The Guardian blasted ME for having the lowest grossing film in the world with a completely out of context and quite frankly racist article. Let me break it down.

• I only Co-wrote the movie.

• Bigger names than me like Colin O'donoghue and Laura Haddock were in it.

• I didn’t direct the movie.

So why was I the target?

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/jan/10/noel-clarke-storage-24-lowest-grossing-us-film

Not only do I think that newspaper doesn’t love black people doing incredibly well -

(They did it to a black female politician recently that I’m no fan of by any stretch. But many many people in her profession behave far worse. So why her?

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/30/kemi-badenoch-accused-of-bullying-and-traumatising-staff ) -

- And I’ve know for a long time they didn’t like me.

So I’ll tell you why I was the target. Because the so called inclusive club there, are inclusive as long as you toe the line and do everything the way they want you to do it. The far right are racist yes, but we don’t talk much about the racists on the far left, because generally they are more subtle. This paper has had it in for me for a while because I’m not a house boy. I did well without kissing ass and honestly wasn’t always humble about it. The worst thing in the world. A bragodoius, confident, straight (Sorry, cis gendered, heterosexual identifying)** black man.

**Please tell me I got that right.

I actually spoke to that newspaper very very little over the last 12 years and I’d only agreed to an interview for the first time with them in a long time in January 2021 (which I now think was a set up)

They act inclusive and are supposed to be for the people, but I don’t think they have changed much from their history, that is peppered with slave ownership. And having a litter of black people on the board of their funders doesn’t change that.

https://www.theguardian.com/news/2023/mar/28/guardian-owner-apologises-founders-transatlantic-slavery-scott-trust?fbclid=IwY2xjawEwP1lleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHaJQwUVXSOiDxqDTcflUijSowS3Pmw1J4BpHSWnRay6nt2wv5gEl4k-H9w_aem_JuNiE1jy8VL594_RnjyxYA

What they did to me was just modern day lynching on the hill and what i’m showing you with that Storage 24 article, that they have tried to harm me unfoundedly before.

They had to amend that article in the end. See below - “The original piece failed to mention.” 😂

As we know, they found another way to harm me and you shouldn’t be surprised. Let’s be honest, if I was what they said I wouldn’t be sitting here typing. Truth is I wasn’t supposed to be in their world. Winning awards at the top of the exclusive club of people that read their paper. Damn they fooled me. Although I couldn't t stand them, I used to read them too because I was very left and that’s what we were told to do. But really they didn’t want me there. never did. I’m supposed to be back in poverty and only make it out if I’m allowed to by people like them.

Open your eyes to who they really are.

Despite them. I'm alive.

Despite them mocking me and Storage24 all those years back when they could have mentioned many other peoples names, or positively talked about the fact, somebody with no leg up had succeeded expectations, instead of ended up dead or imprisoned like many of their peers. But no. they did what they do.

The film did what it did.

And did better internationally than most of my other movies, including the HOOD trilogy.

And Damn some of the posters were cool -

Nx

See some below.