Their Cinematic Storytelling Journey

The Horn Brothers, comprised of three brothers, Byron, Tyson, and Ryon, moved to Atlanta and created a film production company that led the way in changing the nature of the visual aspect of music, film, and documentary in the city. Byron moved to Atlanta in 1994 to study for a degree in business management and music productions at the Arts Institute of Atlanta. He later started working for a record label and during that time, directed his first film called “Dollar.” This was the period in which his brother Ryon joined him in the city to study at Clark Atlanta University, and not to be left out, Tyson soon followed and made the move to the city. In that time, the Atlanta music scene was on fire, having a major national impact. Tyson said, “Byron led the way, and the stuff that he was doing opened up our creative curiosity. We were thinking, if he could do this, then we could be able to achieve something like this as well. Some years later, we came up with the idea of joining forces to create the Horne Brothers Production Company. We started producing short films, music videos, and commercial products such as photography and weddings. We were percolating around the city for many years and we were at the forefront of the cinematic opening-up of the city.” Ryon said we are three brothers but have our big sister, Stephanie Johnson, who manages all of our administrative functions.

Byron said, “In 1995, the Atlanta scene began to see an increase in music video creation. My film was in development in 1998 and released shortly after Master P released his first music film, “Body Body.” There were very few new independent black films on the market at that time. It was probably the second film, after Master P, to attain significant sales and distribution numbers through Blockbuster video distribution. Many music videos were produced between 1994 and 1996. Many underground artists began making music videos for their songs. During that time, a few production companies formed under LaFace, which is where I got my start. The city was very active with video productions, but not film productions. Atlanta had no significant black film production at that time. Filmmakers would often be based in Los Angeles, New York, or elsewhere, and would come in to produce their product. Atlanta did not have the same influence on the film production market as it does now. Over the years, things have definitely changed. Our studio was established in 2006, and it was one of the few film productions houses in the city that employed interns for their work effort. We created an incubator where young artists were able to develop their craft. This was unusual in the city as we were breaking new ground. Around 2014 we began filming music storytelling projects”.

The brothers explained that it was people like Dallas Austin, TI, and Tyler Perry who started to tell their stories and opened up their spaces that opened up the film world in the city.

Hollywood studios started to come here due to the favorable tax credits, and that had a significant impact on productions in the city. With the advent of this move, there were lots of people coming from LA to film projects here, but it was still hard for local producers to break into the market as many of the key jobs were being allocated to people who were coming from outside. In that period, you could see the opening of new avenues and the potential of the city transforming. The city was abuzz with news of planned studio constructions. As it began to come to fruition, you could see things happening, but it was still a little far away from us. Since the facilities were being occupied by major studios, they were bringing in the talent that they needed. There still is the need for Atlanta producers to have access to those beautiful sound stages that are created for their independent projects that would take them to that next level. There is still more to go to really get to the true status of Atlanta being the new mecca for black film productions. The wonderful thing is that the city has not plateaued and is still growing.

Tyson explained that in the early days, we used to be looking at cost for cameras and lighting to make a project happen, but the rise in technology made better quality equipment more accessible. We have not gotten to the place where technology should not be the element that hinders the quality of your production or stops you from making a production happen. The principles of cinema and good storytelling should remain the goal. To have a good camera with the ability to light a scene, it’s one thing to have a good camera, but it’s another to light the scene or set dress the scene to tell a good story. You have to take the time to know your craft to be able to bring out your creative idea. To be able to convey emotions from a scene. Hopefully people will spend the time to develop their craft and not running after the changes as technology advances. Technology allows us to do more and better, but you always have to take the time to learn it. For us, we work as a team, and how we put the tasks and roles for the project is also an art form. The director, the VP, the producer—whoever you put on the project, and there is an art in selecting the right people for the role to get a smooth execution of that project.

Film festivals allow creators to showcase their work and be able to get direct feedback from the audience. If your film only goes out to the distributor, you may get the sale, but you may not get feedback on what people like or how they feel about the movie. With our current project, “The South Has Something to Say,” we’re on a twenty-city tour. This gives us a broad range of feedback. We will be able to get a better handle on what drives the emotion from the film to the audience. It allows us to bring to twenty cities this movie that tells the story of thirty years of hip-hop in Atlanta. We would then get to tap into how people see and react to the story and its delivery. We will be able to see how effective we were crafting the story of the journey. As an artist, that is where you get the gratification and to see your effectiveness in harnessing the conversation. We gain fuel and motivation for our next project; we can harness the feedback and play around with our next delivery. After taking the time to put a project together, you were always amazed seeing it on the big screen and seeing an audience react to it. It moves you every time; you get that awesome feeling.

Byron notes, “When we entered the Bronzelens Film Festival in 2011, we won the best documentary with the film “Southern Dreams.” This was a film that talked about saving the arts in America. We really appreciated that festival from the moment we got there. It gave us that homey feeling right from the start. We had gone to a few other film festivals, but we did not get the level of appreciation that we got at Bronzelens. It just felt like family with a lot of love.”

Tyson chimed in to say, “We were fortunate to come into Bronzelens, the second year of the festival, and were honored to get selected. Getting acceptance by that community, being black filmmakers felt exceptional. One of the important things that Bronzelens did for us as a filmmaker in Atlanta was to bring industry access to our doorstep. There were always questions around representation in Hollywood, and as a black filmmaker doing projects in the South, there were barriers. This changed things; you now had access to black and brown actors and producers from the industry from all over the country and, as time went by, from around the world. Ethnic filmmakers and producers were able to access this space and have a voice in the industry, and it was right here in Atlanta. When you got there and saw the star power that this festival was able to bring to Atlanta, you felt a sense of pride. To be able to be among that crowd felt surreal. They have always shown true support for this industry and the type of stories that we tell.”

We were always in the space of telling human stories and took a lot of pride in producing them. We were telling stories of all communities, not just black stories. So, as we move forward, we’ll be featuring more narrative films that we have written. At this stage, we’ve won awards, the audience has spoken, and we know that we are capable of storytelling, and now we want to tell these stories that we have in our pipeline in a different way. If we can reach people emotionally with a hip-hop documentary, then we think that this will bode well for some of our future projects from the Horn Brothers in the narrated space. We are looking forward to nurturing the next generation of actors and filmmakers in the game. We are at this stage where we need to give back to the community to make it easier for them and help them to avoid some of our pitfalls. Not only that, but we would like to move away from where all the stories seem the same, and this would allow other projects to have a chance of being greenlit. Our community is broad, and we need all of this to get reflected in the stories and not just a narrow-band type of conversation. When we leave this space, it should be more than just accolades or making a name for ourselves.

Tyson stated, “I think that things can only get better in Atlanta as more studios and productions move here. As long as people recognize the importance of communities and if we continue to help and support each other, then the future will be bright. When you have the backing of your community, you feel strong; it brings a feeling of strength and empowers you on the journey in undertaking projects. It’s more difficult to be on your own, as the challenges of trust and failure become more apparent. In the film business, community is crucial.

Editorial: Lashley
Images: Zeriba Media

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