Speaking of research, I would imagine this involved a tremendous amount. The real N.W.A.: Arabian Prince, MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella, and Dr. It goes really deep, obviously, especially when you have a timeline this long as well. But I certainly learned a lot more in the process of developing this movie and all the research that was done by Andrea and myself. But I was a fan and I had their records…and a vague idea of what was going on. So I’d hear about them and their band from MTV and heard about their beats here and there. I knew little dribs and drabs of their story…there was no Internet back then, so you only knew what you got from a few magazines and MTV News. How much of their story did you know going into this project? I was a fan of these guys and into hip hop music while in high school and growing up, so it seemed like a good fit to get involved. I had to write a draft really fast, but it was something I was definitely into. I knew they really wanted to make it and they had a small window for a tax credit rebate. Jonathan: I had a relationship with Universal – I’d done a few projects there, some movies that didn’t really go anywhere. Then it sort of sat, not moving for a while, and eventually Universal picked it back up. I worked on it for three and a half years at New Line and Warner Bros. So I pitched at that time and they hired me. And then they obviously wanted to do an N.W.A. New Line had picked up a package that included the life rights and a script that was more of an Eazy-E biopic. How did you each become involved in the project originally?Īndrea: I was hired by New Line and Ice Cube back in 2010. What accounted for their success at such a challenging project? We spoke this week about their commitment to research, refusal to shy away from prickly subject matter and ability to roll with whatever production threw at them…all while ensuring their own voices were not lost in the process. Regardless of their own upbringing, Berloff and Herman were so adept at capturing the essence of N.W.A.’s emotional story, they garnered the film’s sole Oscar nod as they are nominated for Best Original Screenplay at this month’s Academy Awards. Dre, the two-and-a-half-hour film’s screenplay was penned by Andrea Berloff and Jonathan Herman – two writers who grew up in New England. Gary Gray ( The Italian Job) and with a team of producers that included both Ice Cube and Dr. and 2015’s critically acclaimed film Straight Outta Compton tells their story.ĭirected by F. Instead, they join forces to rise above their circumstances and tell an uncomfortable truth via brutally honest lyrics and groundbreaking hip hop music that ignited passion across the country. Dre, Ice Cube, DJ Yella and MC Ren aren’t content to follow the path facing most of the youth in their neighborhood. With all the social, political and economic odds associated with both their era and location stacked against them, friends and aspiring musicians Eazy-E, Dr. It’s the mid-1980s in Compton, California.
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