User:Shawn Baker (Film Director)

New stills from producer Datari Turner’s latest production effort, a drama titled “Supermodel,” which stars Tyson Beckford, Sessilee Lopez, Roger Guenveur Smith, Fat Joe, Toccara Jones, Angela Simmons, Marc John Jefferies, Tatyana Ali, Nichole Galicia, Melissa De Sousa, Don Benjamin, Cassandra Freeman, Tobias Truvillion, Julito McCullum, and Beverly Bond, and Turner himself.

It will also feature several celebrity cameos, in a film that’s described as a modern day “Mahogany,” the 1975 Berry Gordy-directed drama which starred a post-“Lady Sings The Blues” Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams, and told the story of an aspiring designer from the slums of Chicago, who puts herself through fashion school in the hopes of becoming one of the world’s top designers.

Turner’s “Supermodel” centers on the trials and tribulations of a young girl (played by Sessilee Lopez) from Brooklyn, who goes on to become one of the most sought after models in the high stakes fashion industry, where things aren’t always as pretty and glamorous as they seem. Currently in production, the film is being directed by Shawn Baker, from a script penned by Baker, Turner and Philip McGowan.

The project comes a couple of months after it was announced that producer Turner signed a deal with Codeblack Films to give the specialty division North American rights to films produced via Datari Turner Productions.

Turner has seen a handful of features he produced, released in recent years, and is known for gritty dramas like Sheldon Candis’ drama “LUV,” starring Common, and “Video Girl” starring Meagan Good, as well as indies like ensemble comedy “It’s A Disaster” and “About Cherry” with James Franco. He’s also produced reality television projects like “I Married A Baller” and Lisa Raye McCoy’s “The Real McCoy” for TV One.

http://www.indiewire.com/2014/11/pics-from-producer-datari-turners-latest-supermodel-tyson-beckford-roger-guenveur-smith-tatyana-ali-157139/