Discovering the Soul of SoulHood Saga

Words by Su Ertekin-Taner and photos by Amiyah Golden

The SoulHood Saga officially wrapped this May 27 when the final installment of the six-part series premiered at the Regal Avenues. The saga originally followed the independent filmmaking crew Rick, DJ, Tony and Pat, as they dream cinematically big in a relatively small film arena, Jacksonville. This May, however, the series finished with an epic action film in which a newfound crew — Luke, Lee, Rick and DJ — begin and finish a war against their enemy, Troy Hills. While the Jacksonville-shot film series of technicolor twists and cinematic climaxes has come to an end, a nostalgia for the movie dynamic is just beginning for actors Steven Yahr (Lee Hills), Michael Carter (Troy Hills), Louie “Broadway Louie” Robinson (Rick), Todd Jackson Jr. (TJ), and Solomon Minati (Luke Hills), along with actor-director-writer-cinematographer-editor Carlos “Los2k6” Smith II (DJ).

Cut. Let’s start from the beginning, before the premieres, before there was any wistful yearning to be felt.

Take 2.

An 18-year old Smith first fiddled with a camera by recording his friends. He had no plan to apply his self-taught camera work to his future career. He hoped but didn’t expect to create a big screen feature like the ones he had grown up with. “The funny thing about it [getting into film] was I stumbled upon it by just watching movies and being like, ‘Oh, I want to do that one day,’” Smith said. “Even as a kid, that’s something I wanted to do. It’s not something that I just, you know, planned for. I just tried it and started going from there,” the filmmaker added.

For Smith, “going from there” meant premiering his first full-length film — written, directed and edited by the Renaissance man — just seven years later in 2013. Although “Homeboys,” a dramedy following five close friends, was largely experimental, its premiere at Sun-Ray Cinema sold out: “My first time doing a movie and it sold out, and it was a beautiful response. From that point, that’s what made me realize what I was capable of doing as a filmmaker and the support I had at the time, and it just kept going,” Smith said.

Over the next four years, the new feature film creator would apply his directorial and writing skills and knowledge to his projects including the “Homeboys” sequel titled “Homeboys: Meet the Crew” (2014) and a parody short film based on the film “Friday” titled “21st Friday” (2016).

Come 2017, a new era of Los2k6 had been set in motion … motion picture, that is. Smith began what he thought would be a one-time casting call. Slowly the “SoulHood” family was fashioned: New Jersey native “Broadway Louie” would play film crew member Rick. Solomon Minati would cameo as movie industry rival Luke Hills. Todd Jackson Jr. would also cameo as TJ Carlos Smith II himself who would coincidentally play a film director. Other key players included Steven Alvarez and John Jay Wylie playing film crew members Pat and Tony, respectively.

The presumed standalone film sold out twice in AMC theaters and was well-received, so well-received, in fact, that Smith’s wheels began turning. “It wasn’t even supposed to be a saga. It was supposed to be just one SoulHood movie and move on to the next thing and that was it, but after doing that one, well, that was a life-changing thing for me because that was not only my first time premiering a movie in an AMC theater, but [also] that sold out twice on the first week and just the support. [Everyone] was talking about how they loved the characters so much, and that’s what made me see the potential of continuing what we were doing,” Smith remarked.

Equipped with a successful premiere, his Panasonic GH4 camera, and a desire to recreate some of his childhood favorite sagas like the Fast and Furious (F&F) series, SoulHood’s very own saga (re)started production.

Smith slowly roped in friends and acquaintances, creating his own version of F&F protagonist Dominic Toretto’s crew: Steven Yahr first appeared in the “SoulHood” spinoff short as Luke Hills (2018), joining production coincidentally after being introduced to the crew by his cousin, Minati. Michael Carter auditioned and joined the cast for “SoulHood: Prime” (2020). Writer, artist, performer and activist Ebony Payne-English (Tonya) joined the cast for “SoulHood Saga: Part 1” (2022).

Writing, casting, filming, editing, premiering. Writing, casting, filming, editing, premiering again. And again. The paper to production cycle repeated itself six times over six years. The film crew’s journey only nominally ended in May. Really, the onscreen chemistry continues behind the scenes fortified in part by six years of trials. Between scenes, a reality of hurricanes, a global pandemic, a low budget, rigid cast schedules crowded with multiple full-time jobs, family deaths and a scripted fight leading to a mild concussion for Robinson made for less than cinematic experiences.

For Smith, the off-screen connection that these challenges induced also translated to an on-set chemistry, no special effects needed. “Really what makes it [the “SoulHood Saga”] stand out, what makes it different is the heart behind it. It’s the heart behind these characters,” Smith said. “It’s not only that the characters grew together in the film, but we grew together as a cast and a family as well.”

The camera pans to Smith (affectionately referred to by the cast as “Los”), the architect of this local makeshift family. To many cast members, “SoulHood” means Los.

Yahr’s coincidental encounter with Los uncovered a devotion: “Definitely working on the “SoulHood” project, for sure, kind of catapulted my passion for film or for acting.” Throughout the films, an altruistic Los mentored 48-yearold budding cinematographer Carter despite being 13 years his junior. “He’s basically teaching me to become a filmmaker.” Jackson praised Los’ flexibility: “He’s open-minded and it allows an actual actor or an entertainer to be able to open their mind up and that’s what kind of made me, you know, gravitate toward him and such.” At one point, Los even financially supported Robinson: “When my sister passed, I lost my job. One of the things he did was he gave me a percentage of the first film to make sure that I got some money in my pocket.”

In this mosaic of praise for Los, two details remained consistent: Each cast member’s thankfulness for the copious opportunities Los’ direction led to and their desire to include Los in forthcoming projects.

No matter what angle you view the saga from, Smith remains the center of a family united not only by love of film but also a dedication to showcasing and supporting the efforts of Black filmmakers in Jacksonville. “It takes a lot of courage to even step into the filmmaking light in general. Just to even write a film and make it happen; it’s a lot. It’s a huge process to do a film, and I try to tell a lot of people that,” Smith said, later adding, “A lot of us [local Black filmmakers], we’re real creative people. Sometimes, not everybody has that outlet or the resources or the energy or the time to do it, so the people like us that were able to do it, we’re able to show people what is possible. And when people see what is possible, they want to figure it out and find a way to do just that.”

This local success story’s eagerness to inspire all future Jacksonville filmmakers, actors, and artists has already put the “SoulHood” crew on a national stage. Many of the interviewed actors plan to partake in national projects or those with creators from around the country as extras, actors, and artists.

In fact, although it’s a wrap for the “SoulHood Saga,” this project was hardly the last take for any of the cast members. The cast is set to join and release over a dozen planned projects this year and the next, including more feature and short films, a reimagined Shakespearean classic, an AI-based film, an album and sequels to completed projects. Jackson even plans to grow the reach of his new film company, Let’s Get It Films, inspired by his recent projects. But no spoilers …

For now and perhaps, for the first time for some cast members, let the “SoulHood” crew bask in the light of cameras and reminisce on a long B-roll of “SoulHood Saga” moments. In the meantime, watch “SoulHood Saga II: The Finale: (2023) on Amazon Prime. You can expect action-packed fight scenes choreographed by Kali Kombat duo Solo Minati and Steven Yahr, a hotel scene faceoff and a surprise reappearance.