Mike Binder (Facebook photo)
Film writer/director Mike Binder, in town to promote his new movie "Black or White." speaks with Susan Whitall of The Detroit News.
The 56-year-old Detroit-born, Birmingham-raised filmmaker talksabout how actor Kevin Costner kept turning his scripts down — four or five times. The two are friends.
"Kevin said, 'I think you're never going to send me another script, I've ruined it for us,' " Binder tells Whitall. "And then I sent him this one, for 'Black or White.' He read it and said, 'Yes, let's do it.' And we basically shot the script he read."
"Black or White" is the story of a wealthy Southern California lawyer, Elliott (Costner), who is raising his 7-year-old biracial granddaughter Eloise (Jillian Estell) by himself. After the death of his wife, who has largely taken care of Eloise since birth, Elliott finds himself embroiled in a custody battle with her black family who live in Compton, led by her grandmother, Rowena (Octavia Spencer), and including her whip-smart attorney nephew, Jeremiah (Anthony Mackie), and drug addict son, Reggie (Andre Holland). The film opens today (Friday).
Binder is currently working on is a "Michigan story" set in a small town.
"I've got a bunch of Detroit stories," Binder said. "I just have to get to them, get them financed and made."
