DEBORA SHAULIS | On the Scene Local documentary vies for award

There's a one-in-11 chance that the Hollywood Black Film Festival's Best Documentary award will go to a movie that was made in greater Youngstown.
The sixth annual festival for aspiring black filmmakers begins Tuesday on the West Coast. Seventy-seven films will be shown -- 11 features, 45 shorts, 10 student films and 11 documentaries, including "The Road to Perseverance" by Art Byrd of Boardman.
Byrd followed the alternative Christian funk band SounDoctrine as the musicians performed at various Borders bookstores in Northeast Ohio in late 2002 and early 2003. Byrd also filmed interviews with band founder Jere Beulah of Youngstown and his peers, who discuss their faith, their efforts at breaking musical boundaries and their persistence in marketing the band to a wide audience.
"The Road to Perseverance" will have its first public showing during the film festival, in a coveted slot June 27 just before the closing-night awards program. Byrd, Beulah and SounDoctrine's bass player, whose stage name is Phil the Beat, will be there.
Beulah credits Byrd with making the documentary and entering it in the competition.
"We just asked Art to do it to document that the Borders Blitz had happened," Beulah said, referring to SounDoctrine's 10 performances at Borders stores in Niles, Akron, the Cleveland area and Erie, Pa. The tour was a big deal for SounDoctrine because it's not easy for self-managed bands to get a foot inside corporate doors.
What's included
Byrd decided to chronicle what happens before and after SounDoctrine's shows, Beulah said. Byrd visited rehearsals and some of the members' churches, including New Bethel Baptist Church, where Beulah is associate minister.
Byrd, who has had two other films shown at the Hollywood Black Film Festival, said he identified with the struggles and triumphs the members of SounDoctrine experienced on their musical journey.
"What makes the film worthy of film-festival exposure is that it has different elements from great music from great musicians to an inspiring story about someone [in Beulah] who sacrifices financially and family-wise to pursue his dream," said Byrd, who also is a photojournalist at WFMJ Channel 21.
Byrd used a digital camera and edited the film on a computer. The crisp, clear quality of images in his film complements the documentary style. Digital is cost-effective for filmmakers, Byrd said, but he believes subject matter still matters the most to film festival selection committees.
The documentary ends on a high note, as Beulah talks about relying on his faith and staying positive to turn his dreams into reality because his band doesn't have the financial backing of a major record label.
"The Road to Perseverance" seems to have inspired him anew.
Beulah and others have been contacting churches in California to ask members to see the documentary June 27, because audiences may vote for their favorite films. In addition, anyone who brings a church bulletin to the screening may exchange it for a free SounDoctrine CD, Beulah said.
Making film available
Beulah hopes that by late July, everyone will have a chance to see "The Road to Perseverance." SounDoctrine Multimedia Entertainment Group will produce its own DVDs, and talks are under way to sell them in Borders stores alongside the band's CDs, Beulah said.
"The Road to Perseverance" isn't the only collaborative project by Byrd and Beulah. Byrd's short film "The First Movie Date" is being shown through June on IFILM.com, an Internet Web site for movies. Beulah wrote the musical score, as he did for four other short films by Byrd.
"The First Movie Date" was filmed in April and May 2003 at Columbiana Cinema. The eight-minute film is about a young couple who break away from their group of friends to go on a date. The couple is played by local actors Matt Coonrod and Amy Shevel. Other actors are Pamela Workman, Ashley Miller, Susan Rae Rowe and Eli Lamberson.
To see "The First Movie Date," go to www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2534267.
Byrd is in casting now for his next movie, "Emotional Reload," which he'll begin to film later this summer.
SounDoctrine is gearing up for the Hollywood festivities with a trio of local performances, first at 8 p.m. Friday at Anthony's On the River, 15 Oak Hill Ave., Youngstown; then at 8 p.m. Saturday at Borders Books & amp; Music, state Route 46, Niles; and finally at 8 p.m. Sunday at Cyrak's, 706 Steel St., Youngstown.
XDebora Shaulis is entertainment editor. Write her at shaulis@vindy.com.