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City's streets serve as movie's backdrop

By JON WILSON
Published March 29, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - Two young men search for God on the streets - and they experience a rough journey.

That's the story line of Ghetto Gospel, a home-produced movie shot entirely in St. Petersburg that examines some of the city's rougher, less visible edges.

Life, death and the quest for salvation are the themes producer, director and lead actor Greg Hunt explores.

"We did the whole movie impromptu. We came up with a beginning, an ending and filled in the middle," said Hunt, who is better known in music circles as Smokie Da Bear.

Ghetto Gospel will be shown Sunday at the Royal Theater, 1011 22nd St. S. The program, which is free, begins at 5:30 p.m. Free food and roses also will be provided, Hunt said.

Hunt is a hip-hop artist whose group 3 BOK was a popular act during the 1990s. The Pinellas Park High School graduate said he simply decided to pick up a camera and produce a movie.

He said it took about three months to shoot.

"We drew our inspiration from everyday stories," Hunt said.

All the actors are St. Petersburg residents.

Among them are Donald Bowens, a poet, who portrays Hunt's close friend.

Eddie Maultsby, a blind street singer who has been a downtown Central Avenue fixture for more than 20 years, plays a concerned individual who tries to persuade Hunt and Bowens to go to church.

Maultsby considers it an interesting role because it has taken him out of his real-life street persona, in which most people see him sitting on the sidewalk hitting guitar licks.

"I think people still think of me as a young kid," Maultsby said. "I think they don't even think of me as a human being."

The movie opens with Hunt and Bowens flashing cardboard signs at downtown traffic. They'll work for food. Hunt finally gets a job raking a yard while putting up with misbehaving children.

His temporary employer pays him with a hot dog instead of money.

Such frustration haunts Hunt and Bowens throughout. It progresses from humorous to deadly as the young men struggle to get their lives together, often seeming to be their own worst enemies.

An encounter with the drug culture leads to disaster. Tension builds toward the end, which is the most jarring part of the movie. Bowens' anguish underscores the conclusion.

It would be easy to take away a sense of despair, but Hunt wants viewers to absorb another message.

"Finding God," he said. "Nothing is more important than that. Despite us not going to church anymore, we're still looking for God, living day to day."

[Last modified March 29, 2006, 01:23:20]