Nominated in 2009 for Director of the Year from BET, Music Video Director Rik Cordero will be presenting his second feature film at the HBO New York International Latino Film Festival as it celebrates its 10th anniversary. The film, Inside A Change, will make its debut on Thursday, July 30 as tickets are now on sale at Clearview Cinemas Chelsea 9.
The film tells the story of a young man named Chris Price who is getting ready to serve 180 days in prison for his first-time offense. He chooses to keep his sentence under wraps to his mother by lying and telling her that he will be traveling to Tennessee for computer training. Upon his mother’s request to come to dinner, Price can see the issues that can later arise in his family. His younger brother is trying to follow in his footsteps and his older brother disowned him. As things seem to be falling apart around him, Price must find a way to bring his family together as well as examine his life and particular decisions that he’s made.
Cordero stated, “It’s based on the life of a friend of mine who passed away in 2004 so it definitely hits close to home. With this movie, I have a chance to say what I have to say as a filmmaker and not just a music video director.”
Before Inside A Change, Cordero produced his first film in 2005, Mend, which was a drug drama about a young man that aspires to be a photographer, but his life is thrown for a loop once his cousin commits suicide. From there, he begins to give into his destructive impulses and makes him heavily dependent on an experimental antidepressant.
Cordero has directed music videos for premier Hip-Hop artists such as Jay-Z, Nas, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, Joe Budden, Jadakiss and countless others. He has been considered to be the pioneer of the independent Hip-Hop music video. Examples of his work include Nas’s “Sly Fox,” Joe Budden’s “In My Sleep” and Jay-z’s “Blue Magic.”
He founded the New York based production company Three/21 Films in 1999. The mission of the company has been to produce innovative music videos, documentaries, shorts and narrative features by any mean by using unique and non-traditional methods.
A mixtape inspired by the film is also in the works. Music will be contributed from the likes of rappers Consequence, Joell Ortiz, Saigon, Royce Da 5’9, Wale, and many more. Production will come from Statik Selektah, The Kickdrums and others.
Along with providing music, rappers Consequence and Joell Ortiz will make cameos in the movie.
