Video Girl

When I came across this trailer on Shadow and Act my first reaction was whoopee, the lovely Meagan Good has found some work. Meagan has been in front of the camera since she was a young girl but made her calling in Biker Boyz and Stomping the Yard. Her actual breakthrough was in Eve's Bayou where she played Cisely Batiste, Eve's older sister. in the much acclaimed film. Since then Meagan's career more ore less went off the boil, a few months ago I came across an insightful comment on Twitter stating that all the leading roles seem to be going to Halle Berry, Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson and that Meagan was finding it hard to live with this company. Well it looks like Ms Good has taken her career into her own hands and has started her own production company called Freedom Bridge Entertainment with fellow acting friends. Their second project Video Girl is about the contentious world of music videos. Meagan plays Lori Walker, a small town girl with big dreams who heads for the bright lights of LA to make it as a video star. Her rise to the top is rapid and soon she is the IT girl in hip hop videos and earning an insane amount of money. Fame calls and she finds herself in demand by producers and the media, however the trappings of fame are only round the corner and Lori finds her life spiralling out of control.

As soon as I saw the trailer I immediately thought of Confessions of a Video Vixen by Karrine Steffans, an explosive expose that documents her life as a leading video girl. Between 2000 to 2002 Karrine was the go to girl for music videos and at her helm she made $2,500 a day. She starred in videos by Jay Z, R Kelly and LL Cool J and also had a bit part in the film, A Man Apart starring Vin Diesel. I remember when the book was released in 2005 because it caused a huge sensation and was covered in the entertainment press such as Vibe and Touch magazine. I only got round to ordering it late last year and it really lived up to my expectations, in fact it exceeded them. Karrine's stories about her experiences as a video girl are salacious, gossipy, scandalous and absolutely hilarious. The tales that stood out to me were:

• Damon Dash falling over drunk by the pool on the morning of a video shoot. LOL. No wonder Jay Z distanced himself.
• Her relationship with Shaquille O'Neal that was fueled by sex and cash.
• Her one night stand with P Diddy that resulted in him dogging her and bad mouthing her to Xzibit (shameless man).
• Her love affair with Ray J.
• Her destructive relationship with Bobby Brown.
• Also the hardcore rapper who whimpered like a baby every time they had sex. LOL

I am not sure whether Meagan and co have used the book as a source but judging by the trailer there are certainly huge similarities. A lot of stories have been told about video dancers hence the documentary, Hip Hop Honeys that was on BBC and the reality series of the same name that aired on BET. It seems that Hip Hop honeys are still big news.

Video Girl will be released on 29th April at selected cinemas in the US.