Rick Famuyiwa

Just two weeks ago Rick Famuyiwa was selling Air Jordans at the Beverly Hills Niketown store. Now the 24-year-old USC Film School grad from Inglewood has a deal with MTV Films as writer and director of his script "The Wood," an African American coming-of-age story flashing back to his hometown in the '80s, developed through the Sundance Institute's screenwriters and directors labs. Goodbye, day job.

When several years ago a friend told aspiring filmmaker Rick Famuyiwa that he was getting married, the two of them started reminiscing about growing up in the African American middle-class neighborhood of Inglewood (now becoming increasingly Latino). Famuyiwa, a 1996 USC film school graduate, came away hours later with the idea for his fresh and funny first feature,"The Wood," which he adapted from a story he wrote with one of his former USC professors, Todd Boyd.

Saturday, Sept. 16, 1995, Ladera Park, Baldwin Hills, 9 a.m. -- The first day of rehearsals. Five tall, muscular black men, ranging in age from their middle 20s to early 30s, stand around on an asphalt court in torn T-shirts, gym shorts and high-top sneakers, shooting baskets. * "Larry Bird--that fool was overrated. Man, I hated all the Celtics." * "Hell, yeah. Especially that punk-ass Danny Ainge. I was glad when Ralph Sampson kicked his ass." * "That wasn't Ainge.

Rick Famuyiwa steps into the marble-lined entryway of Pangaea, a restaurant on the first floor of the Hotel Nikko on La Cienega Boulevard. A couple of patrons glance up from their breakfast plates; the 6-foot-4 26-year-old is a quietly commanding presence. Famuyiwa scans the room uncertainly, then forges ahead, past leather booths filled with executives in crisp business suits.

Rick Famuyiwa steps into the marble-lined entryway of Pangaea, a restaurant on the first floor of the Hotel Nikko on La Cienega Boulevard. A couple of patrons glance up from their breakfast plates; the 6-foot-4 26-year-old is a quietly commanding presence. Famuyiwa scans the room uncertainly, then forges ahead, past leather booths filled with executives in crisp business suits.

Rick Famuyiwa is not making movies for the simple reason that he is obviously a smart, insightful storyteller who has to function in an industry that all too frequently rewards filmmakers with contracts for making inane, unimaginative and redundant films ("The Path," by David Weddle, March 23). I hope that Famuyiwa is able to hang in there and keep coming up with alternatives to what's out there. We of the moviegoing public should attempt to support talented directors and writers of his kind.

When several years ago a friend told aspiring filmmaker Rick Famuyiwa that he was getting married, the two of them started reminiscing about growing up in the African American middle-class neighborhood of Inglewood (now becoming increasingly Latino). Famuyiwa, a 1996 USC film school graduate, came away hours later with the idea for his fresh and funny first feature,"The Wood," which he adapted from a story he wrote with one of his former USC professors, Todd Boyd.

David Weddle, in his article on filmmaker Rick Famuyiwa ("Selling Out Was the Deal Breaker," July 11), erroneously attributed the phrase " 'the bitch-goddess' of success" to Jack Kerouac; it was William James, the American psychologist and philosopher, who, in a letter to H.G. Wells of Sept. 11, 1906, first used the phrase, referring to "the moral flabbiness born of the exclusive worship of the bitch-goddess SUCCESS." CHRIS KELEDJIAN Venice

Tommy Lee is paired with Snoop Dogg for a song to be featured on the soundtrack of "Heavy Metal II," the sequel to the '70s animated cult favorite. The movie and album are due in the fall, with a new Monster Magnet track also featured. . . . Mystikal and OutKast have teamed up on "Neck Uv Da Woods" for the soundtrack of "The Wood," the semi-autobiographical film by director Rick Famuyiwa that's something of "The Wonder Years" set in '80s Inglewood. . . .

An exciting finish and a large crowd were the ingredients for success in the inaugural South Bay All-Star Basketball Classic Friday night. The game, which matched 24 of the area's top senior high school players, drew an estimated 900 fans to South Torrance High, where the Red team hung on for a 98-93 victory over the Blue. Mira Costa center Chris Davis, who had nine points and rebounded well for the Red team, was named the game's most valuable player.

Just two weeks ago Rick Famuyiwa was selling Air Jordans at the Beverly Hills Niketown store. Now the 24-year-old USC Film School grad from Inglewood has a deal with MTV Films as writer and director of his script "The Wood," an African American coming-of-age story flashing back to his hometown in the '80s, developed through the Sundance Institute's screenwriters and directors labs. Goodbye, day job.

Rick Famuyiwa is not making movies for the simple reason that he is obviously a smart, insightful storyteller who has to function in an industry that all too frequently rewards filmmakers with contracts for making inane, unimaginative and redundant films ("The Path," by David Weddle, March 23). I hope that Famuyiwa is able to hang in there and keep coming up with alternatives to what's out there. We of the moviegoing public should attempt to support talented directors and writers of his kind.

Saturday, Sept. 16, 1995, Ladera Park, Baldwin Hills, 9 a.m. -- The first day of rehearsals. Five tall, muscular black men, ranging in age from their middle 20s to early 30s, stand around on an asphalt court in torn T-shirts, gym shorts and high-top sneakers, shooting baskets. * "Larry Bird--that fool was overrated. Man, I hated all the Celtics." * "Hell, yeah. Especially that punk-ass Danny Ainge. I was glad when Ralph Sampson kicked his ass." * "That wasn't Ainge.

Twenty four of the area's top high school senior basketball players will square off in the first South Bay All-Star Classic at 7:30 Friday night at South Torrance High.

Rick Famuyiwa's "Brown Sugar" is a sly and sophisticated romantic comedy with a depth of characterization matched by its appreciation of the world of hip-hop. It's a mainstream movie in the best sense: an all-too-infrequent big-screen depiction of successful, affluent African Americans facing complex personal and professional choices. Pictures like "Barbershop" and "Brown Sugar" provide crucial balance to urban action dramas.