BUFFALO, N.Y. — Khalil Carr has a big smile as he sits inside the North Park Theatre where his first feature-length film will premiere in a few days.
Carr is the executive producer, writer, and lead actor in the film 'Levi.'
"It is about a young man who battles the double life of going home and dealing with his father's business, and then coming to school and being a normal kid," Carr said.
He is the youngest black filmmaker in Buffalo.
"One day I want to be the best filmmaker in Buffalo, but right now I am the youngest black filmmaker and. I saw a comment posted on social media and somebody was (saying) I don't care what he looks like. Well I do, and a lot of people that look like me do."
Carr and his co-writer put their heads together for this film.
"We constantly were like we need to make opportunities for ourselves," he said. "We just started writing, we have a whole idea book and we just collaborated all of our ideas and just made a film. Levi has so many different ups and downs and twists and turns from so many other ideas we wrote before for other movies."
Some of the filming was done on Jefferson Avenue on May 14. The day of a mass shooting in Buffalo.
"We were filming at the Golden Cup on Jefferson Avenue."
"It was times where were filming and all we heard was just commotion in the back and we were like guys we got to cut. All you heard was cars beeping and the people saying this shouldn't happen."
The filming continued.
Levi premiers Sunday, May 28, 2023, at the North Park Theater at 7:30 p.m.
He hopes to get the attention of the Buffalo Film Commission and showcase the film at festivals around the country.
Carr is a Buffalo State University junior, majoring in public relations with a concentration in media production.