Bruce Harper

Artist Statement

My passion is to tell stories, folklore and exempla that presents, at its core, that the Urban/African American life is American life, not a minority subset. The inspiration for these stories are rooted in my Detroit experiences, colored by the movies and television shows of my childhood with a dash of 1940’s and 50s’ Hollywood.

A story can start with a simple conversation, an odd set of events or a direct pitch. But for me, most times, a story idea is born from the fusion of a set of random facts, statements and imagination. My documentary “Band of Gold” started with a conversation with the songwriters lawyer, that drew upon my childhood love of their music and universal intrigue of the music business and the fight of African-American entrepreneurs. On the other-hand, my screenplay “The Simple Life” started with the idea of my years in Detroit television, a sportscaster I worked with, Marilyn Monroe’s last movie, Detroit politics and various movie shorts, anything can motivate me to create.

I approach the creation of those ideas with high-end production techniques as-well-as a storytelling process I call Metro-urban storytelling. Metro-urban storytelling is the life experiences that navigate the course between black, white; urban, suburban; failure and success. A style that is inclusive and representative of the multicultural world that exists, a technique that intertwines the hard knock life of the streets with the upbeat success of the middle class. A method that is metropolitan and urban, black and white, Metro-urban is my style platform for telling life’s universal stories.

So, my passion for storytelling, my motivation to create, and storytelling techniques are grounded in the idea that story and image shapes reality. When I worked at the first Black owned and operated television station in the United States, WGPR, I learned its owner bought the station because he wanted African Americans to control their own image. Later in life, while working at the NBC affiliate, I realize the steady diet of negative stories and images of African Americans, mostly shaped by non-African Americans, had an accumulative effect on perception. So, story and image became my tools and the blueprint for my work became Metro-urban storytelling.

In short, my vision is to be the recognized leader in urban storytelling for general audiences, what Prince was to music, Oprah was to television and Will Smith is to film, I want to be that to storytelling.

Favorite Quote: It's not time to panic, until it's time to panic

Mini Bio

Bruce Harper is a writer/director known for his documentary work. Born in Detroit, Michigan, Bruce is a product of Detroit Public Schools and the University of Michigan.

The seeds for his creative development were sown in the Blaxploitation movies of the 1970’s and the Golden Age of Black Television in the 1960’s. Those seeds blossomed during his employment at the nation’s first Black owned television station.

Bruce has directed seven documentaries including: the EMMY award-winning, Band of Gold, has over 30-years of live television experience and multiple screenplays to his credit.