I'm Black And I'm Proud - Part 1 - Conception

Originally the idea for this short film started sometime late in 1997. I was back in Montreal, fresh from my first trip to Ireland and I was heavily influenced by Guinness' advertising and marketing there. I was bartending, again, at McLean's Pub and pulling a lot of pints of Guinness. Sweet Daddy, the funniest man I know, would often come in for his pint(s) and we shoot ideas back and forth about creating a Guinness commercial. By mid 1998 I had a developed great relationship with the Guinness representative for the pub, Pat Bisson. He loved the way I took my time building a proper pint and would show off my talents to the other reps as well as his boss'. I even bartended his wedding atop the tower of the Olympic Stadium, pouring shamrocks in Black Velvets for all the guests. I'd share with Pat some of the ideas Sweet Daddy and I had. He loved them, but there was no way he or we could approach their marketing department overseas. Still, he met with Sweet Daddy and I a few times and eventually said he'd fund the film with beer - one full barrel of the beautiful black stuff! By that time I had come up with a script. The commercial idea had turned into a short film idea. The title, well that was easy: it describes Guinness perfectly; it describes Sweet Daddy perfectly; and it was a great scene as well as a great version of the song in the film The Commitments - it all made perfect sense. I couldn't believe Guinness hadn't thought of it already.
The story was going to be a day-in-the-life of Sweet Daddy, as his day starts off miserably but gradually improved beyond his greatest expectations.