John “Apollo” Payne
John “Apollo” Payne could never have imagined the paths that would lead to his collaboration with Stacy Peralta as second-unit director and story consultant on Made In America. The two met almost twenty years ago: Apollo an ex-gang member working on a Disney project called The Crusaders, Peralta a blond-haired ex-skateboard champion now working in the entertainment industry. Together they sketched out a film about the most infamous L.A. gangs: the Bloods and Crips. It was a story that Apollo was uniquely qualified to tell.
Apollo was raised in the South Central neighborhood of Aliso Village and in 1972 was only nine years old when he joined the Brims. He later moved to Baldwin Village, known as “The Jungle”, home of the notorious Black P. Stone Bloods, where he immersed himself in the downward spiral of gang life: shot in the face at age 12, arrested for kidnapping and armed robbery the same year, sentenced to Sylmar Detention center. It was here he earned the name Apollo; it was here he first started questioning gang world. But harder lessons were to come; a second arrest for drug possession, and, only in his mid-twenties, the prospect of a life behind bars. Upon release Apollo completely changed course, dedicating himself to providing alternatives to the dead-end gang reality. Working with fellow activist Maxine Waters he brokered a truce between the Crips and the Bloods, an accomplishment for which he was recognized with gratitude by President Bill Clinton.
Since then Apollo has worked tirelessly as a community activist, providing hope and opportunities for the next generation of inner-city kids and their families. At the same time he has been working steadily as producer in the entertainment industry, completing projects for ABC, Disney and 100.3 The Beat. And in 2006, collaborating with producers Dan Halsted, Steve Luczo and Baron Davis, Apollo and Stacy Peralta finally got to work together on the project they’d talked about so long ago.
He is currently working on his new project Voices Behind the Walls.
