A film crew sets out on a journey across the country to discover how money is made in the world of hip-hop. Director
Maxie Collier takes us inside the process as he selects his
Paperchasers crew and travels across the United States, interviewing people making a living off hip-hop, from street rappers selling tapes out of their trunks, to clothing designers, a hairdresser, DJs, record producers, and recording artists. They're all out to make money, and
Collier wants to learn how it is done. In Atlanta, the crew catch rap superstar
Ludacris and his crew just months before they sign a record deal and blow up.
Collier documents his crew's struggles to land interviews with media bigwigs like Rap-A-Lot's
J. Prince and Def Jam founder
Russell Simmons.
Collier also captures the fluctuations in his personal relationships with producer
Yvette Plummer, also the mother of his son, and soundman
Marquez Edmond (aka "Marquez the Greatest"), as the pressures of making the film wear on the bare-bones crew.
Paperchasers, featuring appearances by
Fat Joe,
Damon Dash, Flava Flav, and
James Brown, had its world premiere at the
2003 Tribeca Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide