Despite what seems like a dearth of “minority” directors working within the studio system currently, there are, thankfully, a handful who are gradually and quietly building resumes for themselves, whom we all may not be familiar with.

One of those talents is Sylvain White, son of a former NBA pro basketball player and a French flight attendant, who was born in France, growing up mostly in Paris, and who would attend the historic and prestigious La Sorbonne University, where he studied law. Thanks to his creative talents, he won a scholarship to Pomona College in California, where he graduated with honors in both Media Studies and Film and Video Production.

He wrote for and worked with directors, Michel Gondry and Spike Jonze, while still in college, and directed a series of award-winning short films. Leveraging on his success with the short film format, he went on to become a music video director, working mostly in the US, parts of Europe and Japan.

The now 37-year-old’s first foray into feature-filmmaking came with 2004’s Trois 3: The Escort – a film that I’m sure some of us are aware of, for better or worse, which was produced by Rob Hardy of Rainforest Films, who also produced the previous 2 films in the series. The film was distributed on DVD by Columbia.

Since then, he’s directed I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006), a horror film released straight to DVD, as the direct-to-video sequel to 1998’s I Still Know What You Did Last Summer; Stomp the Yard (2007); and he’s currently shooting The Losers, a big screen adaptation of Andy Diggle’s popular graphic novel of the same name, about members of a CIA black ops team on a mission to root out those who targeted them for assassination, after being betrayed and left for dead. The film stars the likes of Idris Elba, Zoe Saldana, Columbus Short and others. It’s scheduled for a 2010 release, courtesy of Warner Bros. This will be Sylvain’s first mega-budgeted production, which is said to be in the $100+ million range! Good for him!

A post I read on another site – Collider.com – prompted this post, and hence its title. In an onset interview with Steve Weintraub of Collider, I learned that White is currently attached to direct another graphic novel adaptation after The Losers, titled Ronin – a comic book limited series published between 1983 and 1984, by DC Comics, written and drawn by Frank Miller, who has seen some of his other works get the big screen treatment, notably, Sin City and 300; so I’d expect White will be working, for the second time, within that mega-budgeted milieu, usually reserved for established, mostly Caucasian directors! Once again, good for him!

Ronin takes place in a dystopic near-future New York, in which a “Ronin” is reincarnated (a “Ronin” is described as a Samurai with no lord or master during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the ruin or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master’s favor or privilege).

Sylvain states about the adaptation:

It’s a big-budget, big blockbuster take on it. I’d love to do it in 3D. I think it’d be ridiculous and amazing. That’s an additional budget issue, but it’s the kind of movie that would be great. I think it’d make a brilliant video game as well – something along the lines of “Assassin’s Creed” but from a first-person perspective. I think it’s just a great property and a great concept. It’s got so many ideas in it in terms of commentary and philosophy. Frank Miller is a genius when it comes to that. It took so long because the source material is so complex. It’s very difficult, and it’s not linear, and it doesn’t really fit into a film format off the bat. It’s not a straight adaptation like “300″ was or even “Watchmen”. It’s not as simple. Zack’s going to kill me. [Laughs] But I think with “Ronin” we need a little bit of streamlining, otherwise it’s too esoteric. You need a little bit of streamlining, but the story and the characters, if I get to do that movie, will all be there. I’m the guy who wants to respect the authors and the source material as a fan of graphic novels who grew up reading them whether it be in Europe or here. It’s something that needs to be done right, and it hasn’t really been done right.

Yeah, Watchmen simply didn’t live up to the hype. Zach Snyder’s faithful-to-the-nose adaptation was just what the film did NOT need, and I’m glad Sylvain recognizes that! I haven’t read Ronin, nor The Losers. But I just purchased copies of both via Amazon – volume 1 of The Losers, and the complete Ronin.

You can read White’s full interview with Collider HERE. And be sure to keep an eye and ear open for Mr White!