John Kiesewetter

jkiesewetter@enquirer.com

Director-actor Don Cheadle still needs some classic cars as he prepares to start filming "Miles Ahead" Monday.

"We can always use cars," says Kristen Erwin Schlotman, executive director of the Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky Film Commission.

Cheadle makes his directorial debut starring as jazz icon Miles Davis, along with Ewan McGregor ("A Million Ways to Die in the West," "Star Wars") and Michael Stuhlbarg ("Boardwalk Empire").

Kentucky native Emayatzy Corinealdi("Middle of Nowhere," "Criminal Minds," "The Nanny Express") will play the musician's former wife, Frances Taylor, say Hollywood trade publications. She replaces Zoe Saldana ("Avatar"), who had a scheduling conflict.

Lakeith Lee Stanfield ("Selma," "Short Term 12"), Austin Lyon ("Divergent," "The Goldbergs," "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.") and Morgan Wolk ("The Perks of Being a Wallflower") also have joined the cast, according to the Internet Movie Database.

"Miles Ahead" portrays the end of Davis's five-year "silent period" away from the public eye in 1979, when the musician and a "Rolling Stone" reporter (McGregor) retrieve a recording stolen from his home. The story flashes back to Davis's affair with Taylor from 1956 to 1966, said Cheadle, whose credits include "House of Lies," "Rwanda," "Iron Man 2" and "3."

"It's not a cradle-to-grave story. It's very specific. He keeps returning to one story line in his past, his relationship with Francis Taylor," Cheadle told The Enquirer in June.

Erwin said production designers are looking for silver, red and gold 1970s Jaguar XJ6s – not green, as announced last month. The filmmakers previously sought taxis from the 1940s-50s and 1970s, and cars from 1965 through 1975. Owners of cars fitting the descriptions should email a photo and contact information to carsmilesahead@gmail.com.

Cheadle also needs funding. He has raised 64 percent ($208,153) of his $325,000 goal on the Indiegogo crowd-funding site. The online campaign ends July 10 at 11:59 p.m. Donors' perks range from T-shirts and iPhone covers to attending a "Miles Ahead" screening here with Cheadle, and the Reds jersey he wore throwing a ceremonial first pitch last month.

(I want to hear from donors about why they contributed to "Miles Ahead" through the Indiegogo campaign. Can you email me at jkiesewetter@enquirer.com?)

"Miles Ahead" has been approved for an estimated $2.37 million Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit. Cheadle chose to shoot in Cincinnati for six weeks (through August 15) for its "architecture and the look here that can approximate the era that we're shooting in Manhattan, which Manhattan doesn't really have a lot of anymore," he said.

"It has the (film) support network, the crew. The incentives here are very good," he said. "It makes sense to be here. This town is a music town."