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Collaborations: African-American Directors and Writers Meet
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Writer Joyce Lewis, director Neema Barnette, WGAw Committee Chair of Black Writers Sharon D. Johnson, director Rusty Cundieff, director Thomas Carter, writer Valerie Woods and AASC Co-chair Reginald D. Brown.- click image for larger view |
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African-American members of both the Directors Guild of America and Writers Guild of America, west met recently to discuss common issues in an event titled "Collaborations: Conversations With African-American Director-Writer Teams." Co-sponsored by the DGA African-American Steering Committee and the WGAw's Committee of Black Writers, the discussion was moderated by actor/writer/director Rusty Cundieff (Tales From the Hood).
The panelists included directors Neema Barnette and Thomas Carter, as well as writers Joyce Lewis and Valerie Woods. Both Barnette and Carter have extensive television and film experience. After directing such series as The Cosby Show and A Different World, movies for television Run for the Dream: The Gail Devers Story, Barnette is currently in post-production on Civil Brand, about young African-American women in prison. Carter, a DGA Award winner for his work on Hill Street Blues, recently had a hit with the feature Save the Last Dance. Joyce Lewis has collaborated with Barnette on several projects, including Brand and Devers. Woods is co-executive producer and writer for Lifetime's Any Day Now.
Among the significant issues that were discussed was whether it was important for an African-American director to have an African-American writer on his/her project.
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Barnette, Brown and Cundieff - click image for larger view |
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Regarding Save the Last Dance, Carter said, "It was challenging, because we were dealing with an interracial romance. Because the movie had a lot of issues that were important to me, I thought a black woman would be able to bring another dimension to the film." But, he was clear to note, "she was hired primarily because I thought she was talented," adding that story and character must always come first to have a successful picture. "Don't expect that just because you're black, you're going to be hired" onto a film with an African-American director. "It's not going to happen."
Barnette's experience on Gail Devers, however, illustrated her feeling about the importance of having black writers on board where African-American stories are involved. "As an African-American woman, I'm very conscious of women's issues, in particular, images of African-American women." The script for Devers had been written by a white male writer, something that was evident to Barnette — particularly after reading the film's earlier treatment written by African-American writer Dianne Houston. "Dianne's script had a lot of layers and richness and elements that I wanted to put into the movie," Barnette said. The director demanded the producers have a black woman, Joyce Lewis, rewrite the script — and succeeded though Lewis did not receive a writing credit on the film.
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Director Brown, writer Lewis, and director Barnette.- click image for larger view |
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Lewis noted that there are some elements about being human that any writer understands. "But where the line is drawn and the difference is made is in nuance. There are things about being a black woman that attract my attention that I want to address in a story that a male writer — be he black, white, Hispanic — may not even think of."
Valerie Woods commented that, due to the dominance of white characters in television, black writers are typically more aware of white nuances and issues than white writers often are for their African-American characters. She stressed, however, the importance of any writer being open to collaborating with those with cultural backgrounds related to the subject, to assure believability, as she is doing currently with a project featuring Native Americans.
Should black writers and directors stick only to telling stories about African-Americans? "I wish I had made Raiders of the Lost Ark," Carter said. "I never wanted to be limited by being African-American to what I could do. And nor should you."
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