A recurring theme in my recent life has been putting ideas into the world despite (paralyzing) fears of rejection.
It’s my strongest mandate for the moment.
Earlier this month, I served as one of three judges for the Indie Memphis Black Creators Forum Pitch Rally. During the event, seven pre-selected filmmakers gave a 5-minute pitch for the chance to receive $10,000 for their project.
This was the first time the event had been held in five years. I was privileged enough to also be a judge in the 2019 iteration.
This year, we awarded the prize to Megan “Megz” Trufant Tillman. In addition to being an award-winning filmmaker, she is also one-half of the jazz/hip-hop/neo-soul group Magna Carda (and the founder and editor of Black literary and arts magazine WATER).
Tillman is from New Orleans and currently based in Austin, Texas. Their pitch rally project is a proof-of-concept short centered on a 13-year-old’s birthday party the day before Hurricane Katrina hits. It’s described as part of a triptych in a feature.
Each of the seven filmmakers have interesting, creative, and compelling projects you should support and be on the lookout for:
Ayanna Murray’s “Educating Our Own: The Homeschooling Renaissance in Black America.” Logline: "Educating Our Own: The Homeschooling Renaissance in Black America" is a documentary that explains the rising surge of Black Homeschoolers who are reclaiming control over their children's education as they opt out of failing education systems and provide an experience free from systemic inequalities. It explores how homeschooling is rapidly becoming an accepted vehicle for Black Americans who believe they can do school better!”
Xenia Matthews’ “MAMABABY.” Logline: “After an abortion creates distance between her and her Mama, Baby, a charismatic Florida Girl, travels through the spirit realm to unearth her mother’s secrets.”
Bethiael Alemayoh’s “I Didn’t Forget You.” Logline: “In 1993, a homesick young woman hopes to connect with her favorite Eritrean pop star when his tour comes to Dallas, TX.”
NaKeyah Dae’s “Chosen By Random.” Logline: “A late night diner becomes a fortress for four friends once a deranged serial killer wages war against the people of a small town called Wayland.”
Taylor Boyd’s “Tête-à-tête.” Logline: “The term parked car conversation takes on a whole different meaning as we watch multiple pairings experience life changing scenarios from a heated argument between two lovers to strategizing robbing a nursing home all connected through a thread of dialogue.”
Daniel Ferrell’s “Damaged Goods.” Logline: “A jaded private detective is hired to find the daughter of the man he killed.”
It takes a lot of courage to go before a crowd and share the work you’ve been spending all of your energy on. And to be questioned about it publicly.
As an internship coordinator at my job, I always have more applicants than positions available. It’s a balancing act to meet the needs of my employer, while serving as many students as possible. There are cases where I have hired folks a year after our initial correspondence. Because many times, the answer isn’t “no,” it’s “not yet.”
I’m always willing to get on a call or Zoom or email with someone to talk about how they can achieve their ultimate career goals, what that might look like, and who I might know that they should know.
It’s an interesting space, because I feel very confident in the ability to do my job, but that confidence disappears (maybe, rightfully) as I strive for and apply for things outside of the band of things-I-know-I’m-great-at.
I applied for and wasn’t accepted for an intensive arts criticism workshop in the past couple of months, as well as a new, high-profile journalist-to-novelist workshop.
But, the rejection letters were incredibly kind. Even when one included the (maybe) typical “but you should apply next go-round” verbiage.
I will apply again!
Just like I’ll enter the fiction contest that’s open again and not let the deadline pass like the other contest that I chickened out of the other day.
Uber-talented Memphis and Brooklyn-based photographer Tommy Kha recently shared the Tumblr he keeps of his rejection letters.
Fear of exposing your creative children and having writer’s block both feel excruciating.
But, it’s a shared experience.
Keep going. Keep perfecting. Keep learning.
I will, too.
Here are some other stories I read about creative process this week:
A story loosely related to another personal mandate: Female rappers are wearing Italian high fashion brand Pucci. (Which is bomb.)
"I love the hip-hop girlie archetype, but I think that it's our job as stylists to really push that needle and do something that's different," Tyson says. "When I think of a Pucci girl, she may not look like what they first looked like, living life on the Italian Riviera back in the '70s, but I think in 2024, [someone like Flo Milli is] that girl."
NPR did a great interview with Giancarlo Esposito, who is the protagonist in new AMC show “Parish.”
His father, Giovanni Esposito, was an Italian carpenter and stagehand. His mother, Elizabeth Foster, was an opera singer from Alabama. They met on one of Foster's tours.
"My parents passed on to me a love of music, a love of the arts, a respect for that which takes place in motion in film and music and dance. They gave me the creative essence that I love and enjoy today," Esposito said. "They also handed me a great deal of their previous trauma, which has taught me that generational trauma exists. They both have been passed away for a while now, but I feel the healing of my own life healing their resting place."
Esposito is grateful for the gifts his parents gave him and he acknowledges their pain.
"Every time I...feel my dad, who was very Italian, very demonstrative, his way or the highway...Every time that comes up for me, I stop myself, take a deep breath and go, 'That's my father. That's Giovanni. That's not me.' I don't have to be him. I can be me. I can heal that space that he wasn't able to heal for himself, and it's the same with my mother," Esposito said
This Los Angeles Times profile on Esposito is similarly introspective.
Seventy-seven-year-old choreographer Dianne McIntyre is combining dance and music in New York.
McIntyre moved to New York from Cleveland in 1970 and studied with Viola Farber and Gus Solomons Jr., both influential dancers from the Merce Cunningham company. McIntyre’s deep connection to dance and music led her to form Sounds in Motion, a company — and studio — in Harlem dedicated to dance, of course, but also ideas about Black expression. It was a rich melding of the arts; the poet Ntozake Shange danced in her company and was part of her circle.
On the West Coast, “Charles Burnett Celebrates Turning 80 by Re-Premiering the Lost Film He Struggled for 25 Years to Get Released.”
In honor of the recent Dallas Art Fair (which featured more than 90 galleries from close to 20 countries and 50 cities), meet four Dallas-area art collectors.
Lastly, a personal favorite: “Meet The Artist On A Mission To ‘Paint All The Chicago Hot Dog Stands.”
Songs I Listened to This Week
Podcasts I Listened to This Week
How to Be Both a Critic and a Creator | Working (Slate)
This week, host Ronald Young Jr. talks to Linda Holmes, host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast and author of two novels: Evvie Drake Starts Over and Flying Solo. In the interview, Linda explains how she started her career practicing law in Minnesota before she pivoted to TV criticism. She also talks about how NPR came to take pop culture seriously, how her work as a critic informs her writing (and vice versa), and how she has gotten much better at coming up with titles for her novels.
After the interview, Ronald and co-host Isaac Butler talk about how they handle criticism of their work.
TV/Films I Watched This Week
Yaya Bey Tiny Desk Concert | NPR
Throughout an emotional, soul-stirring set, the multitudes of Yaya Bey's music and artistry are on full display in her Tiny Desk concert. The New York-bred singer-songwriter opens the show by paying homage to her Barbados roots: reggae-tinged grooves of "meet me in brooklyn" from her powerful 2022 album, Remember Your North Star, that flow seamlessly into "on the pisces moon" from 2023's Exodus The North Star.
Our little corner can be a space for artists and musicians to approach their music in more intimate ways, often leading to incredibly raw experiences. Bey manages to create a sense of closeness with the audience as she emphatically expresses how difficult this performance is for her to get through: "My dad died last year, so I be spacing out sometimes when I do this joint," before diving into the sentimental "reprise."