- 9 months ago
Q+A with David Fortune at Film Festival
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00All right, Ian. First question I want to know is, what inspired you, you know, to make this film
00:05Color Book? And why did you feel like it needed to be made today?
00:09You know what? I'm always big with, you know, make what you want to see.
00:14And I remember, like, some years ago, I was like, I wanted to see, like, a black father raising his
00:18son type movie on Netflix or Hulu. And we just get a chance to just spend, like, 24 hours with
00:24them. And one thing that hit me was, how about you make it? You know, hold yourself accountable
00:31as an artist to tell the stories that you want to see rather than waiting for Hollywood to do it.
00:35And I recognized, I was like, you know what, I'm going to go on this journey.
00:39But it didn't hit me until I was speaking to parents who was raising children with Down syndrome.
00:44And I learned the wounds of their stories and the pain of it and the joys of it. And I was like,
00:49this isn't a story I want to make. This is a story I need to make. And from there, I decided to write
00:55the film because I felt like we weren't seeing stories of parents raising children who had
00:59Down syndrome in the black community. We'll see it in other parts, in other ethnic groups,
01:04but not our own. And so I just felt compelled to just tell that story in black and white
01:09that reflect their humanity and experiences, honestly.
01:12So what was that journey like? You know, making a film was not easy.
01:16Was there any special challenges? Was it, you know, even more difficult?
01:21Like, talk to us about that journey.
01:23Yeah, like, first of all, like, to make a film, you got to write it.
01:26You know, and so I told my agent, I was like, I need you to clear out three months.
01:32Don't have anybody call me. Don't set up no meetings.
01:35Go to black and let me just lock in to just tell this story.
01:38I thought that only happened in movies. You really did that.
01:41Yeah.
01:42You really was like, hold on my calls for three months.
01:44I didn't want any distractions. When you're on a mission, you can't be distracted by what's
01:48coming in and out. You know, the waves and the winds of the world would distract you from
01:51your mission. You know, and I just really was set on writing the story. Whether it gets
01:55made or not, I'm like, well, that's outside my control. But I could go into final draft,
02:00I could type this out, you know. And after I completed the script, you know, I had the
02:06full beard, nappy head, everything.
02:08And I learned that there was this program called AT&T Presents Untold Stories, which they give a
02:16million dollars to rising filmmakers to make their first feature film. And I was like, you know what,
02:22one plus one equals two. A black father raising his son with Down syndrome, untold stories, it makes
02:29sense. You know. And so we applied, we got in, they sent us to New York to pitch it, and we won
02:36the million dollars. And we went for a year just putting the film together, honestly.
02:41Man.
02:42Yeah.
02:43Do you have any of the million left over you went all in?
02:45Uh, my producer, Kaya Klingman, is in the audience. She could tell you about it.
02:49Is there a marketing budget left?
02:51You know, we'll talk, we'll talk in the back. What are a few things that you'd want somebody
02:57who watches this film to walk away learning or feeling?
03:03That's a great question. You know, I don't know what do I want them to feel. I just know
03:10what I want them to see. You know, I just want them to see what's the experience of a father.
03:15And his vulnerabilities, his intimacies with his son.
03:18Yeah.
03:19And in showing that, I want the audience to see themselves, no matter what background you come
03:24from. When you see him trying to teach his son, you know, uh, you know, schooling, you know,
03:29objectives, it's like, oh, I did that with my child. Right? And to see his struggles, I just want you to
03:35experience it. You know, if you feel something from it, great. If you don't, great. But at least
03:39you know about it.
03:40Right. So, you know, obviously you're a black man, you're creating black stories.
03:44How important is it to you that these stories are distributed to the mass media?
03:51Very important. Because the thing is, it's one thing to make something, but it's another thing
03:56for people to see it and embrace it. And I think that's not talked about enough when we come to
04:01art is that we put in all the work to make the film, but how are we distributing it? How is getting
04:07to the mass audience? And I feel like there's a lack of education when it comes to distribution,
04:11when it comes to filmmakers in general, is that we spent a whole year putting the movie
04:15together, but it's like, how's the world going to see it? And I think it's very important
04:20that, you know, we have companies like AT&T continue to back us and set up, you know, watch
04:24parties with Essence Fest for we can have our community embrace it, you know, because that's
04:29one thing for us just to make it. But if it's just sitting in our hard drive, then what is
04:32it doing? Right. Right. So what, what, you know, speaking about AT&T, what does dreaming
04:38black mean to you?
04:46Dreaming black means to me, one word comes to mind is hope. You know, when it comes to
04:52what it is to be black or blackness, it's like, the idea of hope is sometimes robbed
04:56from us. And for me, it's like, I want to take that back. I want to own hope. I want
05:04us to feel it. I want us to claim it and say, this is ours. And so when I'm dreaming in black,
05:09I'm constantly thinking about hope for the future, hope for storytellers, you know, and hope for the
05:14things that we want to make. And that is, and resulting in blackness. So walk, talk to me about
05:20like, you know, you, I'm sure you've pitched other stuff that didn't get picked up or they passed
05:24on it. But talk to me about the moment when you pitched or when you, you pitched this story.
05:32But the moment I really curious about is when you found out you won and you were going to be able to
05:37make this movie, like take me into your mind at that time. You want to know the truth? Yes. You
05:43really want to know the truth? I want the truth. To be honest, when they announced that, you know,
05:50we were the winners, I was numb. Really? I was numb. I didn't feel anything. And the reason why it was,
05:57I saw myself winning it three months prior.
06:04Well, you better prophesy over your own life then. No, no, no lie. So you were sitting there
06:11like a guest pastor? Like, yeah. That's what I thought. I bet y'all better have gave it to me.
06:18No, I, I, I literally wrote it out. I wrote in my journal, you know, congratulations, David Fortune.
06:24You're the winner of 2023 AT&T Untold Stories program. Wow. And so I already experienced all
06:32the emotions at that point. I started crying after I wrote it in my journal. I started thanking God,
06:37hallelujah, running across the room, all that. That's what I wanted to hear.
06:39You know, so then by the time it was announced, it's like, all right, I'm already walking in my
06:45destiny. Yeah. You know, that was a great answer. I really felt that in my Shondo.
06:54So one more dream question. I love dreaming. I really do. You are on set day one. You got a,
07:01you know, if y'all don't know, a million dollars is a huge amount to make a film, especially when
07:06you've been making short films for $7 and hot Cheetos, but when you actually have a, you know,
07:11a budget, what was it like when you're about to yell at, for a movie you wrote as well, right?
07:15Because every director doesn't get to direct things that they were able to write. So you,
07:19you're the creative, you know, in the, in the, you know, in your layer writing for three months
07:24and then you, you're, now you're the producer going to get financing. Have you done that?
07:28And now you're the director of that film. When you're about to yell action for the first time,
07:32what was it like then?
07:38Taking, going back to that moment, I recognize us like, oh, this is true.
07:44What God promised me is here.
07:46Yeah.
07:47You know, like there's a song called like promises, amen and promises, you know, and it's
07:52like, this is something that he put into the world that he says, you're going to go on this
07:56journey and this is what you're going to do. And just seeing the crew operate and work that day
08:01of. And before I, you know, your action is like, damn, everything he said that he put in my heart
08:07is now present. Yeah. And you don't have no other feeling than gratitude. Yeah. Gratitude simply
08:14because it's so hard to make films. It's so hard to get these opportunities for many people. This is
08:19just a dream. And for me, I'm living a reality. Right. So what issues might come that day of
08:26life? Cause they will come. Yeah, they will. And they were, but to me, it's like, I appreciate
08:32and I'll take it all. Yeah. So you were talking about, you thought this story needed to be
08:37made. Yeah. But why did you need to feel like it needed to be made today? Like right now?
08:41What was the, what was the urgency behind that? I felt like it needs to be made right now because
08:47I was seeing it in other communities. I was seeing stories that feature people with a down syndrome
08:54or who are differently abled, you know, in other groups and other ethnicities, but I wasn't seeing
08:59it in the black community. Right. You know, and for me, it's like, why can't we have our stories told?
09:05Why can't we have our stories put on the big screen and experienced by a white audience? Right. And for
09:11me, I didn't want to waste a second. You know, once I spoke to those families and they shared with me
09:15their lives and their perspectives, I was like, no, this needs to happen today. Matter of fact, no,
09:20I need to happen yesterday. Right. You know, but for me, just to given the opportunity to tell the
09:26stories, then it's like, all right, well, I'm doing my job. You know, uh, we talked a little bit,
09:30be, you know, backstage about this, but I feel like it's important to share. This is your first feature.
09:36Yeah. But this is not your first film. You made shorts. Talk to us. Cause I'm imagining there's
09:41other, you know, filmmakers in the audience about the process and what you learned from your early work
09:47that prepared you for this moment. Hmm. So you only know what, you know, right? It's like,
09:55so when I was making my earlier work, you know, it wasn't even about the quality. It was just about
09:59doing it. You know, I didn't know it was going to take me to a feature film. I just wanted to tell
10:05those stories. And when I look back at them, I'm like, Oh, these are horrible, but they were necessary.
10:12Right. Right. Because there's power and completion. Um, my professor used to tell me all the time,
10:18done is better than perfect because once you get something done, guess what? You can move on to
10:22the next one. Right. And you could grow from the next one to the next one and you keep on climbing.
10:27So I've done about 10 short films for is showable, you know, um, but I wouldn't have gotten this
10:35million dollar opportunity if I didn't do those first 10. Yeah. So there's power and completion
10:41because it allows you to level up to the next opportunity. That's such a good boy. You've
10:45been, you've been killing it today. Low key. I need to, I need to match some of your gyms.
10:50Um, but we wanted to leave some time for the audience to ask some questions. Um,
10:55so we go open it up to the people of the world. Don't be shy. Don't be shy. You could, uh,
11:02I can't really see. I can't see either right here. Oh, yes, ma'am. Right there.
11:06Where can we watch the film? Uh, so, well, actually Color Book is playing tomorrow at
11:13Theater 2 at 2.15. Uh, so if you have time, please come in, support the movie. We would
11:19love to show it to everyone who's in the audience. Um, you could come in and watch it.
11:242.15 Theater 2.
11:26Yeah. Be there on time. On time. Regular time. On time. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I
11:56you a breakdown so uh one of my good friends uh her name is shelley yo um she actually was in the
12:04untold stories program before i was and i got a chance to see her go through her process and make
12:09the movie and so the applications came up i believe in the fall between like maybe
12:16october or november around that time and so it was publicized on you know instagram facebook
12:25all social media platforms and so you could go on at&t's website and they will promote it as well
12:30and so i just went on the website i saw what they was doing um and then i just looked at the breakdown
12:36of what they needed so and it gave me a month to prepare the application so that's another thing
12:43you just don't want to just go in and apply you want to actually prepare your application
12:47so i had a month runway to just look at i need to have these essays questions done i need to have
12:52all my reels completed i need to have a budget completed i need to have a schedule completed
12:57then submit the application then waiting the week of but uh at&t and tribeca they will do public blast
13:04it's on their website um so stay tuned this fall
13:07no problem yes ma'am hi
13:12my short film oh at&t said they had three million dollars uh for creators of over 40 it's called
13:24the 40 and up we ain't got it fund uh no uh i don't have any current plans to do a short film
13:32i've done we were talking about this backstage um i've done uh a couple of terrible things
13:38before uh that i was very proud of i agree there's such such a power of completion like
13:43you know um and i'm actually curious about this too i want to ask you i've worked on humongous budget
13:49things and i worked on like tiny budget where you're paying people in food and i realized it's a lot
13:54a lot harder with with uh no money much i mean obviously but um with no money everybody does
14:02everything and i think i learned the most doing those things uh but the short film thing it's a lot
14:07harder than people think um a movie ain't nothing but a scene and a scene and a scene and a scene a
14:14short film is usually can be equally as hard it's just not as long but to answer your question i have
14:20no plans of doing a short film unless at&t would like me to have plans to do one i'd love to get back
14:27to the community color book two uh what mine's gonna be it's about a father raising his son
14:33with down syndrome but it's gonna be in color here i've made some artistic choices we go follow
14:40them over two days usually it's just 24 hours i want to do 48 hours see what that second day look
14:45like see if they go to church where they eat for lunch because the first day you know they was on a
14:49train it was great love trains i want to see them on a plane though see with the flying how that's
14:55gonna be yes i can't oh yes ma'am
14:58oh for sure so i had y'all hear the question okay so her question was uh everybody in the back
15:18of the film how did he go about finding those people extras yeah and i want to know how you
15:23got the front of the train unless i was the back it seemed like they let you do some stuff you
15:28shouldn't been able to do but hey hey you know at&t you know i don't know what he's talking about
15:35um so no uh for me as a director you know you only as good as the team that you have around you
15:41um so i have a team of producers i have a producer right here kai clingman please raise your hand
15:46um i'm nothing without my team you know if it was only up to me things will crumble and fall apart
15:55um because i'm so unorganized at times i'm just creative but my team helps me make sure everything
16:00is tight neat and put together um they feel in every weaknesses that i have and complement all my
16:06strengths so it starts with having a good team and to get all the background uh kaya worked with
16:12a casting director who focuses on background casting and so we was able to hire background
16:18actors to fill in those spaces and so even in front of the train kevin
16:23you had to talk to marta about that hey we did so kaya actually developed a relationship with marta
16:31and we was able to utilize all marta's facilities even hire some of uh marta's workers really yes
16:38yes i was curious about that yeah kaya's a black woman what you got to do get that black woman
16:43producer because they ain't gonna take no for an answer i love that no so so it's really about
16:48relationships and again relationships and teamwork hello yes oh hey i'm in the back hello um so my
16:59question for you david is when it comes to working with those who have disabilities because that's very
17:06near and dear to my heart i actually have a learning disability and my brother he has special needs as
17:14well so when it comes to showing the different day-to-day lives of families um of those who have
17:22these disabilities how is it like for you and when it comes to showing or better yet breaking the
17:29stigmas of how it's like um living helping and dealing with family members who have special needs
17:37how is it like um learning all that throughout the film process and then what were some new things
17:44that you've learned from people that aren't like you good question yes yes so i'll say the first
17:55thing of anything is about one building an authentic relationship um i spent time just speaking with
18:03parents who was raising children with down syndrome and i'll say those calls minimum were two hours
18:09and i didn't write no words down i didn't type up anything i just listened and i listened to their
18:16wounds i listened to their pain i listened to their laughter i listened to their joy just to collect all of
18:21those emotions and experiences so when it was time for me to write it i knew where it was coming from
18:26and i knew not to make this film from my voice but from theirs and and that took me a while that took
18:32months of just research and just honestly collecting and building relationships and when it comes to
18:38portraying it authentically on the screen you know we made sure to have our child's parents there as
18:45well so we make sure that every detail every stroke every action item was you know authentic to their
18:53experiences because for me filmmaking is a mirror i want to make sure when you see yourself on screen
18:58that it's a reflection and it's a reflection that you feel like it's true and that comes with first
19:03and foremost building and establishing relationships and making sure those relationships is on set to make
19:08sure that is there and portrayed correctly he sound like a movie director don't he i was like man i see
19:15why at&t done picked you i want to work with you we can let's talk about that you call about two
19:22the revenge of color uh one one last question before you go uh i'm a father of special need kid
19:30but my question is the actor that you that played the father um what background did he have with a
19:38special need he is good brilliant actor i've seen him in the devil you know i think i'm pretty sure
19:43that's the same guy yeah will catlett right right brilliant actor and i just uh his his connection with
19:49the special need uh young man it was it was look authentic to me and i was just wondering uh how did
19:57you with with a million dollar budget and his uh status as an actor how did how did you pick him
20:04to play the father yes so uh i'm gonna answer your questions in multiple layers so i knew he was the
20:11actor since i wrote the script i wrote it in his voice i wrote it in his tone from how his hair looked
20:17to his beard he was a guy like even when i did my look book and i and kaya could tell you he was the
20:23picture of the actor in my look book um and so will was the guy from day one because we watched his
20:30interviews and you could tell that he had a spirit of humanity that he cared about the topics that was
20:36going on in the world and that he had that sensitivity but to will's um process will didn't um have any
20:44relationship with those who are part of the disability community um but will is a father and so will
20:50knows how to parent will knows how to deal with the struggle of their child and so he leaned into that
20:55and not only did he take it from his experience being a father but he spoke to the child's parents
21:02he met with them daily had long conversations with them just so he can embody the truth of that role
21:07so he did the work um whether you know or not he had previous experience working with those
21:12policies
21:20so
21:21you
21:21you
21:31so
21:33you