San Diego Black Film Festival / Pan African Film Festival 2020 – Brick by Brick
A young brick mason comes to the big city to rebuild his relationship with the father he thought he knew.
Interview with Writer/Director/Producer/Actor Tina Chapman DaCosta
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
My father died of a rare strand of Leukemia in 2006. When I got the call from my sister about his diagnosis, I was in my office preparing to teach a night class in computer networks. I couldn’t drop everything and drive to Cleveland so I decided to write some of his childhood stories he told me when I was growing up. I thought his stories might cheer him up until I got there. I quickly wrote a 20-page collection of his stories and farm jokes and faxed it to his hospital (there weren’t much email communications happening at that time). My father passed 6-weeks later. I’ve been writing about his life ever since. His story is fascinating to me; a person who overcame many challenges during the Great Depression and worked in the segregated North. After overcoming unfair entry barriers into the bricklayers’ union, he became the first licensed and bonded African American contractor in Cleveland (circa 1950). He established his own construction business and built affordable homes for people who otherwise could not purchase them. Elza “Buddy” Cannaday was a great humanitarian, motivated to “put the whole neighborhood to work.” He understood the importance of putting family first and young men having positive role models. Dad was a good role model for me too.
After many years as an assistant professor of Computer Networking, I made a career change and attended film school to bring my father’s stories to life. When I graduated in 2015, I wrote a feature script for my MFA thesis, Brick by Brick (aka Brick Walls). In 2016, I created a new program for my university, Diversity Theater. We began with a reader’s theatre presentation of my script. Following a successful 90-minute staged reading, I partnered with my university to produce a short film from my feature script. I wanted to give students real-world production experience and broaden their awareness of diversity and inclusion in film storytelling. I developed and taught a preproduction course. I also developed an interactive audience workshop to enable audiences to get to know each other better after experiencing the film. In sharing his story, I honor my father and hope to inspire others to build more inclusive communities and overcome life’s challenges.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
The film is a well-made period piece that gives a 1941 look and feels with authentic classic cars, music, wardrobe and settings. It is a heartfelt and universal story of a young 19-year old man who journeys to a big city attempting to rebuild the relationship with the father he thought he knew. Navigating a big city can be risky for any newcomer, but especially in 1941 for an African American "country boy." The dialogue is thoughtful; void of clichés to drive the story, it portrays the heart behind the facts of these true events. It's a beautiful film, the cinematography, lighting, and score create a harmonious and dramatically satisfying experience for the viewer. It's an inspiring film for all ages.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
As writer and director, I tell the compelling story of my father, Elza “Buddy” Cannaday, who became the first licensed and bonded African American contractor in Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1950’s. Buddy dreamt of being a brick mason like his grandfather and uncles in Springfield, Ohio in the 1930’s. He even considered being a baseball player like his father Elzie who played centerfield for semi-pro team Eddie’s Tailors. Tragically, in one night he loses his family in a race riot and quickly relocates to a farm outside of town. After growing up on the farm, he discovers his father is alive, and leaves the farm to find him in Cleveland, Ohio. The short film introduces us to Buddy as he arrives in Cleveland. Buddy must navigate the trappings of a big city and transcend rejection and painful family secrets in his attempt to rebuild his relationship with his father.
The film takes you, the viewer, back to 1941 experiencing an after-hours smoky abode, jazz music of the time, and a cameo appearance by legendary jazz pianist Johnny O’Neal. O’Neal resurrects his role as Art Tatum from the film Ray. The film presents a snapshot view of Buddy’s life and inspires audiences to review snapshots of their lives as we work to build more inclusive communities today.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
My initial screenplay about my father’s life began in a college feature scriptwriting class. The class introduced me to proper scriptwriting format, story structure and dramatic film composition in short and long forms. I learned scriptwriting techniques from Blake Snyder’s Save The Cat, Robert McKee’s Story, Syd Field’s The Screenwriter’s Workbook, and Dan Gurskis’ The Short Screenplay, to name a few. I analyzed films and scripts, and identified plot points, beats, story arch, reversals, and character development. I subsequently enrolled full-time in film school and began writing the feature Brick by Brick for my MFA thesis. I interviewed family members for oral histories and researched public documents. To learn film production, I made several short films and crewed as a producer, assistant director, assistant camera operator, grip, gaffer, sound engineer and set designer. I met regularly with my thesis advisor and committee to review my writing drafts. After seven drafts and two table reads with actors, I had a good 110-page feature script. However, the funding provided by RIT was for shooting a short. It was like sacrificing your favorite pet trying to select which scenes to omit, but my preproduction team and I selected about 15-pages to shoot for the short film. We shot the film in 6.5 days on location in Rochester, NY.
The crew was predominately undergraduate students and a few recent film school graduates from RIT, such as the cinematographer, Manojh Reddy. Manojh’s work was amazingly beautiful and poignant. The editor Fraaz Kahn, another recent RIT film school graduate, was on set and rounded out our highly effective postproduction team. Producer Micky Levy, brought her extensive filmmaking experiences from Los Angeles and helped maintain high-quality production goals. In postproduction, Micky, Fraaz and I met regularly to review cuts and pre-screening feedback. I held several pre-screenings with audience feedback. These screenings helped identify improvement areas. We reworked the sound design to improve the viewer’s experience, such as hearing footsteps, clothing wrestling, and authentic chatter in the after-hours place of Julia’s home (which most assumed was a bar). The score was developed by composer Sean Jefferson, who captured the period and emotions in harmony with the visuals, and MonkeyLand Audio completed the final surround sound mix and re-engineering that brought it all beautifully together in the final 16:53-minute film.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
“I valued your movie SO much. Besides it being entertaining, interesting, funny, and amazingly well done, it provided a forum to TALK ABOUT RACE. The issues that the characters faced in the movie are relevant today... Cheers to you for creating a really fun, entertaining way for us to open up conversations about important issues!”
“I know a lot of excruciatingly hard work went into accomplishing its polished look, but it was worth every minute. And I loved the exercises afterwards to get the members of the audience talking.”
“I hope that if this is just a sliver of the story that one day you might have the opportunity to produce the whole thing. These stories have great power to make us reflect on the past and consider the present.”
“I really enjoyed your film, Brick by Brick. The film touched me and brought tears to my eyes. You are a Magnolia Tree in the springtime and your petals do touch the grass all around you. Everyone… should see your film.”
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
It has affirmed these types of stories need to be told. Filmmaking is a way to share our stories, to inform our thinking, and voices with different points of view have been lacking. Filmmaking is a team process and everyone is needed to make good films.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I'm looking for help to produce the feature story and/or short film series of the Brick by Brick Stories. To encourage people to love one another and overcome challenges as Buddy has. His life story is so encouraging and needs to be told.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
• Producers with funding to produce the feature script or series;
• Distributors to help share the short film with larger audiences along with the audience workshop;
• Journalists to showcase the great film work being taught and produced at Rochester Institute of Technology and Diversity Theater;
• Film Festival Directors to select the film or the “Brick by Brick Workshop” for their festivals and programs.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
To encourage people to love one another, overcome challenges, and become more active in creating inclusive communities.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
When Buddy arrives in Cleveland, he goes to Julia's, an "after-hours place." What is it, why did they exist, who were the clientele and how were your expectations challenged?
Would you like to add anything else?
Brick by Brick was made in partnership with Diversity Theater in the Division for Diversity and Inclusion at RIT with the support of the School of Film and Animation in the College of Art and Design at RIT.
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
A feature version of Brick by Brick (preproduction).
A feature film set in Kenya, Africa, Songs of Maasai Mara (preproduction).
Interview: May 2020
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Brick by Brick
A young brick mason comes to the big city to rebuild his relationship with the father he thought he knew.
Length: 16:53
Director: Tina Chapman DaCosta
Producer: Tina Chapman DaCosta (Producer), Micky Levy (Producer), Marina Viscun (Asst. Prod)
Writer: Tina Chapman DaCosta
About the writer, director and producer:
TINA CHAPMAN DACOSTA's specialty is writing, directing and producing interactive educational programs using film and theatre to advance equity, inclusion and sustainable culture change. Tina is the Director of Diversity Theater at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), a college-wide program for RIT’s 23,000 faculty, staff and students from across 100 nations. She also teaches acting, film production, and theatre. She wrote Brick by Brick about her father, Elza "Buddy" Cannaday.
An award-winning screenwriter, accomplished director and producer, MICKY LEVY is a perpetual student of the human condition. She is able to navigate gender, race, sex, and ethnicity via pen and via lens to allow audiences into the hidden, foreign, and often marginalized places of society, and is able to do so in an entertaining way.
Key cast: Ramon Vasquez (Buddy), David Shakes (Elize), Johnny O'Neal (Art Tatum), Tina Chapman DaCosta (Toni)
Looking for: distributors, producers, film festival directors, journalists
Facebook: Brick by Brick
Instagram: @chapmandacosta
Hashtags used: #brickbybrickthefilm, #brickbybrick
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: Diversity Theater at Rochester Institute of Technology
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Jocunda Film Festival/New York City - Aug/TBD; National Black Film Festival/Online - TBD