Outfest Fusion 2020 – 2 Black Boys
A poem, a dance and a song. 2 Black Boys muses on growing older, race, gender and queer identity.
Interview with Director/Producer Rachel Myers and Writer/Actor Giovanni Adams
Watch 2 Black Boys here:
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
Giovanni: The is an adaptation of a play I wrote called Love Is A Dirty Word. Rachel was one of the collaborators on the world premiere of the show in LA and approached me about using some of the poetry from the play and putting it on screen. I think the visuals language of the short amplifies ideas in the play. And it was very exciting to work with Rachel in making that happen.
Rachel: I was so moved collaborating with Gio on the original production of Love is a Dirty Word, his one man show. I was enamored by his charisma, talent and poetry and felt that it belonged on screen. Each passage of Gio's writing was so beautiful and as a filmmaker, it was impossible for me not to imagine what these moments might feel like in images.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
Giovanni: In a time when border lines have become the popular solution to some of our most pressing issues, I think the films creates a window of time and space to live in the grey areas where I believe our humanity lies. The place of uncertainty and vulnerability that if we are brave enough to enter leaves us more whole and less afraid.
Rachel: I think it's a moment where we need art more than ever, particularly work that pushes boundaries and exposes new voices and the way's that stories are told. Gio's work as an artist and the film seek to do just that.
How do personal and universal themes work in your film?
Giovanni: The film and the play are rooted in my experience as a black queer man growing up in the American South. Doesn't get more personal than that.
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
Giovanni: It was definitely an act of vulnerability handing the language of my play over to Rachel. The run time of the play was about 70min and I was worried if the short format could convey the types of nuance and context it took 70min to get across. But Rachel was so clear in her vision and respect for the material. I was very happy with how it turned out.
Rachel: The language in Gio's writing and performance managed to dance the line in self-reflection like a song, opening a window into the rich beauty of his experience and removing the filter of “other” often placed on sexuality in black, gay romantic life. Rhythm in the phrases and the music in the original work felt like a beat and the dance sequence was derived out of those patterns, the void for what can’t be spoken.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Giovanni: Everyone says it's gorgeous. That makes me very happy.
Rachel: It's been very well received so far and set to premiere in 10 festivals and counting. I'm touched and grateful that people are responding to it.
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Rachel: It's really just been such a gift and I love the conversation it provokes.
Giovanni: It's boosted my confidence in that value of a good story. No matter what community it comes from. People are craving something real. And working with an artist like Rachel and our talented team certainly helps.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Giovanni: The opportunity to reach more people with ideas the film holds so beautifully. I think the idea no one fits in a box. You can't live a full rich in beautiful life in a box. We are so much more the boxes built for us.
Rachel: My sentiment exactly!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Giovanni: We'd love to get more eyes on this film. Happy to talk to anyone who can make that happen.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
Giovanni: More than anything I want people to see it, to experience together in the theatre.
Rachel: The shared experience of an audience together watching something is magical. We are looking forward to the festivals we have coming next and having more conversations about the work.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
What boxes have people tried to put you in?
Would you like to add anything else?
Rachel: Gio is an unbelievably talented artist and I only hope the film does justice to the complexity and intricacy imbued in his writing and performance. I wanted to show the combination of how we experience life and memory unfolding at once. How there aren’t clear lines when we talk about who we love and identity and that layers of the past, childhood and intimacy are woven together to form the dialogue of who we are.
Giovanni: Thank you!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Rachel: I have a feature in the cooker! Lots of exciting things coming.
Interview: March 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
2 Black Boys
A poem, a dance and a song. 2 Black Boys muses on growing older, race, gender and queer identity.
Length: 6:00
Director: Rachel Myers
Producer: Rachel Myers
Writer: Poetry of Giovanni Adams, Adapted for film by Rachel Myers
About the writer, director and producer:
RACHEL MYERS has been creating work in front and behind the camera for 20 years in the entertainment industry as a director, designer and actor. She has collaborated in the creation of over 150 film, theatre and television productions. From a pool of over 5,000 submissions, her film Wendy’s Shabbat premiered at both the 2018 Tribeca International and Palm Springs International Film Festivals and at over 50 other film festivals worldwide. Wendy’s Shabbat qualified for the 2019 Academy Awards consideration and was broadcast on PBS and on TOPIC. Rachel was awarded the first solo Shondaland Women’s Directing Mentorship to direct for Shonda Rhimes Television and was selected for the Sundance Director’s Co-Lab. Rachel has directed films, Mensajes (Messages) in Spanish about Mexican Artist Leobardo Huerta and 2 Black Boys, based on the poetry of Giovanni Adams on blackness and queer identity premiered at Ooutfest 2020 and Finalist for Best Experimental, INDY Shorts Festival. Rachel has directed for Disney Channel TV episode of Kim Possible. She developed and originated Confidence, a short film and campaign series for women. Rachel co-directed and conceived, Writing with Grace live show, debuting to a 2,500 person live audience for VIDCON at the Anaheim convention center. Her work won Fullscreen and the AT&T Hello Lab a 2016 Streamy Award for Best Brand Campaign. Her award-winning experiential company, 3 Penny Design has conceived and produced live events, brand activations and interiors for Crayola in Times Square, Art Direction for The Emmy’s, The Golden Globe Awards and more. Rachel's work has been featured in The New York Times, The Today show, LA Times, Cheddar and more. Her films have been exhibited at the Boston Museum of Fine Art, the NW Film Center with work shown at The Watermill Center and part of the permanent collection of the Getty. Her other film credits include Desperados (Netflix), Kim Possible (Disney), Short Term 12 (winner of SXSW and Independent Spirit Awards), The Drowning, Search Party, Identity Theft, and Liminal. Myers received her MFA from the Yale School of Drama. Her work can be viewed at racheldirects.onfabrik.com, 3pennydesign.com, rachelmyersdesign.com.
GIOVANNI ADAMS (he/him/his) is a black queer actor, playwright and screenwriter. He made his acting debut in Harold Scott’s King Lear at Yale Repertory Theatre, featuring an all-black cast starring Avery Brooks. He has gone on to appear opposite Nia Vardalos in Tiny Beautiful Things at Pasadena Playhouse. He played Watson in Anna Ziegler’s Photograph 51 and Neil in Donald Marguilies’ The Model Apartment at Geffen Playhouse. He originated the role of Colis in Kemp Power’s Little Black Shadows at South Coast Rep and was in the world premiere of Power’s One Night Miami, now being adapted for the screen by Regina King. His film and television credits include Perry Mason for HBO, Nina, Criminal Minds, Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous, Grey’s Anatomy, Fatal Instinct and Gary Unmarried. Adams wrote his solo play Love Is A Dirty Word in collaboration with director, Becca Wolff. The play premiered at VS Theatre and received an NAACP Theatre Award as well as LA Stage Alliance Ovation and LA Drama Critics Circle awards recognition. Giovanni teaches personal essay writing and storytelling at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. He was born in Jackson, Miss. and received his BA from Yale University.
Key cast: Giovanni Adams, Joshua Abston, Brett Hurley Lord, Valerie Phillips, Ritza Bloom, Tonatiuh Elizarraraz, Jamel Rodriguez
Looking for: journalists, buyers, producers, distributors, sales agents
Instagram: @racheldirects, @giovanniadams, @2blackboysfilm
Hashtags used: #2blackboysfilm
Website: racheldirects.onfabrik.com
Other: IMDb
Made in association with: 3 Penny Design
Funders: Self-funded and friends
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month? Vienna Independent Film Festival, Indy Short Fest- Finalist, Seattle Black Film Festival , Bendigo Queer Film Festival, ROme Prisma Awards, New FIlmmakers NY, Artango International Queer Film Festival, Varese International Film Festival, The lift-Off Sessions