BET HER in partnership with producer Tressa Azarel Smallwood of MegaMind Media announces the green light of four female-centric original short films, directed by prominent African American women primarily known for being in front of the camera. Veteran Hollywood stars Kim Fields (“Living Single”), Victoria Rowell (“The Young and the Restless”), Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Moesha”) and Vanessa Bell Calloway (“Coming to America” ) dive into location shooting in Maryland’s Prince George’s County. These 20-minute dramatic short films focus on topics vital to today’s Black families, ranging from mental health to breast cancer awareness. The films will live under the BET HER “Her Stories” franchise — a platform to empower the next generation of Black women filmmakers. Through a curated selection of original movies and documentaries. “Her Stories” provides women filmmakers a platform to tell authentic stories that celebrate, inspire and support Black women narratives.
Kim Fields steps behind the camera to direct “Baby Blue,” starring Shaquita Smith (“NCIS: New Orleans”) with a cameo appearance by Traci Braxton (Singer – The Braxton Family). “Baby Blue,” written by Nakia Stephens, drops us into the world of a first-time mother who after giving birth to her son, spirals from mild postpartum depression into severe post-partum psychosis. While she gets support with the baby, we see the heart-wrenching consequences of her not getting support for her mental well-being. Premieres Saturday, July 25 at 9pm.
Victoria Rowell is set to direct “Everything is Fine,” starring Charming Lee (“Just Mercy”), Malachi Malik and a cameo appearance by former NFL star Vernon Davis (Tight End, Washington Redskins). Written by Dez White, the film shows us the charmed life of an affluent Black family that seems to have it all but faces a challenge with their estranged son who struggles to hold onto reality with the confidential help of his younger sister. Premieres Saturday, July 25 at 9pm.
“Like, Comment, Subscribe” is directed by Sheryl Lee Ralph, written by Shateka “SJ” Johnson, and will star newcomer Jasmine Luv (“Chicago Med”) and a cameo appearance by Victoria Rowell. It follows a wedding vlogger and bride-to-be herself as she chronicles her journey after being diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. Through her journey, we will see the ups, the downs, and the love shared with her fiancé. Slated to premiere Saturday, October 17 at 9pm.
Vanessa Bell Calloway will direct “A Long Look in the Mirror” starring Golden Brooks (“Girlfriends”). Written by Deshawn Plair & Sade Oyinade, it tells the story of a broken mother-daughter relationship tested to the limits after the youth-obsessed mother receives a cancer diagnosis and struggles to cope with the disease. Slated to premiere Saturday, October 17 at 9pm.
Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Tressa Azarel Smallwood.
What was the impetus for taking on this MEGA project—how did it all come together?
Tressa Azarel Smallwood: It all started with Lorisa Bates, the Vice President, Content Strategy, Co-Productions and Multiplatform at BET. She brought me on to produce four shorts for BET for mental health minority month and breast cancer month. I had no idea that it would be to this magnitude and that this project would change lives. I am forever grateful. This project started in Febuary and we were supposed to shoot it in April and then we got hit with the pandemic, which changed everything. We weren’t even sure that we would make this happen because we didn’t know if the directors could fly, or whether we would have cast members, or whether we would get approval from SAG. It was really a tough process. There was a lot of praying, but we made it through. I tell people right now that this was a Jesus project because there was no other way honestly to make this happen.
Shooting successfully during these unprecedented times feels divine. How did fear of the unknown play a part?
Tressa Azarel Smallwood: Yes, it was all divine, sis. I’m so glad you said that because a lot of people look at me and say, “oh you’re so fearless.” No, that was Jesus. There was a touch of fear but I just kept telling myself that we have to do this and we have to push through. As long as you can keep people safe, you still make it happen. The key was keeping everyone safe.
Speaking of safety, what was the daily routine on set?
Tressa Azarel Smallwood: Number one, it was very different than what we’re accustomed to; I’ve shot four features before and so obviously shooting projects like these should’ve been a walk in the park. To maintain safety, people had to present their COVID tests when they got on set, we checked temperatures three times a day, constantly reminded people to wash their hands throughout the day and started out each day with prayer. As you can imagine, that was different for folks, they’re not accustomed to that. But I am so proud of all of our cast and crew because they just went through it with flying colors. We didn’t get any push back; everybody wanted to work and push through. It was phenomenal. And we were the first in our area (DMV) to legally shoot during COVID.
Why did you decide to shoot in Maryland’s Prince George’s County?
Tressa Azarel Smallwood: Well, MegaMind Media is located in the DMV area but ultimately we needed to shoot in an area that didn’t have COVID spikes. Typically, people will shoot in California or Atlanta but because of everything that was going on, we needed to be in Maryland. We shot all four films in eight days. Again, a Jesus move. There was a lot of shuffling cast members and directors in and out.
Each short film is directed by a prominent African American woman—what was it like woking with Kim Fields, Victoria Rowell, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Vanessa Bell Calloway behind the camera?
Tressa Azarel Smallwood: There’s a running joke right now at MegaMind—because we are a predominatly female company— that we had a week with our three aunts and our cousins because it was like a family reunion. They were the best. And the reality is, as a producer, my job is to keep everybody on track, make sure things run smoothly, and I do have the responsibility sometimes of having to tell people no and they’re not always happy with me. But they worked with me on every single thing. It was an amazing experience. Not only did we have the four African American female writers of the scripts, we had the four black female directors, we had a female DP, and our whole glam squad was female. It was girl squad all the way on this project.
All four films address key topics relevant to today’s Black families, topics ranging from mental health to breast cancer awareness, how important was it to highlight those vital topics?
Tressa Azarel Smallwood: Very important. Here’s the thing, in the African American community, we are normally hush hush about everything; we don’t talk about these issues. For some of us it’s embarrassment because we’ve been taught that we shouldn’t share those things; and so it was really important for us to teach our community that it’s okay to speak up and talk about it. And that’s what these films are going to show people.
You also have an original film that you produced and wrote, “All In,” world premiering on BET primetime. When is the date, so we can all watch it?
Tressa Azarel Smallwood: Yes, the films airs on on Saturday, July 18th and it actually won the American Black Film Festival award last year for best featured film. And the following week “Everything is Fine” and “Baby Blue” will air on BET at 9pm ET/PT, as well. I’m so excited about July.
ABOUT TRESSA AZAREL SMALLWOOD AND MEGAMIND MEDIA
MegaMind Media is an American film and production company specializing in book to film adaptations and original television series and programming. The company was founded by Award Winning Book Publisher, Tressa Azarel Smallwood. Tressa Azarel Smallwood is an award-winning Book Publisher and Movie Producer. She is CEO of Life Changing Books (LCB), and co-founder of MegaMind Media LLC. In 2003 after writing her first novel, Tressa resigned from her teaching tenure in the Maryland school system to fulfill her dream of becoming an entrepreneur. Since then, LCB has published over 162 titles in print and digitally, becoming one of the leading independent publishing companies thriving in the literary industry today. Since launching MegaMind Media, Tressa has produced several award-winning movies which have been adapted to film and TV series for networks such as Viacom/BET Networks, TV ONE, URBAN MOVIE CHANNEL and more. With such a large volume of content, Tressa has positioned MegaMind Media to become the fastest growing film production company from book to film adaptations in America.
Loading…