{"id":70560,"date":"2014-11-23T10:51:57","date_gmt":"2014-11-23T10:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2014\/11\/23\/director-princess-monique-talks-seasons-of-love\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T03:54:14","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T03:54:14","slug":"director-princess-monique-talks-seasons-of-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/director-princess-monique-talks-seasons-of-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Princess Monique On Making Her Directorial Debut With ‘Seasons Of Love’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Princess Monique On Her Directorial Debut ‘Seasons of Love’<\/strong>Posted by Wilson Morales<\/p>\n

November 23, 2014<\/p>\n

\"Seasons<\/a><\/p>\n

Airing tonight on Lifetime TV is\u00a0Seasons Of Love<\/strong>, Starring\u00a0LeToya Luckett, Taraji P. Henson, Cliff \u201cMethod Man\u201d Smith<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Gladys Knight<\/strong>. It premieres Sunday, November 23, at 9pm ET\/PT<\/p>\n

Directed by\u00a0Princess Monique<\/strong>, from a screenplay by\u00a0Sharon Brathwaite-Sanders\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Peres Owino<\/strong>\u00a0and set in the picturesque backdrop of New York, \u201cSeasons of Love\u201d is a romantic, soulful holiday drama about two people who struggle to find love against the odds, while reconciling with the past and learning the true value of family.<\/p>\n

Also featured in the film are\u00a0Cleo Anthony, Shannon Kane, Ana Isabelle, Robert Christopher Riley, Elan Even, Tobias Truvillion, Richard Portnow<\/strong>, and\u00a0Elizabeth Ho<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Kyla (LeToya Luckett, Single Ladies) and Amir\u2019s (Cleo Anthony, Divergent) new romance is thrown for a loop when Amir\u2019s father (Richard Portnow) suddenly passes away and Kyla\u2019s ex, Miles (Rob Riley, Hit the Floor), comes back into the picture. The two struggle to determine what truly matters to them in this story of life, love and family. Taraji P. Henson stars and executive produces, while Gladys Knight and Cliff \u201cMethod Man\u201d Smith also star.<\/p>\n

\"Princess<\/a><\/p>\n

For Princess Monique, it’s been a long journey not only getting this project off the ground, but fulfilling her wish to becoming a director. From her days as a model to\u00a0guest starring as an actress on sitcoms, to producing entertainment events, and then finally taking classes and making a short film that won several awards, this Cleveland, Ohio native has seen all facets of the entertainment world, but the chance to make a feature film was the opportunity she had been waiting for.<\/p>\n

Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Princess Monique on her journey to making her directorial debut with ‘Seasons of Love,’ which airs tonight and was recently the opener for the 17th\u00a0African American Women In Cinema Film Festival in New York.<\/p>\n

How did you go about in getting the directing gig for this?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Seasons<\/a><\/p>\n

Princess Monique:<\/strong> Well, I had the script myself for ten plus years. It was written by Peres Owino and Sharon Brathwaite-Sanders, who are really good friends of mine. They had written some other short films for me. Actually, Sharon’s the original screenplay writer. She pretty much was like, ‘I got something I want you to read. Just think about.’ And I liked it. And I was like ‘It needs a little bit more or something.’ So we brought Peres in and they, together, came up with the script that you see today. And so after they gave it to me I just shopped it around, shopped it around, heard, ‘No, no, no, no, no’ a million times. But I just knew, it was my gut told me, that this was supposed to be my first feature film. It took ten years but the payoff that I’m getting, and obviously with the talent that we have in the movie, as well as that we have African American female writers, director, producer, actress, all on the same film is like…it was supposed to happen this way.<\/p>\n

\"Seasons<\/a><\/p>\n

You’ve worked as a producer on projects. How challenging was this project as your directorial debut? Were you ready to direct? Had you taken classes?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Princess Monique:<\/strong> Oh yes. I’ve been so ready to direct since I was born. I say that because when I was a little girl my mother used to have these talent shows at our apartment complex to keep the kids busy. And I’d direct the talent show. I didn’t think I was directing. I just thought I was bossy and that I thought everything was perfect. Then I grew older and I did modeling and acting. And I knew entertainment was my calling but I just didn’t find my lane yet. I moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles I got a chance to work with Chip Fields-Hurd, Kim Fields’ mom.\u00a0I was in an acting class and started putting a film together for the students and she kept telling me, ‘You know what, I think you’ll be a great actress if you keep training. But I think you’ll be a better director. You just naturally have a knack for it.’<\/p>\n

\"Seasons<\/a><\/p>\n

And I’m like, ‘What? That’s weird.’ So she was like, ‘Okay. She let me shadow her on a lot of shows like ‘The Parkers’ and ‘101’ and ‘Girlfriends’. I did a short film called ‘The Call’. At that time, I also had no training at that time. It was just my experience of the industry and my ability that I read a lot of books. Being on the set with her, \u00a0I learned a lot. ‘The Call’ won a lot of awards with that short. So I said, ‘Okay, if I’m gonna really do this, I gotta, you know, know my craft.’\u00a0So I enrolled in Los Angeles City College and got a film production degree from there and I graduated top of my class. I was really serious about this is what I’m gonna do. I did a lot of short PSAs, music videos, commercials, but that doggone feature was haunting me. I was like, ‘I gotta do a feature. I gotta do a feature.’ And it seems like no one really takes you serious as a director unless you do a feature. I just pursued it and pursued it and pursued it and finally, the right thing came together for it to happen.<\/p>\n