Fam, I call myself a recovering journalist for a reason.
Before walking away from four job offers as I graduated from journalism school, I used to day dream about rewriting my interview subjects’ quotes or changing the narrative of the story to make them more exciting.
Hello! I never did it. I wasn’t trying to Stephan Glass or Jayson Blair my life, OK? But I knew I had to do something before I did, so I went to film school.
And I was so excited! Finally, I could abandon the confinements of who, what, where, why and how and I could make up any and ever story I wanted. Except I had a problem. My brain was so hard-wired as a journalist, it handcuffed my muse and I struggled to let go of the facts and play with fiction.
Eventually – after years of fighting it – I realized that a part of me will always be drawn to the facts of my stories first before I allow my make believe mind roam free.
#6. RECLAIMED A SUPER POWER : This year, I got an unexpected chance to exercise what I now know is one of my superpowers when my friend and colleague for more than 20 years, Nichelle Protho, asked me to co-wrote and join her producers team for her documentary, “Two Classes of 1968.”
A coming of age documentary under the shining lights of the Civil Rights Movement, “Two Classes of 1968,” is the story of about a group of idyllic African American students whose lives are interrupted when their beloved Catholic high school was suddenly closed.
Combing through 50 hours of footage, our little team that could built a film across three timezones and two continents.
It was challenging, fulfilling and sharpened a skill I had honestly taken for granted. Watch this video from the doc’s Augusta, GA premiere, to learn more about what I mean:
Can’t wait for the new documentary projects that will born from this experience! Darryl Warton-Rigby (producer), Robert Lester Lowery (DP, Editor, Producer) and Hill Harper (Narrator), it was wonderful working with you.
And thank you, Nichelle, for blessing me this year!
Happy Saturday.
monice mitchell simms 