Directing "Saving All My Love"

Woo…so many emotions from the weekend. Also my back hurts, my feet, my mind. My cast and crew worked their butts off for a two shoot.

“Saving All My Love” is about a young woman who has to move back home with her hoarding mother. I know people have seen a few, or a couple of hoarding films: this one is different. The writer Tyler Young made this script in particular a personal story that affected our whole cast and crew. We all could relate.

The bond between mother and daughter is a special one.

As I mentioned in my director’s statement:

Hoarders. I've lived with two. One was my roommate. The other was my grandmother. My grandma, Billye Ruth, had a sense of pride knowing she had enough because she grew up poor. But my grandma was afraid she would run out, and would no longer be able to provide for us as a family. Grandma Billye couldn't let go of her fear: being alone.

The story behind "Saving All My Love" really affected me and how I thought of mother/daughter relationships and generational stories we've come to grow up with. It's a comedy at the root, yet it touches upon the eternal truths of black women holding it altogether. We joke, we laugh and we caretake our tragedies into loving memories. Although as a black woman, we think our own pain doesn't effect others, and still, it bleeds into our lives. Within my own relationship with my mother, I signed a verbal contract to call every Sunday. When I miss or can't call, I have to reschedule. This has gone on for the last two decades. As I get older, I start to see how much it's helped our relationship but also forced me to have the talks I didn't want to have as an adult. The truth is that generational curses have plagued our families. Black mothers always hide the truth to save us from the pain they think it will cause us.

When I think of my grandmother, I think about Elaine. Both widows. Both mothers. Both hiding secrets covered by hoarding things. Like my grandma, Elaine's fear of being alone is actualized when she pushes Adrienne and Mickey away. But when Elaine holds the crown, she's able to pause and finally realize what's most important. Family. The bond between mother and daughter. All our mother's want: is for you to call them.

Above and below are BTS from the short. I even managed to get some good pics of myself. Hey girl, hey.

Below is a temp poster I put together from post production. I’m getting really excited again for people to see another film from me. This one was special and I solely got to direct this time.