5 Questions with Ben Coulanges

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

My earliest memory of filmmaking would probably be when I was in middle school. I had a pocket camera I used to bring with me and I would record people at lunch. I would film fights, people dancing, rapping, etc.

2) What was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?

The seed actually came to me from an incident that happened when a close friend of mine was racially profiled by police and had to spend the night in jail for absolutely no reason. When he told me what happened I was very upset, as an artist, I felt the need to respond or avenge him in a sense, so I made this film.

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the most?

When I was searching for someone to play the more aggressive detective, that was probably the biggest challenge. I had gotten a bunch of audition tapes from a lot of actors, but none of them were hitting the tone I was looking for. When I got an audition tape from Noah Forrest, I knew I found the right actor for the role.

The part I love the most would be directing the actors, workshopping the character together, breaking it down, and seeing the results. It's very satisfying to see when an actor understands and knows exactly who the character is that they are playing.
 
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

Recently I watched “Black Orpheus” by Marcel Camus, it was really cool to see an Ancient Greek love story centered around black characters.

5) What’s next for you?

My mom literally asked me this same question after I showed her the film.

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