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That’s right, I’m making a movie! And tomorrow, I will be launching a crowdfunding campaign toward that end! But before I get into the ask, let me tell you about this film. The Story: CLING is a short film about a young woman named Jade who finds herself heartbroken, directionless, and on a spontaneous journey on foot, passing the varying facades of LA after listening to a disturbing message on her boyfriend’s phone. Anger turns to frustration as beautiful neighborhoods trigger painful memories of their past. Frustration gives way to confusion and dismay as the grittiness of LA’s streets intensifies Jade’s growing realization of her role in this dysfunctional relationship. At the crucial moment, which direction will Jade decide to take: the route that takes her farther away, or one that sends her back? The Why: CLING is a visual appeal to anyone who has ever felt trapped in a relationship to always take one step and then another toward their peace, to never forget who they are, and to take responsibility for their happiness no matter what. It is meant to be a metaphor of the intense inner struggle that one wages as they contend with one new reality after another. And, it is an ode to the power of a mother’s love, which knows no depths and defies all distances.  CLING Concept Art by Giuseppe Russo Me & Cling:
I will be starring as the lead character, Jade. Though fictional, CLING is inspired by real-life events and merges my personal experience of detangling from toxic relationships and the sometimes harsh reality of life far from home. I also drew inspiration from “lady in green”, a character from Ntozoke Shange’s Choreopoem, For Colored Girls who have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow is Enuf. CLING practically wrote itself, and has served as a catharsis and an acknowledgement of a reclaimed self. Seeing this film come to fruition will be a dream fulfilled!! The Team: Writer, Producer, Actor - Enisha Brewster: www.EnishaBrewster.com Director, Producer - Mel Mah: https://www.melmah.com/about Concept Artist, Producer - Giuseppe Russo: www.artofgiuseppe.myportfolio.com The Ask: Our goal is to raise $5,000 to produce this short. The funds will be used to pay the director, cinematographer and other crew, rent equipment, pay for the storyboard artist, post-production editing and score, as well as festival submissions after completion. Additional funds raised will assist in paying the supporting cast, for location and props, and other post-production costs such as colorist and poster designer fees. Production will begin at the end of June 2021. In order to begin, we will need a minimum of $2,500. Full funding of 5,000 or greater will ensure that the short is completed beautifully and in a timely fashion. The maximum total needed is $8,000. The Campaign will go live on May 14, 2021!! Thank You’s A donation in ANY amount is received with the utmost appreciation!
So, what do you think? Do you want to get involved and help bring CLING to fruition? Stay tuned. Tomorrow, I’ll be posting a video here and a link to the campaign! If you got all the way to the end of this message, I can’t thank you enough! It is because of people like you who share their support that help make dreams come true, and keep artist like me uplifted! THANK YOU!! Warmly, Enisha Brewster
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 Seven whole years. It's been 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, SEVEN years since I moved to Los Angeles this week. It's difficult to quantify that much time having already passed... partly because time feels more like a construct in a climate like this one--it goes from a dry summer to a brisk fall. No winter. No rainy season. But also because, like this year, time flies by so quickly. Were we not just in March? My head is spinning thinking about it. And when you have back-to-back years like 2018 it just... goes.
So, I forced myself to examine each year that I've been in LaLaLand and QUALIFY each with a Big Win and a Big Lesson. So here goes: Year 1 (Fall 2011 to Fall 2012) Big Win: Booking Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn This would come about 6 months after I arrived. It was my first leading role in what would be shot like a film. I learned a ton! Big Lesson: The Follow-up Opportunity Yeah. I hadn't yet found consistency in my work. So I was not able to capitalize on the momentum of Halo or Footloose in the way I wanted to and missed some big follow-up opportunities as a result. Year 2 (Fall 2012 to Fall 2013) Big Win: Adding Humvee Driver to my Special Skills I booked a recurring role on the show Perception and was tasked with driving this military "armored" truck in a desert scene. Cast and camera crew in tow. Loved it! Big Lesson: The Consequences of the Wrong Crowd Mmmhmm. I had to relearn this elementary school lesson. I was freshly out of what would be the last booking in a few years. It was the consequence of being highly distracted. My focus was completely off of my career and being drained in a toxic relationship. Year 3 (Fall 2013 to Fall 2014) Big Win: New Acting Technique I discovered a technique that would gift me with the consistency that I had been so sorely missing. It also gave me something productive and career-driven to focus on. Acting class was my saving grace! Big Lesson: No One is Coming to Save You I learned that there are people who will laugh at your pain and watch you sink. True friends are rare. But ultimately, you are responsible for you. Year 4 (Fall 2014 to Fall 2015) Big Win: Learned the art of the Win I had to defend myself in a small legal injustice with a landlord who unfairly refused to reimburse my rental deposit. After several attempts to solve the issue myself, I decided to take him to court. I won. At a time when I felt attacked by so many forces, I determined to fight and win. Big Lesson: The Power of "No" It was after that win that I reintroduced the word "no" and the phrase 'not good enough" into my life. It didn't feel good in the moments, but in the depths of my being I understood it to be right. Year 5 (Fall 2015 to Fall 2016) Big Win: LOVE I met my husband-to-be! And despite a few battle scars and a few thick layers of protection, I was able to open and let love flow. Big Lesson: Seize the Yes! Career wise, I learned to be unafraid to cut my losses with dead-end relationships and seize new opportunities when they presented themselves. Year 6 (Fall 2016 to Fall 2017) Big Win: New Community, who dis? I landed a spot in the ABC Discovers Showcase and found a new tribe of talented, silly, actors and a relationship with a studio. I also dove into a fresh spiritual practice that also came with a community of positive, uplifting people. Big Lesson: New Levels Bring New Obstacles I worked harder in this one year than any other year in Los Angeles. I was constantly faced with my own self-fulfilling limitations and was forced to move through them. Year 7 (Fall 2017 to PRESENT) Big Win: Purpose This last year has allowed me to envision and outline a path to my purpose. My goals are clearer, bigger, and feel attainable. This year I have experienced genuine happiness far more than in years past. Big Lesson: It All Counts All the skills, lessons, and obstacles make sense now. I learned that everything I have ever succeeded or failed at are part of the story. Nothing is for nothing. It all counts. •They say we are completely different people every seven years. I'd say that's true.•  Solange Knowles
My life is like my hair story.
When I was 5 or so, my mom put a relaxer in my hair because this 4C thickness with length was too much for her to handle. I didn't have a say. And my heavy-handed aunties who usually managed to wrangle my head full with beads, bristle brushes, bobbles, and pink rollers, were equally pleased. Meanwhile, I was starting school on Long Island, and my guardianship was being figured out too. I didn't have a say in staying with Mom, or Dad, or Nanny. The decision had been made for me. It was going to be Grandma's for a while. By the time middle school rolled around, I'd been given some autonomy and started trying new styles and new boyfriends. The lifespan of each was never more than a week. Before graduating high school, Houston's heat and the heat of the curling iron had burned me out. My hair and my teenage heart had endured various exaggerated states of well-being. Atlanta changed everything! I was incubating in the Atlanta University Center, absorbing and unlearning all the most poignant influences to my cultural identity. The AUC was like a pilgrimage and emersion into black mecca. Here's an excerpt from a poem I wrote during that time: I float on cocoa satin as the communion fills my temple with the recognition of my own queendom. I walk among goddesses whose heads are adorned with the music of coily roots - Dancing out and upwards in time with the rhythm of the heart's djembe I eventually "big chopped" all of relaxed hair, rocked a coif of curly, coily deliciousness, and then gave it permission to grow into the most glorious long afro it could. Ahh. The Atlanta effect. Neither I nor my hair had ever been more healthy, more full of life, more expressive or more confident. I moved to Los Angeles still with the possibility of a fro, but a fro rarely seen. I had learned by then that I was ahead of the times -- TV and film-wise; and this natural hair had become a stumbling block more than a stepping stool. At the time, LA passively-aggressively required the illusion of perfection--which was most certainly not defined by the righteous indignation these frizzy ends represented. So I would allow my hair to find heat again. High heat. But I refused to relax it. Just add water and I am reminded of my old knowing, my own queendom... Though it does bear the evidence of a little damage, the price of compromise, I suppose. LA has certainly caught up a bit. You can't see a commercial with a black woman without her hair being in her full natural glory. And the most successful among us--our A-Listers--have managed to link with hairdressers who seem to know exactly how to care for, and style the hair that naturally occurs from our heads. Revolutionary. But I have found little middle ground. These days, I experience a range of emotions in waiting rooms with other black women the moment I realize that I am the only one without curly, coily, or big, natural hair. It's almost become my advantage. I have accepted the chameleon nature of my hair, and the transformative power of my self. But more importantly, I am the sum total of all of my parts: laid, twisted, big, full, added to, or cut off. Closing remarks to follow by Deacon Solange of the Knowles House of Realness: |
enisha b janeIn my own words. Archives
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