Filmmaker Statement

ARTISTIC is a film that is extremely close to me, though much of my writing comes from lived experiences. I took a job as a substitute teacher in special needs classrooms. One day, a black student with Down Syndrome asked me if I could write a movie with a kid who looked like him, that he had never seen it. I had a cousin, Billie, who had Down Syndrome. He always wanted to be on TV but he passed at a young age. So I figured I would write something to honor them both. At the same time I was struggling with some family issues — A family friend who was more like an aunt to me had relapsed. I normally only wrote comedy, but I didn’t feel like being funny at this point in my life. I knew I wanted to write something about addiction but I never wanted to show a person using it. I wanted to show how the disease can affect those around them but never blame the person for their struggle with addiction either. I wanted it to be a short that shatters respectability politics and stereotypes.