Filmmaker Statement

Writer/director/actor Danny Rogers created The Fairchild for his graduate thesis project at USC. Danny set out to make a genre-blending short film that explores themes of race and class while making audiences laugh, wince and think all at once. His brief time working at an esteemed museum in New York City and lifetime of feeling like a token in White institutions inspired the project. Danny’s undergraduate education in US history also helped shape his biracial identity and informed his interests in telling nuanced stories about the Black experience in America. The Fairchild is about being a Black person with natural hair while working in a White space. It’s about the price we pay for buying into prestigious but problematic institutions. It’s about the various forms in which racism presents itself, whether veiled with a smile or exposed through violence. This short film turns the lens on the White gaze through a Black character’s POV.