OUT OF TUNE

W H A T I S T H I S F I L M A B O U T ?

After a childhood incident, a proud Black woman hides her love for the classic rock band Journey.

Synopsis

Stigmatized since childhood by her love of the rock band Journey, Maya finds her voice in a world where she doesn't always feel "Black enough."

Out of Tune is a charming and uplifting comedy short centering on a proud Black woman who gets a second chance at performing in front of people and defining her identity in her terms.

From adolescence to adulthood, Maya navigates the boundaries of racial identity and her love for the band Journey. Slowly freeing herself from having “something to hide” to understanding that she has “nothing to prove.”

W H A T I S Y O U R M O N E Y P A Y I N G F O R ?

Our dreams don’t become a reality without your help. The money we raise will ultimately lift this screenplay out of our laptop and onto the big screen. 100% of the funds from your donations will go to this short film. Funding will allow us to treat our cast and crew with the professional respect they deserve. It will help us purchase the potentially pricey music rights (we’re still in negotiations, updates on that soon!) It will also allow us to follow strict SAG-AFTRA mandated Covid requirements. As well as help us pay for the many (many!) fees that accumulate during pre-production, production and post-production.

We know that to ask for anything during this time is bold, but please know you will be financing a film that means something.

#1- This is exactly the type of film audiences are yearning for right now. It centers Black characters that are real, heartfelt and funny, and aren’t being brutalized.

#2- This short film will be used as a “Proof of Concept” for a future series. After Erika’s Page Award win in October, we’ve been approached several times with interest in this becoming a series. She’s got a series Bible at the ready.

#3- The real beauty of contributing to independent film is knowing the real investment is in the artists involved. Your donation will be directly amplifying Black filmmakers and female filmmakers voices.

#4- You will get to share in the success of this film while helping to inspire future indie filmmakers (young and old) to create the thoughtful and unique stories that live inside of them.

WHY THIS, WHY ME, WHY NOW?

Erika Hamilton's Writer's Statement

There are many ways to be Black. People say it all the time, right? We are not a monolith. But, well, there are plenty of examples across Black Twitter of folks getting their “Black Card” revoked. Sure it's complicated. I too, have subscribed to the “all skinfolk ain’t kinfolk” saying. I know the history and why we are more culturally inclined to behave this way. Still, being considered a "sellout" or told that I “act white” has always been a source of fear and shame for me.

Growing up, I spent my Sundays in a Black Baptist Church, surrounded by intelligent, dignified, resilient Black people. My adolescence was filled with celebrations of Black History and Black Culture. I love being Black. But, I have long hidden an uncomfortable secret... I love rock - the white boys, wearing spandex and mullet hair, kind. Classic Rock. Arena Rock. Hair Metal. Yacht Rock. Stadium Rock. Dad Rock... all of it. Yeah, I know it’s derived from Black Soul. And yes, plenty of other Black folks like it. But for me, it just tipped the scale. I wasn't about to jam out (air guitar style) to November Rain with the Black kids at church. Hell no. Not when they were already teasing me for how I talked and danced and smiled (yep, "you smile like a white girl" was sorta my thing). Some things were out of my control. Sharing what I listened to was not.

Clearly, this film is personal to me. I, like many others, have grown tired of watching Black bodies being mentally and physically abused. Tired of seeing us beat down and lashed open. I wrote this out of my desire to see a corny Black girl bursting out in a cheesy, anthem rock song. Our film is specific and unique, but it also has the opportunity to connect across different ethnicities, generations and sexualities. Anyone that has ever felt the sting of being rejected by the culture they identify with most can be Out of Tune.

Portlynn Tagavi's Director's Statement

Being half Iranian and half black, I didn’t fit in within the black community. I was raised by the black side of my family, but it was difficult to blend in. Since I looked more Iranian, I found myself overcompensating a lot in order to feel like I belonged. I started listening to more hip hop and rap. I would code switch and try to be on trend with whatever was popular. I was trying to be something I’m not in order to feel like I belonged because I was made to think that being black was something I had to prove as opposed to something I just was no matter what kind of music, movie or clothes I liked. This film encapsulates that feeling perfectly. This film is about the insecurity of not feeling accepted in your own community and the weight of having to perform in order to fit in.

Maya’s journey throughout this film is that of self acceptance. She learns from an early age that liking bands like Journey will make her stand out for not being black enough. She learns to suppress those interests and hide that part of herself in order to feel like she belongs. She’s proud of who she is and where she comes from but she must also learn that liking Journey doesn’t make her any less of a proud black woman.

I hope to showcase the reality of the pressures certain communities place on their members to act in line with community expectations in order to feel belonging within that community. I find that I’m always proving to people that I’m both black and also proud of my heritage even though I like things that might be labeled as “white”. It’s my goal to showcase that in the end everyone is different no matter what racial background you have and that the insecurities Maya was feeling are not unique to her but shared by a lot of people.

W H O A R E T H E F I L M M A K E R S ?

PORTLYNN TAGAVI recently received her MFA in Directing at AFI. Before attending AFI she spent three years working professionally as a Story Artist for Fox, Paramount, the Jim Henson Company and DreamWorks. Her short film THEY WON’T LAST won a student Emmy and has been recognized by festivals such as LA Comedy Film Festival - (Best Director Winner), First Glance Film Festival - (Audience Award For Best Comedy Winner), Prague International Indie Film Festival - (Best Student Female Director Winner), Pensacola Indie Fringe and Comedy Festival - (Best Director Winner & Best Relationship Comedy Winner), and College Television Awards - (Best Comedy Short). She is currently working as a story artist on her second film with Netflix.

ERIKA HAMILTON is an award-winning screenwriter & actress. Ohio-born and Meisner-trained, Erika received her SAG card from being prominently featured in the first generation of iPod ads. Her solo silhouette dancing opposite of Bob Dylan was noted in Steve Jobs’s biography as the most important commercial of that era for Apple. Erika has acted for and worked with some of the most renowned directors including Tony Kaye, Martha Coolidge, Mark Romanek, and Anne Fletcher, to name a few. Recently, Erika has opened the door to the next chapter— writing and producing films that better represent her unique worldview. JOURNEY the first script she’s penned recently won GOLD at the 2020 PAGE INTERNATIONAL SCREENWRITING AWARDS. Erika lives in Santa Monica Canyon with husband, director Christian Loubek and their kids Charley and Baer.

ALEXIS BOOZER STERLING is a storyteller dedicated to bringing underrepresented voices to the forefront to expose, educate and empathize. A long-time collaborator with Kalilah Robinson, she attended Stanford University (BA, Drama '04; Evelyn M. Draper Prize for Performance), where both her production work and research included interdepartmental studies (Political Science) to explore theatre as a tool for social change and international development. Her work as a performer and production manager spans almost 20 years of theatre, film and digital productions. As a creative producer with [Door Flies Open], Alexis develops, directs and produces diversity-promoting content with unique and important viewpoints. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Director’s Guild of America. Alexis lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Maury Sterling, and their son, Ford Bryant.

KALILAH ROBINSON is an award-winning cinematographer and filmmaker. Born and raised in Bermuda, Kalilah attended Stanford University and is a graduate of AFI’s Cinematography Master’s Program. Experienced in a multitude of positions in the industry, cinematography has always been Kalilah’s abiding passion. It is cinematography that has taken her from the Bay area, to London, Lagos, Paris, Bermuda and back again. Currently, Kalilah is based out of Los Angeles, CA where she continues to freelance as a Cinematographer and Producer. In 2017 she was a Film Independent Project Involve Cinematography Fellow. Most recently, Kalilah shot the feature American Murderer starring Ryan Phillippe and Idina Menzel.

MEL JONES is a multi-talented producer, director, and writer. The Howard University alum holds a Bachelor of Science in Radio, Television and Film, and her Master of Fine Arts in Producing at the American Film Institute. Mel worked for Stephanie Allain’s Homegrown Pictures for 8 years, rising through the ranks serving as President of Production for 5 years. Jones’ credits include Justin Simien’s Dear White People and Gerard McMurray’s Burning Sands and recently Really Love starring Kofi Siriboe which premiered at SXSW. Jones made her directorial debut at Sundance with Leimert Park, a MACRO/Homegrown digital. She currently serves as SVP of Production and Development at Confluential Films.

W H O  I S T H E A U D I E N C E ?

The most essential part of a film is knowing who your audience is going to be. For our film the target cinephiles include (but are not limited to) the highly persecuted sub cultures of: 

Black Nerds

Black Middle Class

Black people that love heavy metal or classic rock or got made fun of for playing golf or being a science olympiad... Basically any Black person that grew up being referred to as a sellout or white, or an "oreo".

South Asians that were called “Coconuts”

Chinese “Bananas”

Native American “Apples”

Latinos that don’t speak their parents tongue.

For that matter, ALL 1st generation immigrants

LGBTQ that don't connect to their assigned stereotypes

and ALLLLLLL the Mixed kids far and wide

We also hope to foster a feeling of communal responsibility for the creation, support and dissemination of our film, so YOU being apart of this crowdfunding campaign are now key members of our audience as well. And who doesn't love a good music-driven flick? Classic rock fans out there, you're in for a treat!