Last night, we had the premiere for Flowers, the documentary series I’ve been working on for a year and a half. The series illustrates the impact Black creators have had on our culture, ensuring that the creators who have changed our culture get credit for their impact. Although the first episode launched at the end of September, we had the premiere this weekend to coincide with the launch of our second episode featuring Nyma Tang and her impact on the beauty industry. It’s a great episode, and this is the episode around which all of our marketing efforts are kicking in. This episode is beautiful. Besides having photography that showcases, Nyma’s beauty, the film showcases how she used her negative experiences with being dark-skinned in America as motivation to create content that would eventually help reshape an industry. I’m also extraordinarily happy that we got to work with a director from my hometown on it.
The screening was held at Neuehouse in Los Angeles. We invited over 100 creators, some press, and the creative teams that worked on the series. The screening, replete with red carpet, was a premiere worthy of its Hollywood setting.
My teammate, Nyree, hosted the event, and after each of the short films, she gave an eloquent tribute to each of the subjects of our films, and then, we gave them awards, transforming them from film subjects into honorees. During production, we’d just thought of the films, themselves, as Flowers, but having seen these physical awards, it led me to wonder whether we might continue Flowers as an award series in addition to being a documentary series.
I was able to bring my mom for the screening, which was the best. I have a job that can be difficult to understand, so it felt rewarding to be able to show her this event as one outcome of the work I do.
After the screening, we had an afterparty, with some great activations set up. The room was beautifully dressed with flowers everywhere. Everyone’s outfits ranged from elegant to casual, a combination that also describes the feeling within the room: easy elegance. I have to give credit to my teammate Serena for this. With just weeks to work within, she was able to put together an event that elevated the experience of watching these films.
When we started this project, we’d hoped that we’d have a screening for the series, but we never imagined that we would have an event like this. I’m truly grateful for this project. It’s been a year and a half of working with a team with the most ambition and the least drama. We trusted and respected each other, which made a cakewalk of navigating all of the difficulties along the way and allowed the work to culminate in this unforgettable experience.
@earnestp This is cool, congrats man!