Coming off celebrating her Oscar-nominated film Beyond the Lights, Gina Prince-Bythewood is embarking on a new project that could bring the Black Lives Matter movement to mainstream media.
In Beyond the Lights, Bythewood presented an enjoyable love story that celebrated natural Black beauty. And of course her 2000 film Love & Basketball remains a romantic favorite in the Black community more than a decade after its release.
Now she’s hoping to introduce a project that will capture the emotional power and youth-driven momentum behind the #BlackLivesMatter movement, Black Enterprise reported.
It isn’t clear if she will find a way to weave a love story into the pilot, which is intended for Fox and Imagine, but her years of experience portraying complex relationships and capturing the sense of imperfect yet loving humanity in everyone suggests the pilot is in good hands.
Not many details have emerged regarding the project. Bythewood said she is just hoping to create something that will change the perception of the Black community.
“That’s my hope for my films,” she told Black Enterprise. “That people can go see it and see something to aspire to but also change the perception and see our humanity.”
She said that in addition to entertaining her audiences, the message behind her films are one of the most important aspects she focuses on.
It’s something that has been evident throughout her career, even in television where she served as a writer for shows like A Different World, Felicity, and South Central.
It’s the type of work that Bythewood hopes causes people to see her as an activist in addition to being a filmmaker and an artist.
“I hope that I can be an activist through my work,” she told BE. “But I would never make a film that doesn’t have something to say. I think we have an opportunity to have a platform and have a voice. We’ve got to use it in a positive way. I hope that all my films speak to somebody in a positive way.”
It’s unclear when the pilot will be finished or when Bythewood will be ready to release more details about the project, but just the thought of the #BlackLivesMatter movement coming to mainstream media is enough to spark a lot of interest and excitement.
