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Donisha Prendergast’s independent feature Threads of Us is scheduled for release on August 6. The team behind the production aims to screen the film on 63 global screens in celebration of Jamaica’s 63rd independence.
In a follow-up interview with The Gleaner at the recent Shot List Film Festival showcase, where she participated in the Women in Rhythm and Frame panel discussion, Prendergast shared new details on the film’s rollout and production model.
Directed by Caribbean film-maker Mykal Cushnie and produced by Direct Shoot Edit Media and Humanity Ova Vanity, Threads of Us is a passion project that follows Malcolm and Danielle, two lovers whose relationship is tested when Malcolm is falsely accused of a crime and must face a judicial system working against him. The film features a fully Jamaican cast and crew and was shot in just nine days.
“We’re doing it from the grass roots up by allowing communities access to the film and to be able to understand what it takes to actually do it the right way, which is to pay a screening fee, promote the film using all of the assets, and align it with something bigger than myself,” Prendergast said.
As much as the film is a work of art and entertainment, Prendergast describes the production as having a greater meaning.
“It really is a social experiment and a case study that we’re hoping to present in that way, with data showing how we did it because we were able to make a feature-length film in nine days. That’s not something that is typical. We had two days break in between, which was because we wanted the crew to be able to partake in Calabash, but we’re really looking at how to champion the idea of building a film community from the grass roots up,” she added.
The nature of the project is ambitious for an independent feature, something that Prendergast acknowledges when discussing the funding of the film.
“Typically, everybody’s project has no budget, so everybody is begging discounts, but with our project, we were able to pay people their full rates based on how we’ve broken it down because we’ve acknowledged people as investors, not just work for hire, and it’s changed the dynamic on how we engage with it because we’re all a part of something that we can actually feel a part of.”
The holistic approach also extended to the least experienced members of the crew, who were given unprecedented access to the film’s higher-ups.
Fifteen paid interns were embedded directly with department heads, giving them rare, hands-on experience. Instead of being limited to menial tasks, they had real access to the creative process.
English (US) ·