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ANTEBELLUM Filmmakers Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz are joining us LIVE to talk about their new movie starring Janelle Monae.
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00:00Hi, my name is Joy Marie McKenzie.
00:02I'm Essence's senior entertainment editor,
00:04and I have a true treat for you on this Tuesday.
00:09I know you've heard about the film Antebellum
00:11starring Janelle Monae, but guess what?
00:13I have the creators and the filmmakers of that film right now.
00:18Please help me welcome Bush Renz.
00:20They're joining us right now.
00:23Hi, how are you?
00:25Good to see you.
00:27So where are you guys before we get started,
00:29and how are you guys?
00:31We are in Los Angeles,
00:35and the whole COVID thing, the pandemic has been especially,
00:42I mean, for everybody,
00:44just not being able to get out and be with people is taxing,
00:48but we are incredibly blessed to be healthy and safe
00:52and to have a roof over our heads.
00:54And with the current situation,
00:57a lot of people are not doing well.
00:59So we have not one single thing that we can complain about,
01:03as far as that's concerned.
01:04Yeah, that's awesome.
01:07So before we get into how COVID has affected this film,
01:11because I think we should mention it,
01:12and I've already seen the film,
01:15and I promise you guys I will not share any spoilers,
01:20but it is a film that you do want to see with people.
01:23I mean, I'll just, I'll rattle off the descriptors,
01:26the adjectives that people, reviewers have been describing it.
01:28Cryptic, creepy, mysterious, shrouded in mystery.
01:32What can you tell us about Antebellum?
01:35We can tell you that Antebellum is incredibly disorienting.
01:46It is a film that by shifting the paradigm and perspective of the world that we live in,
01:55that it really changes and transforms the warped perception of our country's history
02:07into something much more accurate, I think.
02:13For sure.
02:14Well, it's also, I think, a very different movie on the second viewing.
02:19There are a lot of Easter eggs that are placed in there that you really, you know,
02:24catch more easily on a second viewing.
02:27Yeah, and so for those who have not seen the trailer, what are you waiting for?
02:32But it really follows Janelle Monáe.
02:35She's this powerful Black thought leader, and something happens.
02:41And, like, I don't know what to say, and what happens?
02:43Like, what can we tell the viewers who might not have seen the trailer?
02:47Well, Janelle plays Veronica Henley, who is an incredibly powerful Black thought leader.
02:55She is a wonderful wife and mother to a young daughter.
03:02And she is determined to bring the issues of equality as it relates to Black people,
03:12and specifically Black women, to amplify those issues in such a way,
03:18and to use her platform in such a way, to initiate and activate real change,
03:25when suddenly she is snatched back into a different reality.
03:35Yeah.
03:36And, Chris, I wonder, why was it necessary for you to tell this story at this time?
03:41And, you know, when you guys were writing it and conceptualizing it,
03:45everything that's happening, the racial reckoning, the pandemic, wasn't even happening.
03:49So it's just so timely, but why did you think this was the right time to tell the story?
03:54Well, I'd love to say that it was strategic, but it was the end of 2018,
04:02and Gerard woke up and told me about this nightmare that he had,
04:09that was kind of the basis for the short story that we wrote later that afternoon called Antebellum,
04:15Antebellum, which we then, you know, turned into the Antebellum script.
04:21But it really, it came from Gerard's nightmare.
04:24Yeah.
04:25And Gerard, I remember you telling me this story about how you felt like your ancestors
04:30were speaking to you through this dream, this nightmare.
04:33What were, what do you think the ancestors were trying to tell you through this dream?
04:37Well, I think that prior to this happening to me,
04:44I was probably a lot more pessimistic in terms of, of believing and understanding and things
04:51that I cannot see, but that I can feel.
04:54It's not to say that I'm not a deeply spiritual person.
04:57I am.
04:58I don't think that there's any such thing as an atheist in a box hole, but I, after having
05:04this nightmare, it didn't feel like, oh, it didn't feel like a regular dream or nightmare.
05:14First of all, I wasn't the star of the dream, which I'm usually the star of my dream, right?
05:21So it was not me, it was Veronica.
05:24And I was, and this, this woman was so desperate to get help that her, her screams, her guttural
05:34screams that were happening within her were, it was as though they were trying to cross multi-dimensions.
05:41It was a multi-dimensional connection to say, I need help.
05:45I'm trying to get help and to get out of this situation.
05:50And when I woke up from the nightmare, I immediately thought, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to write
06:00this down in the morning and talk to Christopher about it.
06:02As soon as I was just about to go back to sleep, something nudged me and told me, get up now and
06:10write down every detail of this dream.
06:12Wow.
06:13And I did, I mean, it really felt like the ancestors were in the room with me.
06:21I stopped worrying about the destiny of the film some time ago, uh, because I know that the film
06:29is in the care of something much bigger than me.
06:33And I think Christopher and I, and any artist will tell you that art is simply on loan to you.
06:41We don't know where the inspiration comes from the promptings, when you are trusted as a responsible
06:47steward to see that art from creation to distribution into the greater world.
06:55And the art is going to take on, um, a life of its own.
06:59Yeah, for sure.
07:00I mean, I love what you said about the ancestors speaking to you.
07:05I feel as black people, we have all had those moments, um, in our lives when you just feel like
07:11this is supernatural.
07:13And I feel like my ancestors are protecting me or warning me or telling me something that
07:18I should know.
07:19So I just love that you're very open about the inspiration for this story.
07:23And, you know, for those, I don't think most people have seen it, but when I tell you,
07:28I walked out of the theater, I mean, there were a few press people there and we were all chit-chatting
07:32before because, you know, we like to talk for journalists and afterwards, no one said a thing.
07:37Like we all just left, we were stunned.
07:41I remember, uh, you know, living in New York city, you have to walk, you're walking to the
07:45subway, I remember walking back to the train, like looking behind my show.
07:50Like what's, what's going on now?
07:52And just, it is, it's triggering, but in, but not in a painful way, but, but very triggering.
07:59Um, for people who might have saw the killer and said, you know, this, I don't know how I should
08:05approach this, what would be your suggestion on how they should come into the film?
08:08Because now they're going to see it in the comfort of their homes.
08:12Um, and, and I wish, you know, cause it, you will scream, you will maybe nudge your partner
08:19or your friends who might be with you, but how would you prepare them to, to view this?
08:23Because it really, it's, it's powerful.
08:25It really is.
08:26Well, you know, I, I think that we as artists have to be incredibly responsible, um, to our
08:38audience and recognizing that we, as black people have been so injured, uh, over the entirety
08:51of the span of time that we've been in America.
08:53And so Christopher and I, when we, when we decided that we were going to move forward
08:59with actually making this movie first and foremost, that's tantamount in our mind is how we can make
09:09sure that we do justice to these characters and to the suffering that has been so much of the black
09:17experience while also celebrating the resilience and the beauty and the power and the strength of black
09:26women in a way that hasn't been depicted on screen.
09:29So segueing back to your question, I would say in preparation for the movie is to come in and knowing
09:39that throughout all of some of the, the more rattling, um, triggering experiences that the
09:47art might bring you, it is also going to, it's also going to serve as a catharsis, I think.
09:56And so that, that catharsis, I think is helpful as you're going through the experience.
10:03Yeah. And I would, I would say, um, I know Sharae is saying, I cannot wait to view this film.
10:08Lavonda is saying, I can't wait to see this movie so much. Um, I would definitely suggest people watch
10:14it with a friend because you're going to want to talk about it. You're going to want to dissect it.
10:19Like Christopher said, you're going to want to try to like find the Easter eggs and figure out what
10:24things mean. I think right now in Hollywood, I love, uh, Gerard, how you said this film really
10:30puts on for black women. That is evident. Obviously there's Janelle Monáe in this film.
10:34Gabba Ray Sidibe is a light and a joy in this film. She's literally one of my favorite characters
10:39in this film, but there is also a lot of talk in Hollywood about allyship. Um, and Christopher,
10:45I would love for you to speak to this, um, as a white man, which is, which is cool, um, that you
10:52created this film that really centers black women. Why was that important for you? Uh, yeah. Why was that
10:58important for you? Well, I mean, I've, I've been with Gerard for 12 years now and we've done all of
11:04our work together and I've been able to have my eyes opened, um, in just proximity really and just seeing
11:15the differences. I think we're in a unique position, um, being a black and white, uh, interracial
11:22couple and, and, and filmmaking team that we're able to see the differences. I'm able to say something
11:29in the exact same way to someone and receive a completely different response when Gerard says
11:36something. And it's just, it's, it's so clear to us and we wanted to make sure those pieces, those
11:42microaggressions were peppered throughout the film, um, to, to accurately represent, you know,
11:48the Christopher has also been exposed to some of the most dynamic black women
11:54because of me. So, you know, my mother is like, she's not Diane Carroll. She's Dominique Devereaux
12:00from dynasty. Yeah. There's a lot. Oh, you'll love her. My sister went to Spelman. Um, you know,
12:09all of the black women that, that sort of, uh, are, I've been so central to my life are central to
12:16Christopher's life now after this past decade. And so the depiction that we've seen together
12:22of black women on screen, because I think black women are superheroes and we're not seeing that
12:31we're seeing wonder woman, no offense, but like, I think the real wonder woman is, uh, our character,
12:38Veronica Henley. And I think that we need to see more of that. And I think the ally ship, sorry,
12:43I just wanted to say that that ally ship, a lot of that comes from, you know, the black women that
12:47he's met in, in our family. Yes. I love that. And, you know, we're speaking about the character
12:52of Veronica. She's embodied by the magnanimous Janelle Monae. Why was Janelle like the perfect
12:59person to embody this character? Well, it's a very physical character. Like she does, you know,
13:07so what's funny is Janelle, we are, we were fanatical and are fanatical about Janelle Monae,
13:13the polymath, the, the, the artist, the multi-hyphenated artist, but mostly it was the music.
13:21And so she served as the soundtrack of the genesis of our partnership some 12 years ago with many moons.
13:30Like we were obsessed with, with Janelle and she just had such an original voice and original take
13:35and just didn't look or sound like anybody else. Um, which reminded us a little bit of, of who we are
13:44as artists and where we were trying to go. But anyway, when we, when we completed the script,
13:51it never occurred to us about Janelle. And it was, it, it was one person at WME. We share an agency.
14:01It was one person at WME that said, I can't see anyone at this, in this role other than Janelle.
14:07And then we were like, wait a minute, Janelle Monae. Like also you have to imagine this is our first
14:14feature. Maybe we thought that was a little bit ambitious. I don't know when it first happened.
14:20And her name was coming up. We thought, well, that would just be extraordinary. And when we met
14:27after she read the script and we met at, um, the sunset tower hotel, which is one of our favorites in LA.
14:35And, you know, it was what sold us about Janelle for the movie was watching her in the, of the Grammy awards
14:44in 2018. She was in the audience. I have no idea what she was looking at, but she had this expression
14:53that gave away nothing. And when I say stoic, we certainly don't mean that in a, in a derogatory
14:59contest, meaning that it was, it was, it was her expression gave away nothing, but I could, I could,
15:07it was palpable that there was a furnace burning deep inside of her that was still reaching the
15:15surface. The fire was so great that you couldn't even hide it. And there's so much in the first act
15:23that is nonverbal for her character. And it was important that she's able to communicate so much
15:29just with a look, but we don't want you to think that like, it's not cosmetic. It is something that's
15:35deeply rooted in, in, in ancestry. And, and so, you know, what she was able to commit to in the role,
15:44what we understood by seeing her in the audience of the Grammys is that this is a person that has
15:48a rich inner world. I love that you said that because, and let this be a lesson to every artist
15:55or creative that's watching, like you never know who's watching you, you know, they could be your
16:01next boss, your next collaborator. And the fact that you just had that light bulb moment because
16:08you watching her in the audience at an award show is really interesting and kind of super cool.
16:14Um, Chanel is saying, I love her. And, um, Lee, she, I hope I'm pronouncing her name right. I'm sorry,
16:20girl. She's saying, uh, huh. All right. I want to just, cause you, I've met you guys before when,
16:27when, um, the film screamed in New York earlier this year, and you, uh, both told this incredible
16:32story about the lenses that you use for the film. Tell the audience just about just how, I mean,
16:39it's you guys have really thought of every detail, not only the plot, which is just incredible, but also
16:44how you shot the film. Tell us about the lenses that you use to shoot this.
16:47Well, we had, um, so many references for this film when we were going in, uh, speaking to our DP,
16:56Pedro Luke. Um, many of the references we had were from Gone with the Wind. It was important though,
17:02that we kind of corrected the record with Gone with the Wind. And we wanted to do that specifically
17:10through the same lens. We wanted to, to capture that feeling, um, and that emotion, uh, using those
17:16lenses. So we went off and, and, and we're able to obtain the, the actual lenses, the MGM lenses from
17:24Gone with the Wind and refit them for our cameras. That is so cool. We felt like, you know, as, as a
17:31black person, I thought that Gone with the Wind was a horror film. I thought that it was so insulting to
17:38the black people. And that it was a piece of incredibly effective propaganda that painted a
17:48perverted, completely inaccurate picture of what the antebellum South actually was this romanticized
17:56idea of the Southern gentlemen, and this romanticized idea of the Southern white woman.
18:02And we wanted to take those same lenses that had been used to, to, um, denigrate, uh, black people
18:13and turn that on its ear to empower black people. Yes. Yes. Chanel is saying, yes. Uh, Tanya is saying,
18:22oh my God, I just saw the trailer. Tanya, listen, we are right there with you. She also said, I cannot
18:27wait to seal that, see this. I felt my blood pressure surging while watching the trailer.
18:34Yes, Tanya, girl, just take it, drink some water now.
18:37I love the fact that you are taking the literal lenses that have been used to oppress us and now
18:45reclaiming them and using them to liberate us and our allies and the minds of hopefully our children and
18:52their children, that this is what it's really like to be oppressed in this, in this America. Um,
19:00before I let you go, how, what are your last words? Um, the film comes out September 18th on video on
19:08demand. So please support this film. It's literally one of the best films that I've seen this year and
19:12I see a lot of films, but what would you want people to know as they are, you know, cozying up in their
19:20households watching this again, you guys, please see it with a friend. Like your group text is going to be lit.
19:27Um, but what would you want to tell them?
19:29I want to tell them that we are in a situation now that is the most consequential in modern history for America
19:38and that the stakes couldn't be higher as it relates to us as black people. Antebellum is a movie that
19:49all being it's incredibly prescient. We didn't make the movie with the expectation that the timing was
19:58going to prove so divine, but then again, it makes perfect sense when you think about how the movie was
20:06actually seated to me and it felt ancestral. So I know it was in fact, and I think that that going into the movie,
20:15we recognize that antebellum is a necessary, um, activating piece of art that is tailor-made
20:25specifically for this moment. We want to see and hear people have myriad conversations about and around
20:33these issues as it relates to race, but not in a finger wagging way. Understand that we, we hope that we have
20:43provided you with an absolutely thrilling ride and that we have hidden the medicine within the thrill.
20:51For sure. And I, I see one of our commenters saying, I don't want to see another slave movie.
20:55I promise you, this is not a slave movie. This is revolutionary. This is breaking of chains.
21:01This is reclaiming our history and saying, hell no.
21:05I would love to be able to answer to that because, um, I, I myself have been so uncomfortable with
21:15another slave narrative and seeing movies of, of depictions of black people in bondage has,
21:23is not something that I have ever been comfortable with. But what I realized is our, our beautiful Jewish
21:31brothers and sisters have done a really effective job in making sure that the injustice that was levied
21:40against them, that those issues are amplified on a continual basis. And we end up serving as our own
21:49worst enemy and not taking control and, and stewardship or autonomy over our own stories. And so the way that
21:58antebellum is told, I can assure everyone in the movie going audience that this is a movie that we
22:08painstakingly wove together in such a way that hopefully when you're finished experiencing it, it is so much
22:20bigger than that of a typical sort of slave narrative.
22:26For sure. I agree. Having seen it, I agree. Like I said, it was, it's a think piece. Um,
22:32it definitely will, will make you think and make you question some things. Um, so bravo to both of
22:38you guys. Um, please go out and see if September 18th when it hits a video on demand. And thank you so
22:45much for joining us again. Um, any last words before we go?
22:49No, no, we're just super excited for everyone to, to view the film and, uh, marketing would probably
22:58hate this, but just go into it without seeing anything, just watch it and, uh, and, and then
23:05discuss. And we hope that you all have plenty of essence watch parties because we know that,
23:11you know, um, folks are starting to get organized with their watch parties because you're going to,
23:16you don't know, but you're going to want to talk to somebody. You're going to need to talk to them.
23:28We encourage you to connect with your friends and, and have these watch parties and let's
23:33play at the same time as your friends. Yes. And the last thing that we'll say is yes,
23:38this movie is for everyone, but this movie is also our gift to black women for the amazing gift
23:47that they have been to me. Um, and so thank you. Yeah. Well, thank you guys. And that will be all
23:56for us again. I'm Joy Marie McKenzie. Please make sure you see Antebellum when it hits your home,
24:01September 18th. Thank you guys. Thank you.
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