“I am directing one of my short films I wrote called Mt. Washington (2016). There’s DP Chris Boylston, and Gaffer Neil Guliano setting up lights. This film went on to win a Special Mention: Short film award at the LA Film Awards in 2016. Photo credit goes to Slavin Productions. “
In the fall of 2017, I interviewed award–winning filmmaker Raeshelle Cooke on the Bridgewater State University [BSU] campus, which is located in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. This session was followed up by email correspondence between us as I hoped to gain a more complete understanding of her insight into her craft, expertise, and experience in creating her unique style of cinematic storytelling.
For reasons of health and a series of eye operations that I underwent for glaucoma and cataracts, I did not complete the writing of the interview and thereby failed in posting it on my weblog. I apologize to Raeshelle for this faux pas on my part. I hope to have made amends for this gaffe by dedicating at least two weblog entries to her and her passion for storytelling.
I have known Raeshelle since the 2011 spring semester, which is when she took an introductory film course I was teaching at Bristol Community College’s [BCC] Attleboro, Massachusetts campus. She was an outstanding student because she not only devoured the information she learned in the class, but she also created superbly crafted assignments that went far and above what her peers were producing.
She graduated with an associate’s degree in humanities from BCC in December of 2011 and matriculated at Bridgewater State University in the fall of 2012. While attending BSU, I was fortunate enough to have her as a student once again, and this time her work had gained a breathtaking maturity to it. Her presentation and essay work on a Rod Serling, Twilight Zone episode, “The Monsters are Due on Maple Street,” is one of the best student performances I have ever observed. This story is the 22nd episode of season one and it was first aired on 4 March 1960. Time magazine has rated it one of the ten best Twilight Zone episodes. [1]
Serling’s [2] closing narration of this story is as follows,
“The tools of conquest do not necessarily come with bombs and explosions and fallout. There are weapons that are simply thoughts, attitudes, prejudices – to be found only in the minds of men. For the record, prejudices can kill—and suspicion can destroy—and a thoughtless frightened search for a scapegoat has a fallout all of its own – for the children – and the children yet unborn. And the pity of it is—that these things cannot be confined—to the Twilight Zone.”
In many ways, his summative statement above thematically reflects Raeshelle’s own philosophy of filmmaking.
In May of 2015, she received her bachelor’s degree from Bridgewater State University. Raeshelle’s degree is in communication with a film concentration as well.
Illustrating her giftedness in her art is a blurb below about her that is written by Orson Kingsley, Head of Bridgewater State University’s Archives & Special Collections:
“Raeshelle Cooke, a BSU 2015 graduate, is an Award-winning Filmmaker & founder of production company RMC Pictures. She often writes about the many misadventures of love, and justice, with music and spoken word often leading the narratives. In 2015 her short film Sometime Around January was nominated for Best Short Film at the local Shawna Shea Film Festival. In 2016, her short film Mt. Washington won a Special Mention award for an indie film at the LA Film Awards. And now her newest 20-minute short, Wrath City [2017] is a semi-finalist at the Las Angeles CineFest. This film focuses on an angry city and a Haitian woman who’s being deported out for committing an awful crime. The short makes a lot of commentary on Black Lives Matter and police brutality.
Here is a link to the trailer of her latest film: https://vimeo.com/230370284.”
“The slate picture is photographed by the Director of Photography of the same film, Paul Bulgin (Sometime Around January film). We are getting the slate before beginning to roll on the next scene.”
With the above narrative serving as an introduction to her and her work, please note that the remaining post reveals her responses to some of the questions and comments I asked her about her work and filmmaking.
What/who were some of your major influences when you first started out?
I started in 2013 for the campus movie festival at BSU. I was taking a beginning videography class. The professor said that it would give me equipment such as a camera, a tripod, and a Mac book. At that time I did not have any equipment. It was a great opportunity to start filming.
Hitchcock. I love his movies, particularly how he uses suspense and a twisted ending along with the writing and acting. He is definitely one of my favorite directors. I love the writer Rod Serling, especially his The Twilight Zone. I love his twisted endings, but he also made a lot of social commentary in his filming. I like Tyler Perry because he is the richest black man in Hollywood, which I admire him for that alone. He hires a lot of black people and puts them in lead roles in his films. My favorites are Diary of a Mad Black Woman [2005], and Madea’s Family Reunion [2006].
I thought these movies really captured what black men and women experience in their family dynamics. He did it in a funny, humorous way as well. I liked Spike Lee’s older movies. Do the Right Thing [1989], and Higher Learning [1994]. I love his social commentary as well. I think that he speaks for black people, especially his ability to depict the plight of black Americans.
I like John Singleton because he tackles what it is like for a black man to grow up in rough neighborhoods. As a black man, he understands the mentality of black men. I appreciate that. He truly is a brilliant director. He does it in a compassionate and emotional way. One really feels what the characters are experiencing and that helps an audience understand them better.
What are your favorite films?
Grease [1978] is my all-time favorite.
Jason’s Lyric [1994],
Rear Window [1954] by Hitchcock,
Rocky [1976],
“I am directing Malden-based music artist Chaud Galliano, in his French music video called Fatoumata (2017). The guy with the beard in one of the beach pics is my Director of Photography for the music video, Chris Boylston.”
Witness for the Prosecution [1957],
12 Angry Men [1957];
Psycho [1960],
The Breakfast Club [1985],
Boys n the Hood [1991],
The Temptations [1998],
Bonnie and Clyde [1967],
Why did I get married? [2007],
The Sound of Music [1965],
What’s Love Got to Do With it? [1993],
Night of the Living Dead [1968],
Hayao Miyazaki’s animated films,
The Warriors [1979],
Die Hard [1988],
Predator [1987],
Shadow of a Doubt [1943],
The Clock [1945],
Out of the Past [1947],
Notorious [1946], and
Planet of the Apes [1968].
And so much more . . .
Do you like attending screenings of your own work?
Yes, I really like it. My favorite part is watching people’s reactions to what I created, then having conversations with them after the screening about the film. I always get disappointed if the conversations do not happen. I don’t get anything from just being there. I want to connect with people after. That’s the second-half of the work for me.
Where does an idea for a movie usually begin for you?
For a long time, it began with a song. I love music more than I like films. As dumb as it sounds it’s just true! I don’t want to talk about films all the time. But I talk about music all the time. I listen to music all the time. I feel like in another life I was a musician, maybe a bass player, and I probably would’ve been a musician in this life too, but I can’t play an instrument or sing. I need music in my day to day living. That shows in my films because a lot of my films have been inspired by songs that I listen to and obsess over, whether hip–hop (I love giving tributes to hip-hop music in my work), Japanese music, video game music that I love, or 1970s rock music, which I’m tackling next. Most of my films have been narrated by music with little to no dialog.
This year, I’ve evolved as a filmmaker and moved into more traditional ways of story-telling, like using dialog and a more traditional story structure like my most recent films Wrath City [2017] and an episode I wrote and direct for One Law [2018]. I’m going to go back to the musical love stories because I think they are unique and creatively fulfilling for me. It’s my way of delving into music without being a musician. I get to honestly be myself and express my innermost thoughts and deepest emotions in those films; feelings about what I’m experiencing in my life. I get to do the music thing too. I’m going to continue with filming the more traditional films as well, but I’m also going to continue the musical love stories too because I simply have to. It’s therapy for me. Another way my movie starts if I’m pissed off, or passionate about a particular subject or experience that I had in my life.
What was your first movie watching experience as a child in a theater, and how did it affect you?
I grew up in a very abnormal environment. I did not actually see one in a theater until we moved to Massachusetts. It might have been in the mid–2000s, Night at the Museum [2006], or a Tyler Perry movie with my family. I thought it was cool seeing a movie that big and up close and hearing the sound so loud around you. I remember it more because I was with my mom and siblings that I had gone through hell with. They were with me every step of the way experiencing hardships together. It meant a lot that we got to experience something like that together.
“That’s me and writer/actress Dominique LaFleur at the Hip Hop Film Festival in Harlem, NY this past August [2017]. We were there screening a music video that I directed, and Dominique rapped in it & wrote, called Sedentary Lifestyles. It’s a rap music video. We asked a random person to take a pic of us for us.”
How does the current state of affairs in our nation impact your storytelling?
I’ve never made a film about social issues until this year. My films were always more about my own experiences. But this year I made films about the black experience when it comes to oppression, and the black perspective on feminism, topics that impact an entire society and not just me. I think it’s important for people to use their art to speak out against oppression and injustice. Some people choose to march, others protest, some people boycott things, but then you have people that use their gift, whatever it may be: sports, film, music or painting; it’s important to do it period. I think it is a crime to be silent when unarmed black people are getting killed by police, and courts are letting them off. Both instances show that black lives are not valued in this country. Colin Kaepernick shined a light on this nationally by kneeling to the National Anthem in the NFL.
I have friends that make statements on their social media pages. Revolutions have started via social media. You can make a statement in your art if you’re a filmmaker. I don’t understand those who are silent, and in my latest film Wrath City [2017], I am talking to those very people; people who should know better than to be silent; people that were outspoken when it came to gay and women’s rights. Like sports, film has a place in our social and political conversations. And I hope more people stop caring about what others think of them, and just stand up for what’s right and denounce what’s wrong. It’s not right that blacks are getting killed for no good reason, and it’s not right that cops are getting off for it. And it’s not right that people are being silent on it and ignoring it. My life matters too.
What are some of the opportunities and challenges of being a woman in the film industry?
I think that there are advantages and disadvantages of being a woman in the film industry. I don’t want to sound that I am putting down male directors because I love a bunch of them; however, when I look at R&B music videos of the 90s, and they are directed by women, I feel that they are way more creative, beautiful and they have this emotion and compassion to them because they are love songs. The women understand what it is like to be in love and to feel deeply. Their directing seems to have this compassionate and authentic aura and tone to it. For example, “It Never Rains in Southern California” [1990], by Tony! Toni! Toné!, directed by Lisa Bonet, I had no idea she could direct.
The video was really beautiful. It has that female perspective that you do not see much in films. You can just look at it and see that a woman did it; that it’s through the eyes of a woman. I don’t think a lot of men see the world through the eyes that directed that video. She gets it. That’s what we bring to this field, a unique perspective. The challenge for me is that I look very young, and (what males deem to be) attractive females have to work harder to be taken seriously. I know I’ve had experiences where guys who I’ve supported in their careers genuinely, where I tried to cultivate sincere professional relationships with them, had turned around and tried to date me, and when I wasn’t receptive, were passive aggressive jerks or didn’t support me.
But this does not represent the general population of male filmmakers that I come in contact with. But I have had this experience more than once. More than once is too much in my book. I do want to make clear that the few that didn’t take me seriously when we met, once they got on my set and saw how I ran the show, they came out looking at me with more respect and in a different light. I don’t really sweat the few that make slick comments or treat me a certain way when we first meet because I know I’m going to handle it later regardless.
It is an honor to know Raeshelle and to have the privilege of following the arc of her artistry in filmmaking.*
* Please note that I will be adding another follow–up post on Raeshelle’s work.
Notes:
Raeshelle explains the origin of the feature photo above as follows, “The pic where I am in dark shadows: the photo credit is Slavin Productions. That’s me in 2016. I don’t remember where we took it. In RI somewhere. But it represents my brand of films: dark, moody, emotional, etc.”
[1] Cruz, Gilbert (October 2, 2009). “Top 10 Twilight Zone episodes”. TIME. Retrieved January 18, 2019.
[2] Serling’s quote can be found on the following link, < https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6oss8t >, where it is found at the end of this episode.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. As the sole author of the Penitent – Part I, and the Penitent – Part II, and as the sole proprietor of Copper Beech Press, I have a material connection to these books, as well as to the publishing press, I have just listed. Other than my previously stated novels and publishing press, I have no material connection to the brands, products or services that I have mentioned here. I am disclosing this information in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
© 30 January 2019 by A. Keith Carreiro
For information about my series, The Immortality Wars, please go to my home page: https://immortalitywars.com/
1 comment. Leave new
Wonderfully written interview!