Making Comedy Specific, Yet Universal – Tim Story and Dewayne Perkins Discuss ‘The Blackening’
‘The Blackening’ screenwriter Dewayne Perkins and director Tim Story recently spoke with Script about the challenges of expanding a sketch, shooting at night, and more!
Comedy, like all other art forms, is subjective. What one person finds hilarious; another might find insipid. However, just like there are universal truths, there are subjects or things that the majority of people find funny. The horror comedy genre takes a perennially popular genre, horror, and creates laughs by finding the commonality in both genres.
In the upcoming Lionsgate release, The Blackening, actor/writer/comedian/producer Dewayne Perkins wasn’t afraid to tackle a feature-length version of his Comedy Central sketch with Tracy Oliver. “It was surprisingly easier than I thought it would be, because I feel the genres of comedy and horror are not that far apart. Those emotions play very well with each other."
He and director/producer Tim Story recently spoke with Script Magazine about the challenges of expanding a sketch and shooting at night. Tim has been in the feature realm for quite some time, with hits like Barbershop (2002), Think Like a Man (2012), and Ride Along (2014). Yet, he’d never quite encountered a challenge like he did with The Blackening, where almost every scene is shot at night. “It's hell shooting at night! I don't even know why I did that to myself. [laughs] It's difficult because you don't have as much time in terms of nighttime. You're also tired. Your body is used to sleeping during those times, so you have to make sure to stay alert! Sometimes you're not moving as fast as you think you are.
Nighttime shooting can bring a lot of obstacles, but you gotta do what you gotta do! The primary thing is that it gets cold...! Even in the summertime, it's colder than it normally is. We were shooting in the fall. We found that putting X Mayo in a lake at 2:00 in the morning wasn't simple! Creating fight sequences at night when you're cold...those kinds of things are difficult. More difficult than doing them in the daytime.”
Chicago-native Dewayne Perkins has had a different trajectory in the film industry, but it’s brought him to a focal point with Tim and Tracy Oliver. Dewayne cut his teeth with stand-up and improv comedy and contributed as a writer to The Break with Michelle Wolf (2018) and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his work on The Amber Ruffin Show (2021). When he pitched his 3Peat horror comedy idea to Comedy Central in 2018, they liked it and wanted it filmed. When it was put online, it went viral. It caught screenwriter Tracy Oliver’s attention, and she gave him a call, suggesting they do a feature based on the short.
The format for a feature is very different from a sketch, so what did they focus on first when tackling the blank page of the feature? “We focused on figuring out how to expand the sketch into a feature. We really wanted to keep the sketch in the film and then make the movie around the sketch. We had to figure out how does the sketch inform the larger plot.
One of the biggest challenges was expanding the characters. The premise of the sketch was very clear but in order to turn that into a feature, we really had to dial in to making the characters fully developed people that felt real. Then figuring out how that interplays with the plot that we've already set up through the premise of the sketch,” according to Dewayne.
While Tim Story’s heart is in features, he enjoys directing and writing for television and in animation as well, but finds them different animals from live-action features. “TV is more challenging because of the time constraints. I'm often impressed with how much people are able to pull off in 8 or 10 days in television. With a feature film, the focus is on getting it perfect, because it's going to live in a different format. I find that I'm a feature guy, so I always try to do it. But when I'm doing television, the challenge is doing things in half the time.
With animation, you end up doing a film almost three times. You have to create the animation that you think's going to happen, especially in a hybrid situation. Then you're shooting it. Then in post, you're doing it again and some ideas will come up that will allow you to change the scene for the better. It's a lot more intense.”
The cast of The Blackening is comprised of some of Hollywood’s best African American actors. Antoinette Robertson (Lisa), Sinqua Walls (Nnamdi), Grace Beyers (Allison), X Mayo (Shanika), Melvin Gregg (King), Jermaine Fowler (Clifton), Yvonne Orji (Morgan), and Jay Pharoah (Shawn) all leave their mark and have great synergy. They bounce off of each other with the quickness and agility of strobe lights.
While one might have a difficult time choosing a favorite character, Dewayne doesn’t. It’s himself…! “It's one of the first big opportunities I've had to write for myself in this way. Being able to dictate how I'm showcased was such a privilege. Being able to ensure that I could show different ranges, different sides of myself and really create a Black queer character that feels fully developed and fleshed out.”
Both Tim and Dewayne primarily function in the world of comedy. For Dewayne, the satisfaction he derives from comedy is how he makes people feel. “What I find most satisfying about comedy is manipulating people into being more joyful. You're able to take them on a journey that makes them laugh but also informs them. Most of my comedy is satirical. Comedy is so special in the way that it breaks down barriers and allows information to infiltrate people but with the lens of laughter. “
These guys have calendars that are booked, and they have other projects they’re currently working on. Tim is working on a Christmas movie for Disney that comes out this year and Dewayne is developing a Clue TV show for Fox, with Tim attached as executive producer.
The Blackening hits theaters on June 16, just in time for Juneteenth. While the cast is primarily Black and the story is infused with culture-related jokes, many moments hit on universal truths. Is there truly a difference in writing Black or white comedic characters? According to Dewayne, there is. “I'd say the specificity of identity with writing characters is important for every character. In order to create an authentic character, you can't ignore their identity and the ways in which they've experienced life that would inform how their character acts and speaks in the world. “
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Sonya Alexander started off her career training to be a talent agent. She eventually realized she was meant to be on the creative end and has been writing ever since. As a freelance writer she’s written screenplays, covered film, television, music and video games and done academic writing. She’s also been a script reader for over twenty years. She's a member of the African American Film Critics Association and currently resides in Los Angeles.
