Sundance Film Festival 2023 – Trust the Process: A Conversation with 2022 Women Write Now Fellowship Writers & Guest Directors

A running theme of Sundance Institute's initiatives this year is that they are partnering with companies that are providing tangible opportunities for new and diverse voices. Now in its second year, Harbeat's Women Write Now is an immersive fellowship developed in partnership with Sundance Institute, giving guidance to three selected comedy writing fellows under the tutelage of some of the industry's most influential Black women in comedy with the likes of Kay Oyegun, Yamara Taylor, Leigh Davenport, and Stephanie Allain to name a few. Selected fellows learn the creative, development and production process from the inside out and the three fellows are also guaranteed a first-look deal with Hartbeat. 

The 2022 Women Write Now fellows are Mayanna Berrin (Power Dynamics), Kiana Butler Jabangwe (Night Off), and Danielle Solomon (Hey Boo). Through weeks of mentorship and advocacy, the three fellows witnessed first-hand their scripts go from page to screen with special guest directors Logan Browning (Hey Boo), Nicole Byer (Power Dynamics), and Tika Sumpter (Night Off). 

The produced scripts premiered during the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2023 to a packed house of filmmakers, friends, family, and festival supporters. Hearing how the creative learning curve, the collaborative spirit, and participation in the fellowship as both a writer and guest director was heartening to hear. It comes with great ease to echo that this fellowship gives back in many ways, no matter your background and achievements - and this is an initiative worthy of all the support you can give it.

The Women Write Now fellows and guest directors recently spoke with Script about their journeys to this moment, the creative process, what they learned from the fellowship both as writers and directors, advice for future fellows and so much more. 

Due to Tika Sumpter's production schedule, she was unable to participate in this conversation. However, during the premiere Q&A with Sundance, she did provide further insight into her collaborative process and takeaway with her participation as a guest director. One notable quip (and paraphrased) was that as a director, you're there to solve problems and execute - she enjoyed the process from beginning to end. 

This interview has been edited for content and clarity.

Sadie Dean: Tell us a little bit about your background, why you had to be a writer and finding your way into this fellowship.

Mayanna Berrin: My writing journey began in college. I was taking a playwriting class and fell in love with scripts and learning about what makes for effective, memorable storytelling. I entered different playwriting competitions and even had a 10-minute play that I wrote exhibited during my junior year. During that time, I was also studying improv and sketch comedy which brought me out to LA where I job-hopped for a bit before my writing partner found the WWN program and encouraged me to apply. It seemed too good to be true - a submission looking for Black women in comedy and ready-to-produce scripts; I was one of those and I had one of those! Let's do this!

Danielle Solomon: In college, I studied journalism. I was gonna be one of those hard news journalists chasing stories or producing work in the newsroom. And then once I started getting into my major, I was like, ‘Yeah, this is not for me.’ I was just looking for a minor that interests me. And so, I signed up for playwriting. And then from there, that's where my love for writing came from. Then I started taking screenwriting classes, and that's how I got into writing.

My friend sent [WWN] to me. And then I had a coworker send it to me, so I started researching. I was like, ‘Oh, this is a really cool program.’ Because not only do you write something, you get a mentor, and you actually walk away with something produced and distributed out there for the world to see, as well as the first look deal and other things. We have workshops and stuff with the program; it offers more than some of the other big-name programs like the Disney's.

Kiana Butler Jabangwe: I've been writing since I was a little girl, but like Danielle, I got the journalism bug; High School started writing for my school newspaper, thought I wanted to be Oprah, [laughs] I went to USC decided to study print journalism and realized this is not for me - this is not the type of writing I want to do. I took a couple of detours, but always writing, while I'm taking detours; worked at the Grammys for eight years, and in 2020, when the world went nuts, I was like, ‘Uh, this is now or never type of situation.’ I quit my job, kept writing, and a friend said, ‘Check out this program.’ And I applied last year and didn't get it, got an interview, but tried again, I was pregnant, there's no way it was supposed to happen. So did it again. And actually, had something more personal to write about and got in. And now we're here.

I had no idea what being a mother was like, I couldn't even have imagined [laughs] what I'm going through now with this little one. So, it came about literally on a night off without the baby. We had a date night and I had some wine and started to just feel guilty about wine. [laughs] The idea actually came from that, I got it that night and wrote it while my child was asleep.

Sadie: How did your story idea come to life?

Danielle: I had a makeup artist cancel on me before a big event. When I was trying to figure out what to write about, I was like, ‘I need to think of something that just pissed me off lately.’ And I just remember I was literally crying in the hotel room trying to find a makeup artist. [laughs] So, I try to poke fun at that, but I wanted to tell it from the perspective of the person that's actually servicing other people and just kept hearing different types of horror stories about braiders, nail technicians, waxers, lash technicians, just canceling on their clients. I wanted to tell the story and kind of play a little bit with the fantasy versus reality. So yeah, that's how that came about.

Mayanna: I worked in corporate for a few years and found the reporting structures fascinating, especially the dynamic between executives and their assistants. It's such an important relationship built on a lot of trust, power, and communication, similar to the dynamics between dommes and subs in the BDSM world (some dommes and subs even sign fantasy "contracts" with each other!). While daydreaming in my car one day I started thinking about how an assistant could suddenly have the upper hand over their boss, and the story started falling into place. The two worlds - corporate workplace and BDSM - had so much surprising, hilarious overlap that they seemed perfect for pulling out the absurdity and heartfelt moments from one another.

Sadie: All of these stories are so unique to your voices, that’s awesome. As guest directors, what was the process behind being placed or selecting one of the three scripts?

Logan Browning: When I was invited, I was so excited, because I've been wanting to direct something for a long time. And this just felt so perfect, because it was all Black women. It was comedy. It was these novice voices that deserve their time to shine and be in the spotlight and launch their careers. Kiana's script was taken, so I was choosing between the other two scripts, and when I saw Atlanta hair braiding vibes, it's not specifically Atlanta, but I just felt very connected to it. And felt like I could do it justice and wanted to do my best. So that's how I ended up choosing Hey Boo.

Sadie: I'm curious, you’ve both been in this business for quite some time, but stepping into the directing role, how much did you learn on the job and collaborating?

Nicole Byer: I learned that, in directing, you have to be really firm in what you want. And that there are going to be times when you don’t get what you want and you have to make a choice to either fight everybody or just roll with the punches.

Logan: I sat down with Richard Shepard who directed me in The Perfection. It was really important to me to get advice from people I trusted and admired. I also shadowed Alma Har’el while she was filming Lady in the Lake. But one of the things Richard told me was, ‘You're gonna learn the most by doing.’ He was like, ‘It's great you're shadowing. You're talking with me, but you're gonna learn trial by fire.’ And I feel like every artist can relate to that in every medium. And I didn't understand it until we got there.

It was so important to me to do all the prep I could with Chris our DP, with Danielle, with our hair and makeup with wardrobe. And it was very important to me that it that Danielle's vision and her script were always the priority. But no one can prepare you for being on set and experiencing that. And what I learned for myself was I was built for that, being in this industry, working in this industry since I was 14, I've experienced what it is to be with every department, what it means to know everyone's name, what it means to know what everyone's job entails and how they work together. What I could not prepare for was having 30 minutes left to shoot the entire short and having five scenes left to having to figure out which one was most important! [laughs] That was nerve-racking.

Sadie: How do you know what direction to go in, what to scrap from those five scenes when under fire like that?

Logan: It ended up being a very difficult choice, because Danielle's film is about a lot of things. But the core of it, the theme of it is this hair braiding. And one of the things we didn't have enough of was actual hair braiding. And I ended up making a choice at the last minute, we had to do these really quick cuts. And I chose to have this like Salt Bae moment of her main character doing this like glitter, because to me, it was a magical film. And to me, I felt like the magic element, even though we wanted the hair braiding was going to have a comedic and special effect that I think our editor was going to be able to use. And it was heartbreaking to not have as much hair braiding as we wanted, but I do think that that magical moment sells the story of this girl who is, you know, she is a magician - what they do is magic. I think just knowing Danielle's script in my heart, and what I think is the story, it helped me to make my decision at that last moment.

Sadie: What was your immediate reaction/response as a director to Mayanna’s script?

Nicole: I thought it was fun and funny. I pole dance, so I gravitated towards the idea of a character being a dominatrix – not that they are the same things, but I am very pro-sex work. I think it should be decriminalized and I don’t think we see enough of it in comedy, especially where sex workers aren’t the punchline.

Sadie: Casting on Power Dynamics is fantastic – how much improv came into play and making sure the improv stayed true to the core of Mayanna’s script?

Nicole: I stuck to her script, but I allowed the actors to improvise a ton because you can get such funny sh** in the moment. Don Fanelli– who played the male lead- I’ve known for years and improvised with and I just know he’s so funny, so I’m going to let him do whatever he wants because it’s gold. And Tawny Newsome is such a funny person and honestly, I just let everybody play because I’d rather see actors have fun than try to remember a line and do a hundred takes to try to get the line right. And I wanted it to be as funny as possible.

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Sadie: What was the biggest takeaway from being on set, or maybe something you wish you would have known before stepping on set and watching your stories come to life?

Mayanna: Collaboration is key. It's one thing to write scripts on your computer screen in your apartment; it's a WHOLE other ballgame to start getting mentors, production teams, and a director involved! Once your script moves into production, so many amazingly talented people bring their unique skills and perspective to the project. It is unbelievably inspiring and exciting, but felt super unfamiliar to me. By the end, I learned you just have to remain open and accepting of changes and pivots throughout the process. Ultimately, it's not just your work anymore, it belongs to a team and it's always more fun to play with a team.

Kiana: I think the biggest thing I learned was it doesn't end with you writing the end on your script. It was really cool to get to see the actors and Tika make it their own and it was no longer just mine. So, on set, seeing it come to life and then just learning how to trust that all these people want this to be just as successful as I do, and letting go. That was sort of a big lesson too. It's just let go and trust that all these people are there to do their best work. And they did.

Sadie: Yeah, and Tika’s directing on your short Night Off is amazing. Seeing her transition from being this powerhouse in front of the camera to helming this short was really cool. You can tell that this time was having fun on that one.

Kiana: Yeah, we had a lot of fun and Tika is very natural and very kind. ] I felt like we were all in a safe space. And that was really nice.

Danielle: Yeah, my takeaway is the same - trust these people, they probably have been doing this longer, some of them longer than I've been on this earth. [laughs] Trust the process. I was quiet for most of the time, just watching everybody work and just by taking it all in, because I was already overwhelmed, I really didn't have that many notes and so it was just cool to see how everybody interpreted and just that trust factor - this is my baby, but you're gonna help me raise it.

Sadie: Once you were accepted into the fellowship, what was that development process like with your mentors to working with your directors?

Danielle: My script in particular had a lot of VFX type of stuff. And we were working with limited budgets. So mainly my mentor was kind of like toning it down, and then we added more heart to the story so that you got to see more of the mother-daughter relationship versus all these VFX. And she's running around a beauty supply store all crazy. And so, I took a lot of it out. And then when Logan came in on the process and started giving notes, she was like, ‘Hey, we can actually bring this element back and make it work.’ So, it was a lot of like taking things out, putting it back in, and try to come up with the best script possible. And Kay [Oyegun] really helped me with that. We would be on Zoom for a couple of hours, just going through Final Draft, page by page, and changing stuff. And she was a huge help in helping me process the notes. I know the notes process for a writer can be very daunting, but for me, it was like a really good experience. And I have to thank Kay for that because she really was on me.

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Kiana: I got to work with Leigh Davenport, and we were literally going page by page, seeing what works and what doesn't and then giving it to Tika and Tika had her own notes and sort of having to navigate her notes was a process. And we laughed about how it was a little difficult for me not to take the notes, but getting to the heart of what Tika was trying to tell me. But it helped, because I really got this first-hand experience on how to receive notes from professionals in the business. And that really helped me with the writing that I'm working on just personally now.

Mayanna: My mentor, Yamara Taylor, is absolutely brilliant! Development with her felt like a perfect little comedy tango. Her experiences and expertise helped me refine and sharpen everything in the script so that there was a laugh in every single line - dialogue and stage direction. I learned so much from working with her, not just about writing, but about my path in this industry and who I am as a writer. I'm so grateful that this program brought us together and look forward to continuing to learn from her.

Nicole Byer is an icon, and it was a dream getting to watch her work! She's smart, hilarious, and brought such a unique energy and clear vision to every part of the process - from our first Zoom chat to the final cut. The biggest takeaway was getting to see her in action on set; she was able to bring new humor to every part of the script and guide the actors to discover comedy and new choices in every take.

Sadie: As guest directors, what was your biggest takeaway working with the fellowship and working with these incredible writers?

Logan: Wow, my biggest takeaway. I think, it's a bit of an echo to what Kiana and Danielle have already said, but just learning more about the collaborative process, and how you communicate during that collaborative process. Because if you have a great idea, which you think is a great idea, but you don't know how to share it, and you don't know how to tend to the person receiving it, the idea will die, or the relationship will die, something will lose. But if you can take the time to figure out how to share the information the best way you know how, and allowing a third party to translate, then you can really make magic. I think that's what I learned the most.

Sadie: Do you see yourself directing more in the future, either features or episodic or both?

Logan: It is all I want in the entire world. If I leave 2023 directing an episode, I'll be the happiest woman on the planet. It's all I've ever wanted since I started in this industry. I never knew that that's what I really wanted. And I love acting and I will keep acting but a director on the set are the people I have always admired. And I never really understood why. They're the people I follow around on the set all the time. I want to know what they're doing and how they do things.

I'll never forget Jonathan Frakes directed us on an episode of a show I was on called Hit the Floor, and I remember the first day he walked on set, and of course, he's a star already, but he knew one of our grips names and I was like, ‘Have you met him before? How do you know his name?’ And he was like, ‘I read the call sheet,’ and it blew my mind. I know that sounds like such a simple thing, but I've never forgotten something like that, you can change the temperature on a set by just knowing everyone's names and what they do. It's all right there. I don't think enough people take the time to look at things like that and it actually really helped me even communicating, you know with our boom operator, for example, to be able to say someone's name, especially in those final moments versus yelling, ‘Sound, sound!’ it's really offensive. [laughs]

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Sadie: Totally. It starts at the top - you're setting the tone for everyone on your set. For you writers, biggest takeaway from this fellowship?

Danielle: That I can do it. [laughs] It sounds simple, but it's that I can actually write something. Sometimes you doubt yourself, especially as a writer, you’re too much in your head, but now, I can do this.

Sadie: Yeah, throw out that imposter syndrome. Get it out of here!

Kiana: Imposter syndrome is so real! This definitely made me feel like I can do it. And it's given me so much confidence. I'm excited. I have hope in this industry, you hear a lot of nos, and we'll probably still hear them, but we have a group of people behind us supporting us and it just kind of feels like this is the beginning.

Sadie: Any advice to those who are applying and/or get accepted to the Women Write Now Fellowship?

Danielle: When it comes to writing the short, I will say draw from your personal life and try to poke fun at it. And then when you end up in the fellowship, just take advantage of the workshops, take notes, follow up with people - I'm the worst at following up. [laughs] But definitely follow up with the people from the workshops and take advantage of everything the program has to offer.

Kiana: Just keep writing, keep writing your stories. Pull from people, make up some stuff, that's what writers do, [laughs] just do it. My husband likes to say, ‘Lie! Don't be afraid to lie.’ [laughs] Just keep writing and once you're in, really take advantage of it. Ask questions and know that no one bites - like Tika Sumpter, I was little like, ‘Whoa!’ [laughs] because she's a celebrity, and even Logan, I'm like, ‘I watch you on TV!’ But they are people and they are so kind and very helpful. So just treat them like your buddy. [laughs]

Mayanna: Write something. First and foremost, you just gotta get that first draft down on the page to explore the ideas. Then, make it as funny as possible. Then - and this is only because of the unique opportunity of this program - you need to tailor it to be producible and feasible (save your big budget Sci-Fi for the Nicholls Fellowship *wink*) The fact that they actually make your comedy and put it on screen is such a unique opportunity among the screenwriting fellowships, but it does require to think about your writing differently. Start with an idea you love and that makes you laugh... then bring it back into scope.

Nicole: My advice to directors coming into the program would be to talk to other experienced directors! Their experiences will be so helpful to learn from and they will have a different perspective from anyone else on set.

Logan: From the director's end, I would just say if you get invited to be a part of this, it's an honor. Like it's an honor, it's a gift. As a first-time director, I had a lot of doors shut in front of me. I've wanted to do this for a long time. And I am so grateful that this was my first time - I cannot imagine it being any other way, because I learned through this process. It's a fellowship for the writers, but it was a complete gift to me, so you should be so lucky to be a part of this program.

To learn more about the Women Write Now fellowship, click here. 

All three shorts are now available on Peacock! You can find the short films on Peacock’s ‘Movies’ homepage HERE.