Gina Prince-Bythewood and the End of the Black Movie

Gina Prince-Bythewood writes love stories. In an industry largely dominated with stories of white male protagonists, the screenwriter and director began telling stories that highlighted the characters that fall into the background of cinema: women, particularly those of color. In 2000, her critically acclaimed Love & Basketball was a smash hit featuring two leading black characters in a story she hadn’t expected studios to buy. Now with two profitable movies under her belt – Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees – Prince-Bythewood’s third major film Beyond the Lights continues her commitment to complex, humanized depictions of leading characters of color. [quote_right]”For me it’s just about putting people of color in every genre and making it become normal.”[/quote_right]Despite the success of her two previous pictures, Beyond the Lights was still a difficult sell based on the industry’s perception and reach of the “black movie.” “Honestly, with the success of Love & Basketball and Secret Life of Bees, I thought Beyond the Lights would be easy to be made. But it was tough,” she recalls when asked about finding studios willing to finance the film. “With my focus – which is women, and people of color – those films are harder to be made.” She continues to make them nonetheless, and their ongoing success shows what Prince-Bythewood already knows to be true: the same way she can go see The Notebook and fall in love with those characters, anybody can see her films and fall…