Director Gina Prince-Bythewood is probably best known for the 2000 black film classic Love & Basketball starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps. Before then, she graduated from UCLA film school and worked as a television writer for shows like A Different World, Felicity, and South Central. Her recent film work producing Biker Boyz (2003), which was directed by her husband Reggie Rock Bythewood, and writing and directing The Secret Life of Bees (2008).

Below, Gina Prince-Bythewood discusses writing scripts, adapting books, and experiencing discrimination in Hollywood.

As a filmmaker, who were your role models?
He’s not technically a role model, but the filmmaker I respect the most is Martin Scorsese. Because I think he’s brilliant and you look at his movies and they don’t make a ton of money but they’re so respected. He has a point of view and he sticks with it. I’d love to have a career like that. I’ll always go back to my roots – with black film – but also I’d like to do something totally different and surprise people.

The stigma associated with women playing sports is definitely still out there. Do you think [Love & Basketball] will help raise awareness of the athletic talent available on high school and college courts?
Definitely. I hear the way men still talk about women’s ball if they’re watching it on TV and how they crack up. It pisses me off. Women may not be dunking and it’s at an earlier stage than men’s ball but it is growing and getting better. And most men automatically assume that if a woman plays ball and she doesn’t do her nails or wear make-up that she’s not attractive. I hope [Love & Basketball] helps change that perception.

In the years since Love & Basketball, have you been developing any of your own scripts?
Yeah. After [Love & Basketball and Disappearing Acts], I took a break and then produced my husband’s film and then it was about writing again. And I actually adapted a book that I was really excited about, Wally Lam’s I Know This Much is True. Great, great book. I thought it was going to go. It’s just a really tough thing to cast because it’s about identical twins, one of whom is schizophrenic. So it’s the same actor. It’s a great part, but it’s a scary part for actors so it was a little tough to cast. That was taking forever and then this came so I may go back to that.

Can you talk about how [The Secret Life of Bees] evolved, how you got involved, how much contact you had with Sue [Monk Kidd] and whether or not she wanted to be involved?
The project got sent to me before it even came out. It was released as a book so it got to me 6 or 7 years ago. But I’d come off of back to back movies and I was burned out so I didn’t even pick it up. I put it in my closet and ignored it. Throughout the years, my mom, friends, cousins kept telling me “You’ve got to read this book, The Secret Lives of Bees.” I kept blowing it off. Then about 2 years ago, I was sitting on set with an actor friend of mine. She said she was going in to audition for it and I just got incredibly jealous. I was thinking, “Wait, that’s supposed to be my movie,” even though I hadn’t read it yet. So I went home that night and read it in one sitting and then was incredibly pissed off because I realized the opportunity that I had let get away.

Then miraculously, 2 months later, I got a call from my agents that they didn’t like the script from the other studio and it moved to another studio. They wanted to start over. So this time I was like “Yes” and I went after it and got it. I think everything happens for a reason. I don’t think 5 years ago I was ready to tell the story, but also Dakota was clearly not old enough. I cannot see this film without Dakota. Jennifer Hudson wasn’t even on the scene, Alicia was too young, Queen was in a different place. Once I got it officially, I sent an email to Sue Monk telling her how much I loved the book and that I’d do my best to protect it. She had watched Love & Basketball when she found out that I’d got it and sent me this great email back that she trusted and believed in me.

So I wrote the script. It took about a month which is the fastest I’ve ever written anything, but you know it’s all there in the book. I sent it to Sue and that was just the scariest 3 days. She took 3 days to respond. Day after day I was getting more and more freaked out. The thing was she was scared on her own to pick it up and read it because she didn’t know what she was going to find. Then 3 days later I got this beautiful email about how much she loved it. At that point, we started talking on the phone. She had a couple thoughts about it. I’d say 90 per cent of her thoughts I took and it’s just been a great collaboration and thankfully she loves the film.

Do you generally look for adaptations these days or are there other things that you want to do that are original?
Yeah. The thing I’m probably going to come out with next — I was actually writing it also when I was doing this – is a modern love story set in the music world and I’m real excited about that. Adaptations are great because it’s right there for you, you know, the structure and the characters, but it’s also tough because you’re trying to push an entire book into a screenplay and what do you take out and what do you keep in? And when everything is your own, it’s 100 per cent your vision. There’s something nice about that.

We hear there’s plenty of ageism, racism, sexism in Hollywood. How do you cope as a young, black woman?

All three exist in Hollywood, constantly. But personally, I’ve been fortunate in the opportunities that I’ve had. I’ve faced more problems in TV than I have in film. There were those dramas…like Sweet Justice, which I had a script canned by the network because they said it was, “too black”. And then when I joined the show Courthouse it had two black leads [Jeffrey Sams and Robin Givens] and a new regime came in and said, “You can’t have a drama with black leads.” So they recast the show with two white leads. Dealing with that stuff was really frustrating. That’s why I like film.

But there’s so little diversity in black film. That’s why I’m glad films like The Best Man and Love & Basketball got made and I hope that the trend can continue. It’s so disheartening that in all the preview audiences we’ve had, one of the biggest reasons people applaud the film is because no one gets shot and no one is on drugs. How sad is that? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a little Booty Call if we can get our own Braveheart once in awhile.

Interview excerpts from BeatBoxBetty and MoviesOnline.

Related: 10 Black Female Directors You Should Know

8 COMMENTS

  1. Very inspiring. I love couples like this that do stuff the both love or help each other grow. Black society lacks a sense of this unit. Will Smith and Jada are my heroes too. We need black Bravehearts… too much Booty Call crap.. makes black people look like all we care abt is drugs and sex.

  2. oooooohhhh love and basketball, disappearing acts, the secret life of bees, black women have done some. I wouldn’t have thought the director of love and basketball has a name like this, Bythewood? Hnnn.

  3. Does anyone have any information about getting in contact with Mrs. Bythewood.. or at least her agent? I’m working on to screenplays I would love for her to check out in the near future.

  4. You can find out her agent information on imdbpro. If you don’t have an account, you could open a trial account for about 15 days and cancel before the trial period is over to avoid being charged. Or you could try contacting the director’s guild. Good luck!

  5. Author Curtis Butler III Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.
    October 15th, 2012 at 9:33 PM
    I wrote a book call ‘PTSD MY STORY PLEASE LISTEN”! which stands for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for military and civilians. I also did a Good Morning America piece which was sent off approximately 5 months ago, call Good Morning America 3 words. How do I get my script to one of these great movie producer? I would love to donate my proceeds to my church Higher Living Christian Church which would consist of 10% tithes and offering, and donating 50% to the Wounded Veterans here in Atlanta, GA. The homeless Veterans, with or with out children, Veterans with AIDS/ HIV, and food banks. Can you assist me. Thank you for everything God Bless..

  6. Hi my name is Jean-Leonard and I’m a big fan of all movies produced and written by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and I’m not one whip considers myself to be a writer but I do write some fiction and also some nonfiction stories as well but it wasn’t till a few days ago even I was too told by a professor of mine to write a paper about my life, and actually sat down and actually wrote down everything that had happened top me thus far in my life up until that moment; I say that because everytime someone usually asks me about my childhood I usually only say the positive and leave out the negative but on this assignment I actually said everything which apprised me as well. And when the professor emailed me back about the assignment she stated that, that paper wa an amazing paper one if the most saddest papers she read about her students and then suggested that I should think about getting it published because a lot of people loves stories like this and there are people out there who can relate to what I have gone through but I was hoping that maybe you would help me figure out a way to get my sto

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    Gina Prince-Bythewood

    Director Gina Prince-Bythewood is probably best known for the 2000 black film classic Love & Basketball starring Sanaa Lathan and Omar Epps. Before then, she graduated from UCLA film school and worked as a television writer for shows like A Different World, Felicity, and South Central. Her recent film work producing Biker Boyz (2003), which was directed by her husband Reggie Rock Bythewood, and writing and directing The Secret Life of Bees (2008).

    Below, Gina Prince-Bythewood discusses writing scripts, adapting books, and experiencing discrimination in Hollywood.

    As a filmmaker, who were your role models?
    He’s not technically a role model, but the filmmaker I respect the most is Martin Scorsese. Because I think he’s brilliant and you look at his movies and they don’t make a ton of money but they’re so respected. He has a point of view and he sticks with it. I’d love to have a career like that. I’ll always go back to my roots – with black film – but also I’d like to do something totally different and surprise people.

    The stigma associated with women playing sports is definitely still out there. Do you think [Love & Basketball] will help raise awareness of the athletic talent available on high school and college courts?
    Definitely. I hear the way men still talk about women’s ball if they’re watching it on TV and how they crack up. It pisses me off. Women may not be dunking and it’s at an earlier stage than men’s ball but it is growing and getting better. And most men automatically assume that if a woman plays ball and she doesn’t do her nails or wear make-up that she’s not attractive. I hope [Love & Basketball] helps change that perception.

    In the years since Love & Basketball, have you been developing any of your own scripts?
    Yeah. After [Love & Basketball and Disappearing Acts], I took a break and then produced my husband’s film and then it was about writing again. And I actually adapted a book that I was really excited about, Wally Lam’s I Know This Much is True. Great, great book. I thought it was going to go. It’s just a really tough thing to cast because it’s about identical twins, one of whom is schizophrenic. So it’s the same actor. It’s a great part, but it’s a scary part for actors so it was a little tough to cast. That was taking forever and then this came so I may go back to that.

    Can you talk about how [The Secret Life of Bees] evolved, how you got involved, how much contact you had with Sue [Monk Kidd] and whether or not she wanted to be involved?
    The project got sent to me before it even came out. It was released as a book so it got to me 6 or 7 years ago. But I’d come off of back to back movies and I was burned out so I didn’t even pick it up. I put it in my closet and ignored it. Throughout the years, my mom, friends, cousins kept telling me “You’ve got to read this book, The Secret Lives of Bees.” I kept blowing it off. Then about 2 years ago, I was sitting on set with an actor friend of mine. She said she was going in to audition for it and I just got incredibly jealous. I was thinking, “Wait, that’s supposed to be my movie,” even though I hadn’t read it yet. So I went home that night and read it in one sitting and then was incredibly pissed off because I realized the opportunity that I had let get away.

    Then miraculously, 2 months later, I got a call from my agents that they didn’t like the script from the other studio and it moved to another studio. They wanted to start over. So this time I was like “Yes” and I went after it and got it. I think everything happens for a reason. I don’t think 5 years ago I was ready to tell the story, but also Dakota was clearly not old enough. I cannot see this film without Dakota. Jennifer Hudson wasn’t even on the scene, Alicia was too young, Queen was in a different place. Once I got it officially, I sent an email to Sue Monk telling her how much I loved the book and that I’d do my best to protect it. She had watched Love & Basketball when she found out that I’d got it and sent me this great email back that she trusted and believed in me.

    So I wrote the script. It took about a month which is the fastest I’ve ever written anything, but you know it’s all there in the book. I sent it to Sue and that was just the scariest 3 days. She took 3 days to respond. Day after day I was getting more and more freaked out. The thing was she was scared on her own to pick it up and read it because she didn’t know what she was going to find. Then 3 days later I got this beautiful email about how much she loved it. At that point, we started talking on the phone. She had a couple thoughts about it. I’d say 90 per cent of her thoughts I took and it’s just been a great collaboration and thankfully she loves the film.

    Do you generally look for adaptations these days or are there other things that you want to do that are original?
    Yeah. The thing I’m probably going to come out with next — I was actually writing it also when I was doing this – is a modern love story set in the music world and I’m real excited about that. Adaptations are great because it’s right there for you, you know, the structure and the characters, but it’s also tough because you’re trying to push an entire book into a screenplay and what do you take out and what do you keep in? And when everything is your own, it’s 100 per cent your vision. There’s something nice about that.

    We hear there’s plenty of ageism, racism, sexism in Hollywood. How do you cope as a young, black woman?

    All three exist in Hollywood, constantly. But personally, I’ve been fortunate in the opportunities that I’ve had. I’ve faced more problems in TV than I have in film. There were those dramas…like Sweet Justice, which I had a script canned by the network because they said it was, “too black”. And then when I joined the show Courthouse it had two black leads [Jeffrey Sams and Robin Givens] and a new regime came in and said, “You can’t have a drama with black leads.” So they recast the show with two white leads. Dealing with that stuff was really frustrating. That’s why I like film.

    But there’s so little diversity in black film. That’s why I’m glad films like The Best Man and Love & Basketball got made and I hope that the trend can continue. It’s so disheartening that in all the preview audiences we’ve had, one of the biggest reasons people applaud the film is because no one gets shot and no one is on drugs. How sad is that? I mean, there’s nothing wrong with a little Booty Call if we can get our own Braveheart once in awhile.

    Interview excerpts from BeatBoxBetty and MoviesOnline.

    Related: 10 Black Female Directors You Should Know

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    7 Comments LEAVE A RESPONSE
    Jean-Leonard CasseusOctober 10, 2014 at EDT
    Hi my name is Jean-Leonard and I’m a big fan of all movies produced and written by Gina Prince-Bythewood, and I’m not one whip considers myself to be a writer but I do write some fiction and also some nonfiction stories as well but it wasn’t till a few days ago even I was too told by a professor of mine to write a paper about my life, and actually sat down and actually wrote down everything that had happened top me thus far in my life up until that moment; I say that because everytime someone usually asks me about my childhood I usually only say the positive and leave out the negative but on this assignment I actually said everything which apprised me as well. And when the professor emailed me back about the assignment she stated that, that paper wa an amazing paper one if the most saddest papers she read about her students and then suggested that I should think about getting it published because a lot of people loves stories like this and there are people out there who can relate to what I have gone through but I was hoping that maybe you would help me figure out a way to get my story published or maybe even give me some tips so I can help people who are going through similar things that I have experienced in my life. thank you reading and have a great one

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