Malcolm Washington's directorial debut The Piano Lesson, a film adaptation of August Wilson's play of the same name, is now out in theaters, and I'm telling you you need to run to theaters to see this film. And then watch it again when it comes on Netflix on November 22.

But first, please indulge me in a little story time.

Okay let me set the scene. It's May 2022 and I've just graduated from Georgia State's film program. Now although I was graduating in 2022, I had been working independently as a filmmaker for a few years at that point and had an industry job here and there. I officially considered myself a filmmaker in 2016 and had various jobs in the industry from set PA to associate producer, but nothing that lasted longer than a week. The productions I had worked on were never longer than that. So since I was approaching graduation and also my 24th birthday (meaning, your girl was getting older), I was actively looking for a job on a studio production, and one that would last at least a few months.

Fast forward to September 2022. I got an opportunity to work my first show at Tyler Perry Studios. I was so excited. I grew up in East Point and had been trying to get a job at TPS for years. There were days I physically went up there with my resume in hand thinking I would be able to hand it to someone who could bring me onto a show.

I never got past security.

But here it was, September 2022, and I was finally about to get past the security gate. It was Season 3 of All the Queens Men and I was brought on to be a Set PA. The job lasted all of 3 weeks. It was great. I learned a lot, saw a lot, and stood a whole lot. Standing on your feet for practically 14 hours a day doing sound lock-ups is no joke. If you know, you know. That job ended and two months later, I got the opportunity to be one of the Background (BG) PAs on Sistas S6. That job lasted 2 weeks. Quicker, good experience, and gratefully, a lot less standing.

At this point, the holidays are here and the film industry is going dark, as far as active productions go. Meanwhile the funds in my bank account are doing the same thing. Going dark, disappearing, going bye bye. I didn't know what to do.

Finally, a few months later, in February 2023, I started seeing productions crewing up again. In one of the many GA Film FaceBook groups I was in, I saw a post looking for an Office PA on BMF S3. I applied and got called to interview. The interview went great, I was sure I had it, and I definitely wanted it.

Well about 2 days later, I found out that I did not in fact have it, and was not getting the job.

Back to Square 1.

Now it's March. At this point, I'm damn near a year out from graduation. Still no money, and worst, no prospects.

One day I'm sitting at one of my favorite restaurants. It's amazing how my bank account will be looking so sad, and somehow I'll find just enough to go out to eat. Anyway, I get a call from a random number. So naturally, I don't answer. About a second later, I get a text from the same number asking if I was interested in being an Office PA on a Netflix film production. I immediately call the number back. The lady introduces herself and tells me that she is the Production Coordinator on a Netflix film and they are getting the crew together for preproduction. I ask her about the movie and she couldn't tell me much at the time, but said that the movie was starring John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. Then I asked her how she got my information and she said that she got it from one of the people who interviewed me for the BMF job! How amazing is that? I didn't get the BMF job, but they liked me enough to give my name to the next opportunity. I was and am so grateful. To the kind soul who passed on my name, thank you 🙏🏾.

So of course I'm like, "(hell) yes I want to do it!" She's like "okay cool, let me talk to the Production Supervisor and get back to you." At this point, I'm like aw man. I'm thinking it's locked in and now she's telling me she has to talk to someone else to confirm. I immediately got worried that the opportunity wouldn't come through, but I let that fear come and go and waited until I heard from her again.

About a day or so later, she got back to me and said they had just hired another Office PA, but that he wasn't able to start until the upcoming Wednesday and they needed someone to start Monday. So she asked if I could day play on Monday and Tuesday. I'm like yes for sure. I was disappointed I wasn't going to be a part of the official crew, but I was going to take what I could get and be grateful for it.

Day Playing

"The Day Player is responsible for working on the production on a daily basis to ensure they fill in for missing crew members or offer additional help wherever it is needed on the set" (Beverly Boy Productions).

So I day played that Monday and Tuesday, learned more about the project and the team behind it, and fell.in.love. I knew August Wilson and had even seen Fences. I hadn't read The Piano Lesson or seen the 1995 film adaptation, but I have always valued and been passionate about Black storytelling and wanted to be a part of the telling of this story.

So, the planner in me went to work. I started devising a plan to get asked to stay on for the entire production. It wasn't fool-proof and I wasn't exactly sure how things would go, I just knew I had to work on this project.

Tuesday night came and it was time for me to go. The first thing I did was went to the production coordinator who called me about the opportunity in the first place and I expressed my gratitude for the opportunity and my desire to be considered for any future opportunities. She thanked me and said that she would be in touch if anything came up, but it wasn't really anything at the moment. I smiled and thanked her and said goodbye to everyone that was still there.

When I tell you I got in the car and boo-hoo cried. I was crying so much to the point where I could barely see. I mean it was night time so it was dark outside and my tears were so blinding it was literally hard for me to see while driving. It was crazy, and lowkey dangerous. The thing is though, I was crying so much because I felt like I had an opportunity to be a part of such a powerful, beautiful story and I felt like the opportunity was presented to me, just for it to be taken away. And that hurt and saddened me. I was disappointed. I remember talking to my boyfriend that night and he was telling me that someone from the production office might call me back for a position or opportunity that comes up. Then I remember talking to my mom and she was like, maybe the two days was all I needed to show me that what I want is possible and now I need to take the inspiration and motivation I got from the experience and do something with it. Hearing both of those things were helpful, but it wasn't exactly what I was trying to hear at the time.

Well the next day I woke up and I was over being sad and ready to strategize and move forward. I decided to send an official email to the production coordinator once again to thank her for the opportunity and letting her know that I'm interested and available for any future opportunities and would love to be a part of the official crew. She emailed me back basically saying the same thing she said at the office, "Thank you Summer, you were great to have in the office and if anything comes up I will let you know." That was cool, I wasn't necessarily expecting a different response from just the night before, but I said to myself, I need to go to the person above her - the production supervisor, but unfortunately I didn't have his email address. So I texted one of the office PAs I met while I was day-playing to see if he had his email.

On Friday morning he texted me back with the Production Supervisor's email address.

Perfect.

I basically sent him the same email that I had sent the Production Coordinator. And then I kid you not, about 30 minutes later, I get a text from the Production Coordinator and she's like, "hey Summer we're looking for somebody to be our production sustainability advisor. Is that something you would be interested in?" She tells me that it's more so a position through Netflix so I would be working directly with the Netflix Regional Sustainability Advisor as my point person and I would be a part of the official crew. Like what?!! Yes!!!!! I didn't even know what a Production Sustainability Advisor was or what they did, but I didn't care, I said "yes!" I could figure it out later.

I quickly Googled "Production sustainability advisor" while we were texting and I didn't see much, mostly the composting and recycling work from Earth Angels and that was basically it. But I didn't care if I was going to be composting food all day, I was going to secure my crew position on this movie at that was that. So this was like Friday morning, by like 5 PM, I was on the phone with the regional sustainability advisor from Netflix and she was giving me the rundown of the position. My start date was the following Monday. and here's a gag, not only was I going to be the Head of the sustainability department (it was pretty much a department of 1), but also it paid more than an office PA. So I left the office, wanting the job of an Office PA, on Tuesday night, and came back the following Monday morning as the Production Sustainability Advisor; I secured my position not only as an official crew member but as a department head. Moral of the story, let God lead. Because God's plan, will always be bigger and better than your own.

So I left the office, wanting the job of an Office PA, on Tuesday night, and came back the following Monday morning as the Production Sustainability Advisor; I secured my position not only as an official crew member but as a department head. Moral of the story, let God lead. Because God's plan, will always be bigger and better than your own.

So what even is a Production Sustainability Advisor?

Netflix, and probably a couple of other production companies and platforms, has committed to reducing their carbon footprint across all of their productions, meaning making their productions and sets greener. A Production Sustainability Advisor focuses on fuel and waste reduction during production and tracking how much fuel/waste is being both used and saved. In addition to that, another part of my role was setting up the production's composting initiative so that cast and crew were able to compost food and waste rather than putting everything in the trash. I also worked with departments to make sure items that could be donated were being taken to the right places, such as construction materials when we wrapped, some of the set design and wardrobe, and even batteries. One of the more rewarding parts of the job was working with Umi of Umi Feeds who ensured any leftover consumable food from catering was taken to a downtown Atlanta safe house that served the food to individuals experiencing homelessness. And much much more.

Now that's all about waste reduction, let me tell you about how my job incorporated fuel reduction as well. On sets there are constantly diesel generators running to power everything from sets to tents to basecamp and even the restrooms, So another part of my job was researching electric and hybrid generators that could replace some of the diesel generators being used. I would work with the vendors of these electric and hybrid generators and with the Transpo and Locations departments to make sure their needs could still be met with the battery options. Because of this we were able to reduce the amount of fuel being used to power the set and run the overall production.

There's so much more I could say about all that came with being a Production Sustainability Advisor and how much I loved it, but I'll wrap up by saying that the experience taught me how much is involved in planning and executing a successful studio film production and how important it is to prioritize sustainability throughout the process, so that we can continue to tell the stories we love and want to tell for a very long time.

That's a Wrap

In June of 2023 we wrapped production.

Now, in November of 2024, The Piano Lesson is here!! Please go see this film. It is now out in theaters and will be on Netflix November 22. This film is truly a work of art and a labor of love both on and off the screen. TPL is Malcom Washington's directorial debut and it's his film adaptation of August Wilson's play. It was an HONOR to be a part of such a meaningful piece of work. TPL is an about the power of family, our history, ancestry, and the significance of our heirlooms. I've seen this film in theaters twice already and ima see it again once it gets on Netflix. I encourage you to see this film and be reminded of the brilliance that takes place when we tell our stories 🤎