What was the negotiation like with casting Really Love and what was it like to sell the role while being transparent about what this deal is? Who got called?
I think for Kofi [Siriboe], it was an opportunity for him to shine outside of television in a leading role to show his skills and to do something different. In terms of Michael Ealy and Blair Underwood, they are leading men themselves. So it was with favors, and relationships [that they agreed] because there was no budget that could have paid them what they deserve from our standpoint. There haven’t been tons of Black love stories. So we really had to sell them on the passion that we had, and what we thought that this would do for our culture.
As a producer, how did that feel to you knowing that you now had successfully created while budgeting?
Good, because it was so hard. You look at all these people who are getting paid lots of money in other areas to do [what we’re asking]. And they’re doing it all for less, and so I felt very proud. A lot of times the money dictates where we get to say about ourselves in our culture, what it is we get to share, and how we get to share it. So, with MACRO being in support of this movie, we got to show things that we haven’t seen because the lens through which the money comes from doesn’t see us that way.
