It’s a studio ritual almost as old as Hollywood: announce a production deal right before the release of a filmmaker’s new movie. For David and Jessica Oyelowo’s Yoruba/Saxon, the twinning of “The Water Man” (David’s directorial debut, which opened theatrically last week) and a two-year first-look Disney deal is more than industry rite. After seven years and six films, it means that the industry has started to catch up to them.
Like many actors, the Oyelowos created a company to improve their own opportunities. In their case, the struggles they faced mirrored a much larger one. “One of the main reasons we wanted to start the company was to have a voice and to provide a place for voices that weren’t being heard,” Jessica said in a recent interview with IndieWire. “For Hollywood to finance certain projects, they required a certain perspective on someone else’s story. We were looking at this as actors thinking, ‘How can we be the voice? How can we be the protagonist in our own stories when there’s always somebody else’s point of view to tell our stories?’ And particularly for Black voices. It’s been a massive problem for such a long time.”
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