Gina Prince-Bythewood

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Gina Prince-Bythewood

Gina Prince-Bythewood
Born Gina Maria Prince
(1969-06-10) June 10, 1969
United States
Education UCLA
Occupation Director
Screenwriter
Known for Love & Basketball
The Secret Life of Bees
Beyond the Lights
Home town Pacific Grove, California
Spouse(s) Reggie Rock Bythewood
Children 2

Gina Prince-Bythewood (born Gina Maria Prince; June 10, 1969)[1] is an American film director and screenwriter.[2] She is known for directing and producing the films Disappearing Acts (2000) and Love & Basketball (2000), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), and Beyond the Lights (2014).

Early life

Prince-Bythewood was adopted by Bob Prince, a computer programmer, and Maria Prince, a nurse, when she was 3 weeks old.[3] Her adoptive father is white and her adoptive mother is of El Salvadorian and German descent.[4][5] She grew up in the white middle-class neighborhood of Pacific Grove, California.[6] Her adoptive parents had four children before adopting her, so she has four siblings.[3]

She said she sought out her birth mother recently, but it was not a positive experience. Her birth mother, who is caucasian, was a teenager when she gave her up for adoption, and because her family knew her child would be black, they wanted the young girl to have an abortion.[7][8]

In 1987, Prince-Bythewood graduated from Pacific Grove High School.[3] She attended UCLA's film school, where she also ran competitive track.[9] At UCLA, she received the Gene Reynolds Scholarship for Directing and the Ray Stark Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Undergraduates. She graduated in 1991.[10]

Career

After five years working in TV as a writer on shows like A Different World and South Central, Prince-Bythewood wrote her first film, 2000's Love & Basketball.[11] The film was developed at the Sundance Institute's directing and writing lab.[6]

She directed the feature film The Secret Life of Bees, which was adapted from the best-selling book by Sue Monk Kidd. It was released by Fox Searchlight in October 2008, and debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival and Urbanworld Film Festival that same year.[12]

In 2014, Prince-Bythewood directed Beyond the Lights, starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw.[13] Prince-Bythewood began work on the film in 2007, before work on 2008's The Secret Life of Bees was completed, but struggled to find financing after her original production company, Sony, backed out after she insisted on casting Gugu Mbatha-Raw.[14][15] The film premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.[16]

Beyond the Lights was originally called Blackbird, and is based on the Nina Simone song "Blackbird" from the record Nina Simone with Strings.[17] Prince-Bythewood said: "That song really inspired the movie and inspired Noni's story."[15] The main character's story was loosely inspired by the lives of Marilyn Monroe and Judy Garland.[18] Prince-Bythewood did research with the assistance of a number of singers, including Alicia Keys.[19] The story was also inspired by an experience seeing Keys play the song "Diary." Elements of the film, especially the sexualization of female pop artists, act as a "critique of American media culture."[20]

The film was shot in 29 days and cost $7 million.[9] All of the key crew members on the film were women, including costume designer Sandra Hernandez, production designer Cecilia Montiel, cinematographer Tami Reiker, and editor Teri Shropshire.[21] Other collaborators were choreographer Laurieann Gibson (Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj), hairstylist Kimberly Kimble (Beyonce), and record producer The-Dream.[22]

In 2016 Prince-Bythewood announced her next project would be an adaptation of Roxane Gay's novel An Untamed State. The project would be co-written by herself and Gay and would star Gugu Mbatha-Raw[23]

Personal life

Prince-Bythewood is married to film director and writer Reggie Rock Bythewood, who she met on the writing staff of A Different World.[24] They have two sons, Cassius and Toussaint, and live in Southern California.

Along with friends Mara Brock Akil, Sara Finney Johnson and Felicia D. Henderson, Prince-Bythewood endows The Four Sisters Scholarship.[25]

Filmography

Film

Television

TV movie

TV series

TV short

Awards

References

  1. ↑ "Gina Maria Prince – United States Public Records". FamilySearch. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  2. ↑ Seymour, Gene (9 January 2009). "Black Directors Look Beyond Their Niche". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  3. 1 2 3 Cabrera, Marc (17 October 2008). "Buzzing about 'Bees': Pacific Grove native turned film director Gina Prince-Bythewood ushers new project to big screen". Monterey Herald. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  4. ↑ Rich, Katey (14 October 2008). "Interview: Secret Life Of Bees Director Gina Prince-Bythewood". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  5. ↑ Houston, Shannon M. (21 November 2014). "Gina Prince-Bythewood On Beyond the Lights, and Dismantling the "Black Film" Genre". Paste Magazine. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  6. 1 2 Rochlin, Margy (Fall 2008). "Gina Prince-Bythewood: The Bee Season". Directors Guild of America (DGA). Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  7. ↑ Greene, David (14 November 2014). "Director Gina Prince-Bythewood: It's Time To 'Obliterate The Term Black Film'" (Audio interview). Morning Edition (NPR). Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  8. ↑ Cadenas, Kerensa (14 November 2014). "Love & Gina Prince-Bythewood". The Hairpin. Retrieved 23 November 2014.
  9. 1 2 Ebiri, Bilge (16 November 2014). "Director Gina Prince-Bythewood on Beyond the Lights, Creating Great Chemistry, and Shooting Love Scenes". Vulture (New York). Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  10. ↑ "Gina Prince-Bythewood ’91". UCLA Alumni. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  11. ↑ Rosen, Lisa (12 October 2008). "Learning to adapt". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  12. ↑ "Filmmaker Interview: Gina Prince-Bythewood". Film Independent. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  13. ↑ Camilleri, Ricky (18 September 2014). "Nate Parker & 'Beyond The Lights' Director LIVE" (Video interview). Huffington Post LIVE. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  14. ↑ Kaufman, Amy (18 November 2014). "'Beyond the Lights' director gave film's star a crash course in diva". LA Times. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  15. 1 2 Morales, Wilson (30 September 2014). "Exclusive: Gina Prince-Bythewood Talks ‘Beyond The Lights’". BlackFilm. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  16. ↑ "Special Presentations: Beyond the Lights". TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  17. ↑ Hope, Clover (14 November 2014). "A Conversation with Beyond the Lights Director Gina Prince-Bythewood". Jezebel. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  18. ↑ Moskowitz, Shaina (19 November 2014). "Exclusive: Gina Prince-Bythewood Talks Writing & Directing ‘Beyond The Lights’". The Source. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  19. ↑ Ford, Rebecca (14 November 2014). "'Beyond the Lights' Director on the "Maddening" Challenges of Getting the Movie Made". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  20. ↑ Sachs, Ben (25 November 2014). "Beyond the Lights is the most subversive American movie of the year". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  21. ↑ Tiggett, Jai (12 November 2014). "Interview: Gina Prince-Bythewood on Empowering Girls & Women in Charge w/'Beyond The Lights' (Opens Fri)". Indiewire. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  22. ↑ Noonan, Kevin (13 November 2014). "‘Beyond the Lights’ Premiere: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Gina Prince-Bythewood on Creating a Pop Star". Variety. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  23. ↑ Fleming Jr, Mike. "Gugu Mbatha-Raw To Star, Gina Prince-Bythewood To Helm ‘An Untamed State’". Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  24. ↑ Wynn, Ron (13 November 2014). "Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood and star Nate Parker go Beyond the Lights in Nashville". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  25. ↑ Franco, Ariela (4 August 2005). "'Four Sisters' Endow New UCLA Scholarship for Film and Television Students to Portray the African American Experience". UCLA Newsroom. Retrieved 20 November 2014.

External links

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