Screenwriting 101: Trey Ellis

“I noticed that race colors the perception of me in the film community today much more than I would have thought a decade ago. I call it my ‘Lion Theory.’ Being black in Hollywood sometimes feels like being a lion. You might think of yourself as a happy lion, an over-educated lion, a fat lion, a lion in a Donna Karan suit, but as soon as you enter a room, all the creative exec seems to see are teeth and mane. That is not to say that I feel they are afraid of being eaten or menaced in any way, just that that one fact about me often seems to totally eclipse all others.

Where I see this played out most baldly is in the scripts I am most often offered. The studio will say they just read my supposedly arty, nuanced spec script about an interracial love affair set in the 50s, say they are aware that I am also a novelist and journalist, then ask me if I’d like to do a quick polish of Booty Call: The Revenge. At times like that, if I were really a beast prowling the Serengeti, I’d be tempted to bite a quick chunk out of somebody’s leg.

I haven’t always loved Hollywood, but I’ve always loved roller coasters. It wasn’t till I realized they were one and the same that I found peace here. And peace in Hollywood is something that is often very well hidden. Now, I don’t know what I’d do with a regular job and a steady paycheck. These ups and downs and middles make every day an adventure. And an adventure a day is a wonderful way to find inspiration for that next story to tell.”

— Trey Ellis

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