Anyone who has been reading this blog from its start in 2007 will remember nyc/caribbean ragazza, a friend to wordtryst and a blogger herself. She hails from LA and has blogged her own journey from Hollywood film producer to her move to Italy to follow her dream of writing screenplays. I'm a great believer in following one's passion so I've read her blog with much interest over the years and felt vindicated when she sold her first screenplay. See? I told you it would happen! Following your dreams might not make you rich and famous in the short term (or ever) but it's the very best thing you can do for your soul. Nyc/caribbean ragazza's soul must be doing cartwheels across the psychic universe right now because that screenplay was made into a lovely film starring the beautiful Angela Bassett. It's Jumping the Broom which opened in theatres last week and came in at #3, grossing $15.3 million on its debut weekend. The reviews are spectacular. This all reiterates pretty much the same thing that nyc/caribbean ragazza, otherwise known as Arlene Gibbs, has been insisting all along: that there's a lucrative market for films like these, films written by, featuring and starring women, and Black women in particular, a demographic that's terribly underrepresented in Hollywood. Take note, studio honchos: we're not all young males, there are oodles of us out here, and we spend money on movies we enjoy.
I take it personally when blog friends score wonderful things, whether it's a new writing shed, a literary agent, a book contract - or a winning screenplay. The icing on this cake is that Arlene comes from Caribbean stock: her parents are from the island of St. Martin.
Congratulations, ragazza. Wishing you a long, fruitful career doing what you love.
Note to fellow Trinis here at home! You can catch Jumping the Broom at Movietowne right now. See you there!
