First Film

The summer was hot and unbearable in Houston, Texas. It was the summer of 2011. I sat in front of a local film producer, who told me that i could not shoot my film with $5000. He basically cancelled my shoot and insisted that he thought i had over 10k for production. I argued that i had been clear, and that i would get more money after. He slammed his pen down and said i had waisted his time. He reminded me of all the folks he had "put on". Told me how much it cost them to get a location for auditions, cast, crew selections and more. He even cancelled the video crew hired. It was 2 days to the shoot.

Flash back to when i first decided to make this film. I was so eager and excited. I had family doubting me and those cheering me on. I had two children 8 &5 who adored me and believed i could do anything. I had a teacher who suggested i work in local tv instead of day dreaming about making movies. I was filing my own divorce after leaving an abusive marriage of 10 years, because i could not afford an attorney. I was an illegal immigrant with a temp work permit, while i waited on my fate with VAWA. https://bit.ly/2TqDeSJ. I was an actress who was ready to take on my first big role. I was all of this, and he was not going to stop me now!

After leaving his office, I called my lead cast Pascal Atuma. He had done tons of work and was quite the popular face. He was shocked and insisted i moved the dates to raise more funds. I refused to agree to that and asked of him to help with the right contact for video work. He placed a 3-way call to Lupe and Matt of Luped media, Austin TX. I told them I had booked the homes, flights, food and locations. All i needed were cinematographers. Lupe said he would call me back. The next few hours wore my soul out. I paced back and forth, as other members of the crew kept calling to see if the shoot was cancelled. I kept saying no, 'we are all set to go'. Even without a crew.

A few hours later, with the amazing lead cast on three way, we closed a deal to pay $300 a day for a full 10 hour plus shoot. We only had 3 days to make it happen. What was a 7 day shoot, became a do or die mashup. I called on Susan Nwokedi, my producer & AB Sallu, my director and we schemed away. We would shoot all of the church scenes on day one{bulk of the film}. All locations scenes day two {restaurants, private airport, etc}. All home locations on day three {using multiple entrances as different homes}. Creative juices flowed!

We hardly slept and ate pizza and snacks for the 3 day shoot. My sister Angela and good friend Kofi, flew in and played important roles. The producer that said no, showed up an shamefully played his role in the film. Over 28 friends and family participated in this shoot and a few weeks later i drove to Austin and cried after viewing the first cut. Today this film is now available on an online platform. View trailer here:

View the full film here: http://bit.ly/3dayshoot. We have sold over 1500 dvd's to date. Imagine what would have happened if I let a few no's stop me.

A big thank you to all the cast, crew and team that made this film happen! Thank you to all the locations, who said yes, and a bigger thank you to the doubters, you made me resilient! https://chichimovies.com/dirty-pastor