{"id":28329,"date":"2022-01-17T07:39:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T15:39:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000024480"},"modified":"2022-01-17T10:22:59","modified_gmt":"2022-01-17T18:22:59","slug":"long-beach-filmmaker-receives-acclaim-for-short-film-with-bigger-plans-in-store","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/long-beach-filmmaker-receives-acclaim-for-short-film-with-bigger-plans-in-store","title":{"rendered":"Long Beach filmmaker receives acclaim for short film\u2014with bigger plans in store"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the year that Britt Banks has been working toward and waiting for.<\/p>\n

The North Long Beach filmmaker has an award-winning short film making the festival rounds ahead of a possible wide release, and she has a recently-wrapped pilot episode of a new TV show being edited.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a lot of work and chasing opportunities and sticking it out,\u201d said Banks. \u201cI\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film bug first bit Banks when she was a student in Long Beach. After moving to North Long Beach from the Midwest in second grade, Banks excelled in junior speech and debate competitions. While a student at Lindbergh Middle School, Banks\u2019 mom started putting her in youth plays around town and enrolled her in the Amazing Grace Conservatory.<\/p>\n

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Britt Banks of Long Beach has an award-winning short film making the festival rounds ahead of a possible wide release. Courtesy photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While a student at Jordan High, Banks\u2019 calling became clear, and after graduating in 2003 she started pursuing it wholeheartedly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was in the performing arts magnet, and I really excelled in it,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I graduated high school I wasn\u2019t 100% sure what path I wanted to take but I knew for sure I was going to work in entertainment.\u201d<\/p>\n

While in college at UC Irvine, a professor directed Banks toward screenwriting.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe really mentored me, we were meeting at Hot Java in Long Beach talking about different careers, things that I wasn\u2019t really aware of,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019d been performing in plays this whole time, and she really opened up my world.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating college, Banks got a job as a paralegal, banking all of the extra money from her day job to help fund her short films. That grind helped Banks get enough experience to build her skills.<\/p>\n

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Britt Banks of Long Beach has an award-winning short film making the festival rounds ahead of a possible wide release. Courtesy photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly so frustrating as a young filmmaker unless you\u2019re rich as f—,\u201d she said. \u201cI was working weekends as a court-mandated visitation monitor, taking on all kinds of extra work to fund my projects. And I was saying no to a lot of fun things with my friends to make that work.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Banks continued to hone her craft, she knew she had the right story to tell. She saved up $10,000 to fund “Blue Laces,” a short film set in North Long Beach<\/a> that tells the story of young Black women growing up in the city. Banks wrote, directed and shot the film.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to myself, \u2018This is going to be the one, and if it\u2019s not then it\u2019s going to be the last one I do like this,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The trailer was released in early 2021 and caused a splash on social media. That splash has turned into a tidal wave as the project did the film festival rounds. The 12-minute film won Best Dramatic Narrative and Best Actor at the Hip Hop Film Festival this fall.<\/p>\n

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MY FILM BLUE LACES IS THE WINNER OF BEST DRAMATIC NARRATIVE, BEST SOUNDTRACK, AND SHAN MORENO AS BEST ACTOR AT THE 2021 HIP HOP FILM FESTIVAL! \ud83e\udd73 I\u2019m so thankful to my small cast and crew who showed up big to bring Blue Laces to life! \ud83c\udfc6 pic.twitter.com\/LqS10MNDXB<\/a><\/p>\n

— Britt Banks (@britttbanks) October 27, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n