This is the year that Britt Banks has been working toward and waiting for.
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.
“It’s been a lot of work and chasing opportunities and sticking it out,” said Banks. “I’m here.”
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’ mom started putting her in youth plays around town and enrolled her in the Amazing Grace Conservatory.
While a student at Jordan High, Banks’ calling became clear, and after graduating in 2003 she started pursuing it wholeheartedly.
“I was in the performing arts magnet, and I really excelled in it,” she said. “When I graduated high school I wasn’t 100% sure what path I wanted to take but I knew for sure I was going to work in entertainment.”
While in college at UC Irvine, a professor directed Banks toward screenwriting.
“She really mentored me, we were meeting at Hot Java in Long Beach talking about different careers, things that I wasn’t really aware of,” she said. “I’d been performing in plays this whole time, and she really opened up my world.”
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.
“It’s honestly so frustrating as a young filmmaker unless you’re rich as f—,” she said. “I 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.”
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 that tells the story of young Black women growing up in the city. Banks wrote, directed and shot the film.
“I said to myself, ‘This is going to be the one, and if it’s not then it’s going to be the last one I do like this,’” she said.
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.
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! 🥳 I’m so thankful to my small cast and crew who showed up big to bring Blue Laces to life! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/LqS10MNDXB
— Pen Griffey Jr. (@britttbanks) October 27, 2021
As “Blue Laces” finishes its festival tour, Banks said she’s currently fielding offers from distribution platforms with an eye toward a full release later this year.
In the meantime, she also used the buzz from “Blue Laces” to crowdfund a pilot for a horror anthology show. A lifelong horror fan, Banks wants to bring a new perspective to the burgeoning genre of Black horror. The pilot from her show, “In Living Horror,” wrapped filming late last year and is currently being edited with a goal of starting the process of shopping it later this month.
“It’s a unique story because the show is based on folklore, so that’s our base,” she said. “It’s a horror show that’s also about Black and American culture.”
Since the pandemic began, work has been picking up for Banks. She’s no longer working 9-5 to fund her filmmaking dreams, but has been working in the industry on BET and Lifetime movies, while continuing the path towards making her own projects. The other constant in her life alongside her love of telling stories is her love of her hometown.
“Oh I’m still here, I’m not going anywhere,” she said with a laugh. “Long Beach is always home for me, I can’t leave.”