Seed & Spark Go Fund Me: Dear Life, You Suck! Series

Lend your support to Philly Writer/Director Darrelle Williams. He’s completed 3 episodes of his series and is looking for funding to finish season 1.

Dear Life, You Suck! is a story about people trying to find their way. Each character is at a point in life where they are stuck. At the center, it’s a coming of age story. They are on a journey of becoming. The series follows these people on their journey of getting unstuck.

Synopsis: That awkward stage in life when you find yourself stuck. You have no clue how you got there. And you have no idea where to start to get unstuck. The series follows these people on their journey to getting unstuck.

David and his wife Savannah face another setback after losing their home. Todd was an Olympic hopeful who was forced to rebuild his life after a career-ending injury. Michelle is currently a retail worker who is dying to find the next ale to a better life. A successful engineer, and YouTuber, Kiera is busy trying to maintain the image she portrays on screen. Emilia doesn’t want to leave the couch. And AJ is just trying to balance all of this madness together. These people are among a group of friends who are struggling to navigate life in their mid to late 20s.

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Dear Life, You Suck! (Journal Entry 1) –
Darrelle Williams

Synopsis: A married couple struggle with maintaining a healthy relationship while following their dreams. They find themselves at a crossroad when David who spent his life checking boxes decides to settle after his dreams are deferred. Causing a rift between two people who see the world differently.

T&T: In a nutshell what was the main inspiration for Dear Life You Suck and/or the theme that is the heart of your film?

Darrelle: Telling the story of David and Savannah was important to me because I wanted to show black love from a different perspective. I wanted to celebrate black love by changing the narrative on a simple story. I wanted to present a young couple experiencing a tough season in their life and both be willing to make it work. I also wanted to highlight the journey of chasing our dreams and showing how its not easy. This is only a small view of their life so I wanted to touch on things that mattered to me.

T&T:Tell us a bit about the music of your film –

Darrelle: I chose jazz because it set the tone. For Dear Life, it created a sense of warmth. For me, I wanted the music to take people on a journey and jazz was the perfect choice.

T&T: Was there a point where you almost didn’t finish your film? And if so, what pushed you forward?

Darrelle: Yes! It took a lot of prayer and preparation. This film took three years to make. It was originally a feature film with an ensemble cast. In the process of making the feature, I hit so many roadblocks, including two failed attempts at crowdfunding. After a while, I ended up canceling the film altogether, just figured it wasn’t going to work. But that nagging feeling to tell my story wouldn’t leave me alone. One day I saw the add from Scribe Video Center about an 8-week production program and I had to jump on it.

Then I took David and Savannah’s story from the feature and turned it into a short. For me, it was a when preparation meets opportunity scenario. If I hadn’t gone through those years of working on the feature I don’t think I would have been prepared for the opportunity that came through scribe. I wouldn’t have gotten the film finished.

T&T: Give a quick shout out to your creative team and anyone who helped get your film from an idea to screening/streaming –

Darrelle: Firstly God, because without God the film wouldn’t have gotten made. I have to thank Scribe Video Center and my instructor Marie Hinson. Also, my script editor Ben Tobias who spent hours helping me craft the story clearly. Special thanks to my assistant director and classmate Danielle DeLoatch and sound man Mike Frazier. We were a small crew but we got it done. And lastly the amazing actors Hyresh Davis and Nastassja Baset. We only had three days to shoot and they did an amazing job bringing those characters to life.

T&T: Name 5 of your favorite films, which influenced your desire to be a filmmaker –

DO THE RIGHT THING (Director Spike Lee)
PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS (Director Gabriele Muccino)
SHOPLIFERS (Director Hirokazu Koreeda)
COMING TO AMERICA (Director John Landis)
JURASSIC PARK (Director Steven Spielberg)

It’s really hard to narrow it down to just five. There are so many films that inspired me.

TRAILER
@dearlifefilm (IG) | @d_williams_filmlife (IG)