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Written by Jefferson, the comedy drama is based on Percival
Everett's 2001 book "Erasure". It centers on Thelonious "Monk"
Ellison, a professor and writer who is having no luck in
publishing a new literary novel. But then he jokingly writes an
outrageously stereotypical "Black" book out of spite - and it
becomes an instant success.
The film also had a successful launch, winning the People's
Choice Award last September at the Toronto International Film
Festival, where it made its debut. It is up for best film and
best adapted screenplay Academy Awards, and Wright and Brown are
nominated for best actor and best supporting actor Oscars.
Composer Laura Karpman's score also received an Oscar nod.
But getting the project off the ground was a challenge, said
Jefferson, who makes his directorial debut with the movie.
"A lot of people didn't want to finance it. We fortunately found
wonderful partners who were able to make the movie with us, but
most people we sent the movie to did not want anything to do
with it," said Jefferson, whose writing credits include TV's
"Watchmen" and "The Good Place".
"Hopefully this will be a lesson, this will serve as sort of an
example for Hollywood in the future when they're nervous about
funding something that's a little bit different," Jefferson, 42,
said.
The movie uses humor to tackle themes of race, family trauma,
loss and acceptance. Thelonious Ellison and his family battle
their own issues while reckoning with the expectations placed on
them as a Black family in America.
Ellison's experiences resonated with Wright. But while the actor
said he didn't find what the character goes through rare, seeing
his journey portrayed on screen was less common.
"That's what the film is partly about, is that there's a whole
range of experiences, Black experiences that are outside of the
narrow confines of what we're often fed," he said.
"Let's recognize the breadth of the range of the Black
experience, and we may find that, you know, it's just like any
other experience.
(Reporting by Hanna Rantala; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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