“Beyond The Lights” is available on Blu-ray and DVD on Feb. 24.

Writer/Director Gina Prince-Bythewood spoke about the film with our sister publication Jones Magazine. Read some highlights below:

What were some highlights of working on this project? 

 

Gina:            The highlight of the film, is honestly it was such an amazing creative experience to work with Gugu and create this character and create a musical artist. I love music so much. I love hip hop and R&B but I don’t love where it’s gone the last couple of years. I really wanted to deal with what’s happening especially with women in the industry and the competition of hypersexuality. Young artists really having to follow a blueprint and come out in a way that’s really not authentic to them. It is an edgy world. You see the videos that are out right now and I knew we had to compete with that. As a female director, it’s a little tough sometimes to shoot things like a music video.

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For Gugu it was tough as well. Gugu is very shy and reserved. I surrounded her with the real people in the industry and people I respect like The Dream, who did all her music. Working with him was great and creating music that you could hear on the radio. Laurieann Gibson, the choreographer who works with Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj. To see Gugu have to tap into the narcissism and the hypersexuality and the aggression and then be in the music studio and sing these lyrics, the first time that she read them, the lyrics, it was so funny to see her face. It was like, “I’ve got to sing this?” She knew why we were doing this and believes in the vision of a piece and the message of the film, and dove in headfirst. She gave such an incredibly brave performance. As a director, it was a beautiful thing to see her transform from this shy, reserved person to someone who’s grabbing herself and throwing that energy out there and being so believable as an artist at her level.

 

 

The industry really loved the film. What was it like seeing the reception? 

 

Gina:            It’s interesting. There’s been a couple of things. When I finished the film and we were working towards a soundtrack, we had screenings for labels, honestly I was scared to death for the screenings. They are industry. What were they going to do? What was their reaction going to be? I remember after the first one these two guys came up, these two label heads. They loved the film and they said it was painfully authentic and that they had been in those rooms and said some of those same things. I had done so much research for the film and talked to real artists so I knew that I was telling the true story but would it be accepted and did I get everything right? That was the big thing. To have artists just watch the film and say it was like watching their lives is, again, both flattering and frightening. It’s very interesting. There’s been a couple award shows and if you’re on Twitter and listening to the reaction, there was a particular artist that performed. It was so interesting to see how many people were referencing the film and the things that Noni went through and seeing the artist in a different way. Not just accepting what she was putting out as a young artist but how much is she being pushed into that? Just the fact that people are having that conversation is a great thing.

 

You mentioned award shows. Diane Warren’s “Grateful” was nominated for an Oscar. Can you tell me about that?

 

Gina:            This is a music film and so of course you hope that the music is good enough to get nominated. It’s amazing that I met Diane 5 years ago while I was still writing the script. We were awarded at the same award show. I just mentioned that I was writing a music film and it would be great if she could do a song. You say that as you’re standing on stage, you don’t really believe it’s going to happen. It’s Diane Warren. Somebody invited her to an early cut of the film and she saw it and fell in love with it, and went home that night and wrote “Grateful” and called me on the phone, and played in on her keyboard over the phone and sang it herself. I got goosebumps. Then brought Gugu in to her studio and she played it again and Gugu got that same thing.

 

Then it was about who’s going to sing it? At that time I was really into a song “I Will Never Let You Down” by Rita Ora, really dug that song, dug her voice. I like that she’s an artist that hasn’t succumb to the hypersexuality. I didn’t want to be a hypocrite and put somebody on the track that what I’m fighting against. I thought she would be interesting. We put the lyrics with her voice and it came out really beautifully. What I love is that it’s not just a song on the soundtrack but it’s a song that really speaks to the film and speaks to Noni’s journey and really a part of the film. The fact that there was no Oscar campaign for it but it got this nomination just based on people loving the song and digging the film, that’s been pretty great.