Neema Barnette is the director of Bishop T.D. Jakes’ new film project, Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7^th Day. Historically, Barnette is celebrated for being the first African-American female director to be granted a deal with a major film studio via Columbia Pictures, which is now a part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment.

In support of On the 7^th Day’s release this past weekend, Neema Barnette spoke with AllHipHop.com about her personal background – as a Harlem native – and its influence upon her professional experiences in Hollywood:

AllHipHop.com:  Looking at your resume, I am just astounded. At the beginning of your professional career, you directed 13 episodes of The Cosby Show and A Different World between 1989 and 1991.  Two years afterward in 1993, you released two television movies: Better Off Dead and Scattered Dreams. As you transitioned from the TV to film, are there any artistic techniques or professional lessons learned that continue to guide your present-day filmmaking?

Neema Barnette:  Clayton, I learned the value and repercussions of sacrifice. When I was doing episodics, I found that it wasn’t really for me. I came out of black theatre in New York, and so I was a storyteller, and I wanted to do things a certain way. I got into film because I feel it’s one of the strongest social and political tools we have. I thought it was a very interesting mind-molding art form. That’s why I got into it, and I didn’t think that working in episodics really allowed me to fulfill my goal. So I told my agents I want to go back. We did Frank’s Place and all these shows. They said: “Well, it’s just episodics. We don’t really know what you can do.” So, I took on [a CBS Schoolbreak Special] called [Different Worlds: A Story of Interracial Love] with Duane Martin and Noelle Parker. They witnessed this murder after high school in this bodega. I shot it on a Super 16. I shot it in five days. And it got four Daytime Emmys. Don’t ask me why. I mean, when I look back on it, I’m going: “Oh, my God!”

And from that project, I got my first feature for television: Better Off Dead starring Tyra Ferrell and Mare Winningham. I didn’t work for a while. I didn’t want to do episodics anymore. I took some steps back in order to take some steps forward in a direction that I wanted to go to. That’s how I did it. And once I did Better Off Dead, the rave reviews put me on the map. After that, then Robert Greenwald hired me to direct Scattered Dreams with Tyne Daly and Alicia Silverstone, and I was on my way. I liked working in TV movies better because I could hire my own crew. And they embodied “little stories,” as they were small features. In between, I had gotten a couple of deals at Columbia Pictures. David Putnam gave me a deal with his New Directors program and Frank Price gave me a real housekeeping deal when they had me on the front page of The Hollywood Reporter — as the first African-American woman to ever get a studio deal. And I was set to do my movie right after John Singleton released Boyz n the Hood (1991) – with Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding, Jr., and an incredible list of others stars.

I was working on a film called Listen for the Fig Tree, based upon a young adult novel written by an African-American female writer Sharon Bell Mathis. I love that book! And I was so excited – as it was a winner of a Young Adult Pulitzer Prize. I love that story! And just about the time we were ready to get to go, they kicked David Putnam out of Columbia. I’m like: “Okay, so just my luck.” So, I went back to directing TV movies. You know, when you’re young, you don’t really understand the nature of the beast, but I did understand that they didn’t understand the type of storytelling that I wanted to do. They just didn’t get it, and there was nobody in the studio that I could pitch to that could relate to the kind of stories that I wanted to tell. I left there and went back and just directed the TV movies.

I tried to get some features off the ground, but they weren’t interested in the kind of stories that I wanted to tell, though they said they’re well-written, I just couldn’t garner support, because I think that there was some balanced images in there. I think that you have to know how to play a certain game in order to get a studio to fund you money. That’s difficult. That’s very difficult. By me being the type of person whose politics were formed before I left Harlem and came out to Hollywood, I wasn’t about to give that up. Like my momma used to tell me: “There’s always a job at the Post Office.” [laughing] So, I began teaching. This is my fifteenth year teaching in the film department at UCLA – [The University of California, Los Angeles]. I also taught film for seven years USC – [The University of Southern California]. And for a couple of years, I worked with Spike Lee on Miracle’s Boys (2005), a television miniseries.

AllHipHop.com:  Ah, yes! I remember. Pooch Hall starred in one of the leading roles.

Neema Barnette:  He had done it several years ago. It was an incredible project helmed by Spike Lee, Bill Duke, Ernest R. Dickerson, LeVar Burton and myself. I was the only woman. So, Spike asked me to come back to New York and teach at NYU with him for a term. I did that, and tried to develop my own story.  Civil Brand (2002) was a movie that came to me right after my mother had passed away. Initially, I thought Civil Brand was going to be like a TV movie, like six or eight months. That movie wound up taking three years off my life. What a journey that was, you know, because first they were bought by Lionsgate, and then I started get calls saying: “What’s this about slave labor and the prison system? Meanwhile, you’re forcing people to think.” I mean, it was deep. I called Mos Def up – since we had previously worked together on The Cosby Mysteries – and he was in it. You know, once again, this was me trying to get warriors – warriors to come along with me on a journey and make a Black film because that was what we needed. You’ve got to have your tribe, because it’s never going to be easy.

I did the same thing with [Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day]. I rewrote the script first with Black acting male American characters, which was very important for me to have strong – and balanced – Black male images in the film. I rewrote David [Ames] with Blair [Underwood] in mind. And out of the blue, I contacted him, and out of the blue, he said: “I’m in.” I was shocked – because Blair is one of our few stars that is so accessible. He said: “Neema, I’ve been a fan of your work.” Then, I was fortunate enough to get Sharon Leal. Sharon is the best-kept secret in New York and Hollywood. That girl’s got skills, and she can go. What a woman! What an actress! And then when they told me they could get Pam Grier to play the detective…

AllHipHop.com:  Yes! Yes! Yes! [laughing] Pam Grier! [laughing]

Neema Barnette:  …I had a heart attack. I went:, Oh, my God! So of course, I didn’t have enough time to redo her character, but she called me. She said,: “I know you, Neema. You were the first black woman to get a studio deal. I love you.” And I said, “Oh, my God. What an honor.” What a joy! What an icon! And then she said: “Listen. I want to play a Bayou detective that could smell your hand and tell if you’re lying.” I said, “Okay,” and she came down there with her braids and her cowboy hat!

AllHipHop.com:  Classic! [laughter]

Neema Barnette:  And then I said: “Pam, you know I have to have you beating up some people!” [laughter]

AllHipHop.com:  Of course! [laughter] It isn’t every day that you have the legendary “Foxy Brown” on the set! [laughter continues]

Neema Barnette:  So, I got her beating up some people – and she does a great job, and what a joy! What an honor for us to pay honor to her.

The preceding is an excerpt from a Q&A conducted by AllHipHop.com contributor, Clayton Perry [@crperry84]. For the entire conversation, as well as Neema Barnette’s insights on race, culture and Hollywood, please visit his digital archive at www.claytonperry.com.