We were on the red carpet for the 2019 IFP Gotham Awards this week.
Tarell Alvin McCraney was nominated for best screenplay for High Flying Bird and André Holland was nominated for best actor. McCraney was also nominated for Breakthrough Series – Long Form for his show David Makes Man.
The Knockturnal: Tell me what it means to be back at The Gothams for High Flying Bird.
André Holland: It’s really cool. High Flying Bird is a project that I imagined four or five years ago when Steven [Soderbergh] and I were making the The Knick together and for it to be something that we created together, that we fostered from blank page to now and then to have it celebrated in this way is really, really amazing.
The Knockturnal: Can you speak about your love of sports? Are you a big sports fan? What was the seed for that?
André Holland: Yeah, I grew up a big sports fan, but I think the seed for it was more the interest that we had in the sort of power dynamics that were and are at play in sports, professional sports and collegiate sports. So we were interested in dealing with that more and we just used sports as a vector through which to discuss these things.
The Knockurnal: Speak about working with Tarell Alvin McCraney, who’s such a brilliant writer.
André Holland: Tarell’s amazing. We’ve been friends since we were 22 years old doing theater in New York … It’s a long time. So that’s the thing I’m most excited about, celebrating with him tonight. And with my parents who are here, who also have known Tarell since he was a youngster, it’s really cool.
The Knockturnal: Up next, you’re directing?
André Holland: Hoping to direct a film that I’ve been eyeing.
The Knockturnal: Is it something you wrote as well?
André Holland: Yeah. And then I’m producing a couple of things that are sort of in development, various stages of development.
The Knockturnal: What does it mean to be nominated tonight?
Tarell Alvin McCraney: It’s always a blessing to be acknowledged for anything but to be acknowledged twice is sort of stunning … and it’s nerve wracking.
The Knockturnal: Tell me about the inspiration for High Flying Bird?
Tarell Alvin McCraney: It was a simple conversation between André Holland, myself and Steven Soderbergh. Steven wanted to feature André in a film and Andre wanted to be in a film about basketball and that was sort of the start of it. Between that conversation and a reading of a very incredible book by Dr. Edwards, we really found a way into talking about the disparity of players in the league.
The Knockturnal: When you found out that it was going to be shot on an iPhone, what was your reaction?
Tarell Alvin McCraney: Oh, I had full confidence. Mr. Soderbergh is a man of great craft and taste. I knew he knew what he was doing and the actors were already telling me that the intimacy of having a phone instead of a camera in front of, you know, a $1,200 piece of equipment rather than a $2 million piece of equipment made it easier for them to drop into character and I think you saw that on the screen.
The Knockturnal: And you also have a hit show on the OWN Network. Can you speak about collaborating with Ms. Winfrey and bringing David Makes Man to her network?
Tarell Alvin McCraney: Well, I mean again, she told us from the start that this was something unique and special that was a part of the brand of what her network wants, which is for people to see themselves. Immediately, we began to gather other folks who would follow that and find a way to help folks see themselves. It’s been incredible to collaborate with Ms. Winfrey, Michael B. Jordan, but most importantly to me folks like Akili, who is a young man who stepped into the shoes of someone not equally like him, but similarly, and decided to give him a voice.
The Knockturnal: And speak about being on the show, what this character means to you.
Akili McDowell: It’s very important to me because I like to think that David is like the kids that don’t get to speak out, they don’t get to say that they go through those things or are very uncomfortable saying that they go through those things. I feel like David is a light to those kids and children out there that go through those things every day. So I’m really proud of what I did because I put my all into it. When you put your all into it you can’t leave with any regrets.
The Knockurnal: Absolutely. And what does it mean to you to be here today?
Akili McDowell: It’s amazing because it’s like T. said, it’s a blessing to be nominated. I’m just glad that I’m nominated, I’m here, I get to meet new people, new faces.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 02: Akili McDowell attends the IFP’s 29th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street on December 02, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images for IFP)
The Knockturnal: What’s coming up next for both of you?
Akili McDowell: Who knows. What God has in store for me, will be for me.
Tarell Alvin McCraney: Right now I’m looking at applications. I run the Yale School of Drama, Playwriting Department. I teach sometimes … not this semester.
The Knockturnal: And what’s that process like for you?
Tarell Alvin McCraney: That process means that there are 160 applications for three slots. We have to go through those by February. So I’ll be doing that for a while.
The Knockturnal: What makes a candidate special?
Tarell Alvin McCraney: Their unique voice and their ability to engage a community. There are some folks who have very unique voices but they don’t want to talk to a community and don’t want to be in the community and we have a very special connection to the other departments where all of our students are going to be working together. If they want to be in community for three years, that’s the place for us, it’s the person for us. Those are two things that we really look for, really unique voices and people who want to be a part of a community.
The Premier Sponsor of the 2019 IFP Gotham Awards is The New York Times, and the Philanthropic Supporter is The Rockefeller Foundation. The Official Water Partner is FIJI Water, the Official Airline Partner is JetBlue, the Official Wine Partner is Robert Hall Winery and the Official Auto Partner is Cadillac.
