BLUE BEFORE GRAY
A life of love, a heart of hate.
ABOUT
Set in a Baltimore City neighborhood in the early 2000’s. Tim Jones, a working class single father returns home in the wee hours on the night to his sleeping children. Stressed by the inequities of his life, he drinks to dull his pain. After retiring to his room, his sleep is disturbed by street hoodlums making noise in front of his house. Irritated by their blatant disregard for people’s property. He brazenly confronts them, demanding that they move from in front of his house. The hoodlums retort by slandering him and ignoring his requests. The clash escalates quickly as the two groups face off over a battle of masculinity. He later discovers that his 11-year-old daughter has witnessed his behavior and he is caught in a vulnerable state. But his blinded rage prevents him from seeing the destruction his actions cause his family.
YEAR 2017
RUN TIME 9:24 Min
EMAIL phallonbeckham@gmail.com WEBSITE www.phallonbeckham.com
CAST & CREW CREDITS
DIRECTED BY Phallon Beckham
SCREENPLAY BY Phallon Beckham
PRODUCED BY Phallon Beckham
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Maceo Tendaji
EDITED BY Rayne Jones
PRINCIPAL CAST
Felix Stevenson | Kayla Byrd
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT
When I create films, starting from the character development, to the dialogue of the character’s mouths, it is always my goal to put the viewer into the shoes of the person in front of them.
As a filmmaker of color and a woman, it is important for me to tell stories about forgotten communities who the world has placed in box and left to rot. It is also important for me to highlight the lives of Baltimoreans so the world knows we are more than, The Wire. Blue Before Gray is inspired by a personal account of my life growing up in Baltimore and seeing my father spiral into a rage, while I watched helplessly.
In Blue Before Gray, it was essential for me to display a single father who is not the stereotype of a black man that is depicted in the media. But to show a strong man who loves his family, but succumbs to the demons that keep him in turmoil.
DIRECTOR BIO
Phallon J. Beckham is a first time filmmaker, with a passionate focus on writing and directing. A Baltimore City native with roots in Columbia, Maryland, she graduated from Florida State University in 2012, with a B.A. in English. She is the 2017 recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship.
FILM AND PRODUCTION STILLS
AWARDS
FULL FILM
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Phallon J. Beckham is a first time filmmaker, with a passionate focus on writing and directing. A Baltimore City native with roots in Columbia, Maryland, she graduated from Florida State University in 2012, with a B.A. in English. She is the 2017 recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship.
(Update provided in May 2017)