Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Charles-Pearson
Hi Holly, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I grew up in the Midwest and went to Purdue University, where I studied Telecommunication and concentrated on television production and writing. When I graduated, I worked for a few reality television shows but, because my appetite for writing was never fulfilled, I branched off into teaching writing instead. What I thought was temporary turned into 15 years of teaching English/Language Arts and African American Literature.
Even though the classroom seemed light-years away from my original dream of writing for film and television, my education journey would eventually bring me full circle. While earning my graduate degree, in pursuit of becoming a college professor, I was granted the opportunity to go into 6 months of independent study to write a creative thesis. I spent that time getting oral history from my paternal grandmother, documenting and researching my lineage and recreating my ancestors’ journey, from 1918 to present day, in a creative thesis entitled’Velvet: The Burden of Melanin & Motherhood’. I went on to publish the collection of vignettes as a book entitled ‘Velvet’ and later used my theoretical analysis from my graduate studies at Prairie View A&M University for a TEDx Talk at Rice University.
Once my love for storytelling was rekindled, I was off to the races. I founded the non-profit theater company Houston Play On Purpose and began writing, producing and eventually directing stageplays about the injustices faced by people of color and those who are marginalized. Works include “In All They Getting: The Forgotten Story of Freedmen’s Town”, “I’m Still a Woman” and “Black, White & Sunshine”.
During the pandemic, when live audiences became obsolete, I studied film production and wrote my first screenplay for ‘If They Took Us Back’, an alternate history film and reimagining of the United States where all formerly enslaved people of African descent were sent back to Africa in 1863. The feature length screenplay was adapted to a short, filmed in January 2024 and is now making its way around the country on the film festival circuit where my team and I have multiple selections and a festival win under our belts. Twenty years after first graduating with my television degree, I am just now a film writer, director and producer. The journey was long and unpredictable, but I believe it was necessary. Each of my professional experiences, detours and setbacks lend themselves to my ability to tell compelling stories. If I wasn’t ready at 22 years old, I am prime at 43.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Money is always a challenge for creatives, and I am no different. Finding ways to fund my ideas has been tricky to say the least. Most investors are standoffish until they see that you’ve worked with other investors. So, it can be a frustrating cycle. This is how I started – In 2016 and 2017, I fundraised to raise around $15k to put on my first stage play, but I donated the proceeds to the play’s cause. In 2018, after audiences expressed that they wanted more, I drained my personal savings account (which was only $3,000 at the time) to finance another stage play. From then on, I got in the habit of withholding any payment to self and saving one production’s proceeds to seed the next. By the time I wrote my first film project, ‘If They Took Us Back’, I had funds lying dormant in an account after a long pandemic drought. I’d encourage creatives to create small, manageable projects; build your resume while building your own seed money, if you can.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
If the subject doesn’t move me or if there is no opportunity to inform and inspire audiences, I won’t write about it. My storytelling is part of my personal ministry to make people feel seen. Art should always benefit the spectator more than the artist.
How do you think about luck?
There is no luck. There is hard work and God’s grace. I’ve experienced both.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/hollycharles
- Instagram: @hollycdivine
- Facebook: @HollyCharlesPearson
- Youtube: @FourthIndustrialPictures @hollycharles4767
- Other: https://linktr.ee/iftheytookusback
Image Credits
Angeline Abrera
Charles Baker
Ryan White
