This lookbook is crafted not to be just images, but an experience. As a Cajun, New Orleans holds a special place in my heart but creating a brutually honest representation of New Orleans during this time period is one of the most important goal for this project. The second you take out a camera and start photographing people, there's some act of love happening where you are saying that these people are important and worthy of time. The things they're feeling & thinking are important and worthy of us all to consider. This film is being approached as a piece of art rather than just "a movie". The visual style, music, metaphors and emotions depicted are extremely specific to this story & its characters. We've taken music from old 1960s romance films and paired them with visuals that encapsulate the struggle, themes, and motifs .
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This site serves as an accoutrement to this beautifully written script and should not be looked at as a substitution whatsoever. This creative little document is broken up into four chapters that are a reflection of the emotions the script gave me and the unspoken feelings the film intends to bring to the audience. The music for each chapter has been hand selected and plays a heavy part in the warmth and excitement this document is suppose to provoke. This short document is intended to be read from beginning to end with no interruptions. Before starting or finishing each chapter, please press play/stop on the music before continuing to read.
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Enjoy this little piece of creativity,
S.S.
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press play before continuing
1955 New Orleans. The beginning of this story circles around a black couple wanting to adopt a child. Robert & Lillie Mae Green, unable to have children of their own, go to a colored orphanage. They instantly fall in love with Jacqueline, a shy mixed-race girl around the age of five. The Greens take little Jacqueline home and it's a match made for a storybook. The first 20 pages are about the Green's love and infatuation with their new daughter.
Loving, cute, moments of a family blossoming for the first time. A home full of smiles. Although the segregation of the 50s surrounds them, they've found hope and happiness in the smile of their little girl.
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Strong, smart and loving. The Greens are the anchor to our story. They possess the love we dreamed about as a child.
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Educated, witty, and shy, Robert is a family man. He puts his wife first in every scenario and takes pride in being being an honest man. His sensitivity is something rare. When the Greens finally bring little Jacqueline home, Robert notices the happiness this brings Lillie Mae. This motivates Robert to do anything to keep this little girl in their lives.
Emotionally intelligent and someone who fully trusts her gut, Lillie Mae wants a child to love and to hold. The love that her and Robert share is special, and would be a perfect home for a young child. Lillie Mae is soft, kind, yet powerful. She's the strong pillar that keeps the family together with intellect over power.
Neon signs, sprawling greenery, and faded pastel colors give this story a sense of hope and life. With its enchanting palette of vibrant pastel hues, New Orleans effortlessly infuses every frame with a captivating allure, elevating the film's visual tapestry and immersing audiences in a world brimming with charm and magic. Worn, yet hopeful -- the city and its pastels represent the never ending hope that our main characters have.
After trying to adopt Jacqueline, The Greens realize her birth certificate has her listed as "white" despite her mixed skin tone. Due to the laws of the time, nowhere in the south would allow a black family to adopt a "legally white" child. Robert uses his connections to convince one of the most prestigious law-firms to take his case. After lawyering up, the Greens and their lawyers prepare to take on the court system of New Orleans.
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Based on the real trial, this part of the story takes our audience through a rollercoaster of emotions. The case centers around the absence and race of Jacqueline's missing father, "Rock". When the Green's lawyer finally find Rock, he lies to the court and denies ever being with the child's mother. This is out of fear of the repercussions of admitting being romantic with a white woman in the late 50s.
Theme wise, the trial is a test of segregation and the tension in the courtroom is an important aspect of this chapter. There is a tenderness that the Greens possess, even in this biased, rule stricken place.
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In the courtroom:
Colors & wallpapers outside of the courtroom:
After losing his first case as a lawyer, Burt has a lot to learn. He works for one of the most prestigious law firms in the state of Louisiana and after getting the Green's case thrown on his desk, Burt takes the time to listen to the Greens. He sees an opportunity to do the right thing, even if the law wasn't on their side. While so many people wrote the Greens off, Burt was the first person in the story that got close with the Greens. Burt would later go on to play a part in the court case regarding the assassination of JFK.
Partner at the law firm that Burt works for. Fred is a historically famous lawyer. Although he lets Burt make his own mistakes, Fred is consistently watching how Burt handles the trial. Throughout the entire case, Fred was a friend and supporter of the Green's case. Knowing that the case was an uphill battle, he does everything he can to fix the broken system of the early 1960s. Fred was later appointed Louisiana Federal Judge by Lyndon B Johnson and struck down the law that prevented the Greens from adopting Jacqueline.
Naomi Drake was an American who became notable in mid-20th century Louisiana as the Registrar of the Bureau of Vital Statistics for the City of New Orleans, where she imposed strict racial classifications on people under a binary system that recognized only "white" and "black". Although she has a hard exterior that seems heartless, her character represents an old school mentality that seems unreasonably harsh. She represents the "rules are rules" state of mind that, in today's world, doesn't belong anywhere. She's the Greens main adversary and a consistent stubborn force the Greens face.
The assumed father of Jacqueline. Although he admits privately to being in a romantic relationship with Jacqueline's white mother, he denies this in court due to his fear of what the white radicals in New Orleans might do to him. A bar rat with a good heart, he doesn't believe what the Greens are doing is right. Half way through the film, Rock gives the audience a completely different perspective -- if the girl was listed as "white" on her birth certificate and this family really cared for her, they'd realize how big of a blessing that is and keep it that way. Changing her race legally just for adoption purposes hurts the child in the long haul more than anything.
This chapter is the true test of Robert and Lillie Mae's love. The feeling of the loss of a child -- not due to some unforeseen accident, but because of a system that is broken. A system that is designed to break and take away, just because of the color of their skin. Robert and Lillie Mae being there for one another is what makes this chapter so powerful. When the weight of the world is heavy and when all hope is lost, they find comfort in each other. Even setting the table for three instead of two is something that brings pain to the Greens. They have truly loved something and someone with all their heart, and it didn't work in their favor. This chapter in the film is about how heavy loss can be on the heart. Jacqueline made the Greens feel so alive, and without her life almost feels empty.
This is the bittersweet ending of this true story. Life and love continues. Although they didn't get to keep Jacqueline, she was adopted to a loving home. The Greens eventually adopt another unwanted child and move from New Orleans after the intense experience. The Greens love and determination got the case enough press that they are the ones that saved Jacqueline in the end. Cassidy and Klein were a major force, but it was Robert and Lillie Mae's love that inevitably gave the child a life full of love and happiness.
Young Jacqueline, Robert Green & Burt Klein
Lillie Mae Green
(towards the end of her life)
Roi & Alice Ottley (The couple that adopts Jacqueline in Chicago)
Naomi Drake
Fred J Cassibry
Burt Klein & associate
AJ Tureaud
The original Jets magazine
Jacquline Henley's wrongfully marked birth certificate
Rock's love letter to Jacquline's mother
Stylistically, this film will be shot wider than normal, paired with an extremely high f-stop, which will give the film a deeper depth of field. What this means is as the camera approaches a character for a close up, the environment around them can always be seen, almost making them inseparable from the world around them. The environment of 1950s segregation is something the characters can't get away from no matter how hard they try. Even though they are blessed with love, which this style highlights -- escaping the hardships & racism in New Orleans is almost impossible. (keep music from above playing while you watch the clip below.)
These lens flares in the final 10 pages of the script signify the happiness that is still left to come in Robert and Lillie Mae's lives. Even though they went through the intense experience of losing a child publicly, their love prevailed and made a better life for Jacqueline. These flares represent the brighter future/hope they never lost throughout this emotional process.
Raised in the deep South, Cajun filmmaker and screenwriter Seth Savoy is catapulting himself into the entertainment industry, quickly becoming known for his capitvating filmmaking style with heavy hitting A-list talent.
Savoy made his feature film debut with the crime drama "Echo Boomers" (Paramount/Saban Films). The film, which stars two-time Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon ("Knives Out") and Alex Pettyfer ("I Am Number Four"), follows indebted college graduate Lance Zutterland (Patrick Schwarzenegger) who is pulled into an underground operation in Chicago in which his peers fight the system by stealing from the rich. Led by Mel Donnelly (Shannon), the group leave behind a trail of destruction before Lance realizes he is in over his head with no way out. Set in 2013, Savoy was inspired to pen the script after local headlines of similar break-ins in the Chicago area surfaced. He eventually took the script to Sundance Film Festival in 2015, where he won an independent pitch competition and captured the industry's attention. "Echo Boomers" released in select theaters, on-demand, and digital on November 13, 2020 with Richard Roeper calling Savoy "a director that displays real talent and has a kinetic flash with the material he works with".
Autumn Bailey is a passionate, seasoned producer of film and television. The Pennsylvania native has a knack and specialty for independent film production and distribution and in 2018, produced the award-winning documentary Maynard about the civil rights icon Maynard Jackson. Several of her films have won numerous awards and acclaim, some include Mine 9, IndieWire's project of the month, and Trading Paint, starring John Travolta and Shania Twain. Her serious commitment to high quality entertainment makes her one of today's most sought- after indie producers. She is the founder of Autumn Bailey Entertainment (ABE), one of the few women-owned production companies in the south east region. She has a knack for finding funding for seasoned writers, directors and filmmakers as it is a mission of ABE to help others realize their artistic dreams. She has optioned several projects and currently has three shows in studio development. Recently, she has expanded her brand to include a west coast division and co-founded Prominent Productions with Cameron Burnett, son of Hollywood producer Mark Burnett. Under the helm of ABE and Prominent, Mrs. Baily has over 30 films under her belt and six projects being produced in 2020. Mrs. Bailey has a passion for giving back and connecting individuals from various cultures to achieve their goals in entertainment.
Autumn's goal is this industry are simple and can be summed up in one sentence; to make great films that will empower and change people's ways of thinking; and that's exactly what she is doing, one production at a time. Autumn is a member of Women in Film Los Angels & Atlanta Producers Guild Of America Black Women In Film. Reel Divas (Atlanta)
Mike D. Ware is an multi-hyphenate film creative that hangshis hat on the ability to take over a variety of roles withinproduction. With over 10 years of experience in the filmworld, Mike has worked on some of the biggest films andshows to come out of Chicago.
Mike’s list of feature film producing credits include the crime drama feature, “Echo Boomers”, starring Academy nominated actor Michael Shannon (Shape of Water, Man of Steel), Patrick Schwarzenegger (Midnight Sun), Alex Pettyfer(Magic Mike) and Hayley Law (The CW’s Riverdale, Mark, Mary and Some other People). He followed that up by producing and directing the feature film, “Amp House”,Starring Pedro Correa (My Dead Dad), Kara Royster (Dynasty, Unpregnant), Brandon Perea (The Netflix’s OA, JordanPeele’s Nope) and Cassie Scerbo (the Sharknado Franchise), set to come out at the end of 2022. Recently, he just wrapped production on two features, “Pools”, Starring Odessa A’Zion(Netflix’s Grand Army, Hellraiser), Mason Gooding (Scream,Booksmart), and Ariel Winters (Modern Family), and the psychological thriller “Ghosts of the Void”.