Primary (formerly a52 Color) has added colorist Kya Lou to its roster for global representation. She is known for a grading style that is at once artistic, scholarly and emotionally evocative. Lou, who has also worked as an editor and photographer, previously graded out of her own studio, COLOURED ONLY .
Lou has worked on behalf of brands such as Adidas, Calvin Klein and Wales Bonner for stylistically forward directors including Jazmin Garcia, Terence Nance, Kwaku Beke, Sophia Nahli Allison, Stuart McIntyre and Jeano Edwards. She has also been an ongoing collaborator with filmmaker Kahlil Joseph, namely as an editor of “BLKNWS®” — a real-time, “conceptual journalism” broadcast that seeks to “highlight the vastness of the Black experience.”
“I was drawn to Primary not just for their great body of work, but also for the studio’s intimate nature,” said Lou. “The open environment encourages transparent conversations, which helps bring in projects that are meaningful to colorists. For me, what’s important is ensuring that Black cinema is representative of authentic Black experiences in a process that has historically deprioritized Black folk and People of Color in postproduction.”
Thatcher Peterson, executive producer for Primary, added, “Kya brings skill, artistry and a fresh perspective. She is a naturally gifted talent.”
Lou grew up in San Diego and studied photography at UCLA. Her grandfather was a photographer and pictures were a major part of her life. The art of capturing moments, and the details that made them unique, was an often-emphasized practice. Lou became fascinated with the interplay between creative decisions and the technical process, which led to her interest in the history of color and how it has been contextualized within social, cultural and political movements. She founded her studio, COLOURED ONLY, not only to create filmmaking opportunities for herself but for other Black, indigenous and people of color as well.
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More