Alumni Spotlight:
Ewurakua Dawson-Amoah

EWURAKUA DAWSON-AMOAH (NFFTY ‘20) is a writer, director, and sound mixer based in NYC. In 2020, she launched The Melacast Network, a platform focused on connecting BIPOC actors, directors, and crew of color with the opportunities, talent, and resources needed to tell culturally rich and diverse stories in film. Her work has been recognized in numerous film competitions, including Fusion Film Festival, Raindance Festival, Cinequest, Toronto Black Film Festival, NFFTY, and the Tony Hawkins Award for Excellence in Sound Design. In August of 2020, her short film To the Girl That Looks Like Me was named a finalist in the Alternative/Experimental category of the 2020 Student Academy Awards.

To the Girl That Looks Like Me is currently part of the Scene in Color Film Series, presented by Target. As part of the series, three emerging filmmakers receive mentorship and funding, and their films are available to watch on Rotten Tomatoes, MovieClips Indie Channel, Peacock, and the NBC App.

Our Interview with Ewurakua:

You were recently signed to Greenpoint Pictures’ directorial roster -- that’s so exciting! What are you most looking forward to with this new creative partnership?

The best thing about Greenpoint is how passionate the team is about their directors. Niles and Mike are the ULTIMATE hype men, and Lexy, Trevor and Tatiana are an incredible support system. Since signing I just really felt like I joined a family, and that’s an amazing feeling. Entering the industry is pretty daunting but they’ve made it fun and keep reminding me that I got this! I’ve already started on some exciting projects through them and had an absolute blast, so I’m just ready to get more commercials under my belt.

In addition to being a filmmaker, you’re also a poet. Which came first? How does your poetry lend itself to your filmmaking, and vice versa? 

In action, I suppose poetry came first. My parents put my siblings and me in Speech and Debate teams from a young age--the ability to publicly speak was so crucial to them. I fell in love with the poetry and prose category and began competing in the OO (Original Oratory) division. It’s one of the many things I’m so glad my parents forced us to do. I’m typically an extreme introvert, but if I need to present or perform a poem or speech, years of competing makes something come alive for me, and suddenly I’m a different person. I moved from poetry into short stories, and began developing my love for film when I realized I wanted to bring each short story to life.

You founded the creative network, Melacast, to help connect BIPOC creatives in the film industry. How did you build up the platform to what it is today, and were there any unexpected challenges or surprises along the way?

I realized how badly the film community needed a space for BIPOC creatives to collaborate and network. The community aspect of The Melacast was the most important thing to us as we built up the network, and the main aspect helping us grow. Our members are starting to find their people, collaborators they like working with and feel safe with, which means the world to us. The biggest pushback when we started was people saying it wouldn’t hold. A lot of initiatives start and fail when they don’t get enough traction, or aren’t held to the same standards as big organizations already running Hollywood. But I’m passionate about Melacast so that doesn’t bother me very much. I just think, for something like this, persistence is key. As long as we’re making sure that we’re true to our vision and most importantly, to our members-- that is what’s going to keep it running.

You write and direct, but you also have a background in sound mixing -- a crucial element of any film. What sparked your passion in sound design? 

Senior year of high school, I wrote and directed a short film for my NYU application. I didn’t think of sound very much because I didn’t know I needed to. Needless to say, the sound was horrible, and I had to make it a VO film.  Luckily that worked out, but at that moment I decided to learn more about sound, from production, to design, to ADR and foley. It intrigued me how important sound was, and how little credit it got. I started muting my favorite films and trying to recreate the worlds from scratch. Without sound, there really was no film. I started taking sound classes at school and one professor in particular really encouraged my passion for sound. He taught me everything I know. 

You were selected as one of three filmmakers to be featured this summer as part of NBC Universal’s Scene in Color Film Series. How did you find that opportunity, or how did they find you and your film? What has it been like to be part of such a highly visible, national series? 

They reached out to me early this year! A member of their team had seen the film at a festival and emailed me about the opportunity. When I got the first email from NBC I thought it was definitely fake. I was about to not answer it! I’m so happy that I did. It’s still kind of crazy. I’m like, is this really happening? Family friends and neighbors have been sending me pics and videos and saying, “We saw you on TV!”. And that’s such a dream. It’s literally a dream.

Scene in Color includes the opportunity to develop a TV pilot, and receive mentorship and funding. Were you always interested in pursuing television as a storytelling medium, or will this be an exciting new challenge and experience for you? 

I was always open. Anyone that knows me knows that I love storytelling. Period. How I tell my stories has never been locked down into one medium, so when this opportunity came along it felt perfect! An opportunity to develop a tv pilot? Yes please! A little scary, but a new challenge I’m really looking forward to. 

You have such a wide array of talents and interests that you’ve successfully implemented into your career, do you have any advice for other young creatives looking to establish their own unique space in the film industry? 

The biggest piece of advice I could give is to try everything and pursue your interests, regardless of your experience level. Many people feel this pressure to find that “one thing” they need to hold on to and be good at. I don’t agree with that at all. The phrase, “jack of all trades, master of none” never sat well with me. If you love multiple mediums, pursue all of them. Do all the things, wear any and every hat you want to. Life is no fun in one box. 

How has NFFTY impacted your life or career?

Being in NFFTY last year was such a wonderful experience.  It was disappointing to have an entire festival run online, and NFFTY was the first online festival I’d been to that managed to maintain the excitement of an in-person festival! High energy and such a talented roster of filmmakers and films. Post-festival, I love that NFFTY kept up a relationship with all of its filmmakers - from the podcast to the IG takeover, it’s been an incredible experience!

We are looking forward to seeing your newest film, Gold Token! What else have you been working on lately -- anything we should be on the lookout for?

Right now I'm working on a psychological thriller script. I love the horror genre, and feel like my past work has hinted at that love for some time. Now I'm ready to take that step and dip completely into that world. Outside of that, I was recently signed to Greenpoint Pictures, an incredible company for commercial storytelling and am in the process of writing my first pilot, as part of the Target Scene in Color Series with Will Packer. I'm really looking forward to this next sector of my life. I'm surrounded by a ton of crazy talented collaborators that I'm lucky enough to call my friends--it's insane! I can't wait to keep creating with them, and also continue to meet new collaborators along the way.