Written by Noella Wynter
This Valentine’s Day marks a very special occasion for director Dui Jarrod and emerging actor Peyton Coles of Lesson Before Love. No, it does not involve the trivial things like a box of chocolate or a bouquet of red roses. Instead, this year’s Valentine’s Day makes it four years since the inception of the film, Lesson Before Love.
What originally started in 2008 on Valentine’s Day as a group of single friends enjoying the company of one another by painting pottery, watching an independent film and having a meaningful discussion about why they were all single, resulted in the product of a labor of hard work and love as well as a feature film for this year’s Festival.
“I felt like, as far as black culture was concerned we didn’t have a film that displayed us in a really compelling light,” said Jarrod. “I wanted to write a film that displayed the current state of being young, black and progressive in modern times.”
However, the process was a lengthy one, and took three and a half years. When asked what kept him motivated throughout that time Jarrod said his community. “I was just committed to my community, I felt like we deserved it. I was also committed to myself and getting my first feature film done.”
Lesson Before Love centers around four singles who are unsatisfied with not only their love lives but their personal lives as well. This aspect of the film mimics Jarrod’s who left his job in corporate America to fulfill his dreams of being a filmmaker and subsequently making his first feature film.
It seems as though Lesson is a first for many involved in the film including Peyton Coles, who plays Cullen Jones. “This was my first feature film. I came from New York doing stage work,” said Coles. When asked what the environment on set was like, the New York native said “[We were] very much so like a family. We had to be a family in order to make a film like this.”
“I love the way that Dui and the producers kind of sent us out on these love dates with all the actors as their characters,” continued Coles. “We would go out to dinner [and] in one date we sculpted and painted our own pieces in this ceramic shop. We did that often and that’s what they did to prep us to get comfortable with one another.”
Hopefully the audience will sense the chemistry between the cast and walk away with lessons of their own. “I want people to leave with their own personal love lessons, said Jarrod. “I just want people to experience the journey of four characters and see yourself in those characters stories and to really think about it for yourself.”
“I would like them to leave with a better sense of themselves and the person beside them because we all go through the struggle,” said Coles.
If you are wondering what else you can expect from these creative gentlemen, Jarrod is currently working on a screenplay for Viola Davis and Peyton Coles is setting to release his first directorial short film.
Lesson Before Love screens at New Voices in Black Cinema Festival this Friday, Feb. 17 at 9:30pm at Brooklyn’s BAM Rose Cinemas. Tickets are going fast! Find them here.