We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alisha Dominique a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alisha, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

My execution process started from working on film projects behind the scenes as the 1st A.D. I moved to ATL to transition from a stage actor to film actor. As luck would have it the city shut down because of the pandemic, however independent productions kept going and Director Shaun M. Mathis needed a 1st A.D last minute for a project and a mutual friend referred me even though I had never done it. So I research what a 1st entails and I went on set and KILLED IT! we have been working together ever since. That’s when I learned the ends in outs of what it takes to shoot a film, form Gaffers to script supervisors. I figured out the ones who seem to care and have passion for the work they were doing, I figured out their rates. Now I’m calculating a budget for key departments including Production Assistants. I connected with locations that fit my screen play and find out the how much it would cost to shoot for a day, and I put it into my budget. I then make a talent budget, figuring how much I can pay my lead actors and supporting. I always HATE when I see a movie and there is NO ATMOSPHERE i.e set decor, background talent etc. So I comb through the scenes figure out what I want to see in the scene and budget for that. I, with no funding, then went to work two jobs 6days a week to obtain the budget I created , once I got close to my financial goal, I looped in the head of Set Decor so they could see locations, give them my ideas , hear their idea, then let them map out how they pull our vision together. I did that 3months in advance. I then hired a casting director because working independently we sometime had to do casting and I Knew I didn’t want to do that lol . When casting was done I locked in Locations. I had the production manager submit contracts to the cast and crew. I created call sheets in great detail , since scenes are shot out of sequence, I made sure wardrobe detailed, hair style and props. For a bigger budget there would be designated ppl for that, but I had to do it all myself, which was fine because I am also very particular so I didn’t mind lol. Once all contracts were signed and returned. We are set to go to Set!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a Philadelphia native, where I started acting on stage. I didn’t love the stereotypic roles I was offered, and it made me want to quit acting, but my spirit wouldn’t let me, so instead I started writing roles that depicted young black Woman with astute personality and layers of character. When I write, I just write, I never had to beat out to complete a script, and they weren’t stage plays they were films, which prompted my move to the A. I now consult on scripts and or writes scripts for clients. I have a genuine love for film making, every part from conception to the birth of a project, so I know exactly how to help someone bring their vision to reality or ask the right questions so I can accurately write it myself. I recently started a Non-Profit Film Foundation, to teach inner city children the skills and technique to create films the right way.

Have you ever had to pivot?

On the set of my first movie, day 4 of shooting one of the department heads tried to extort more money from me by refusing to light the set unless he gets more money. So I chose to fire him on the spot, use the second team to light. I had to call in favors for additional lighting equipment and we finished the day not successfully, because it took time to get the things we needed but what we did get looked good.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

My first film was a action film and I never worked on a action production so I didn’t know it takes longer because every single move, kick, slap, punch, is capture in a different shot and in slower motion, which means when I did my scheduling I should have schedule more days. When I exceeded my days, with out shooting the complete film I had to Get back to work and hit another financial goal so I could pay crew and cast to come back and do reshoots and finish the film. Of course that took some time so by the time I was ready I lost talent, but could not scrap the film so I had to re work the script to fit what we shot originally and still make since with new additions.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: alisha_dominique
• Facebook: Alisha Dominique
• Linkedin: Alisha Dominique
• Twitter: ADom
• Youtube: Ah A.D Flic