Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Karmelina Moore. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Karmelina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

As of right now, I just finished filming a sizzle reel for a book adaptation. For almost two years I have been working closely with the authors and have adapted Clancy Nacht and Thursday Euclid’s “Black Gold” into a 1980s musical soap opera. Sounds pretty out there, right? But, I feel like it works with the story and offers something eclectic.

This project is meaningful to me because it is something that I have put a substantial amount of time into, and is a story that I feel will connect with many people. I began as an admirer of the novel, and to be able to potentially turn it into a television series is amazing!

Karmelina, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Screenwriting began as a hobby for me, which is not the most interesting fact, but it is what started this righteous journey that I am on! It was the summer before I began high school, and I felt like my life was going nowhere. School never fulfilled me and I found myself being a self-elected outcast so I turned to writing. The fact that I could create my own world was healing and exciting because every day was a new adventure!

With being a creative person comes many problems that do not have a solution written in a rulebook. If I want a character to sound more mysterious I can’t just add a couple of action lines and change the dialogue. I have to produce an imaginary conversation with a mysterious person and apply that to the script. It’s a fun process, but it is something that I had to learn on my own. Screenwriting is very trial and error.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The particular mission I have for my creative journey is creating content that I want to watch, and that transports me into a world that I want to hang out in. A lot of the stuff these days is the same and the cinematography, costume, and sound are not very flattering. I look at them and think to myself, “This is not a place I want to go.” I’m not trying to be hateful, but it is what fuels me to write something completely different.

I love the 80s, the b-side cool part, not that top 40 commercialized part, and I feel as though that aspect has not been covered in depth. That is what I am aiming to do and what I have done through “Black Gold”.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

When going into any creative field people give you the impression that there will be somebody waiting there, ready to believe in your idea, and that patience will lead you to that person. That is the farthest thing from the truth. It is a lie that I had to unlearn in the past year or two. You, as the creative person, has to reach out and create your own reality. That could mean shooting your own scripts, or making your own money for financing.

That is what I had to do, because these days, people do not want to take chances with the arts. Look at schools, almost all art programs have been cut, if that is not a clear message, I don’t know what is. So, if you want it to happen, you have to make it happen yourself. “Black Gold” was collecting dust for months before I realized I had to show the world “Black Gold” and not just tell them about it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm10298601/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karmelinamoore/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karmelina-moore-b32481273/

Image Credits

Josh Moore