Happy Activist Gabri Blankson: Exploring Teens’ Mental Health Through Film

0:03Thank you for joining us for episode 534 of Live Happy Now. This week we're talking with our youngest happy activist yet, who is changing the way teens talk about mental health. I'm your host, Paula Phelps, and this week I'm sitting down with Gabri Blankson, who at the age of just 15 has created a buzz with her short film, Mime. Drawing on her own experiences during the pandemic, Gabri is using film as a forum to show how isolation affects teen mental health and open the dialogue on what to do about it. Let's have a listen.

0:37Gabri Blankson:Gabri, thank you so much for being on Live Happy Now. Yeah, I'm so excited to be here. You have done this incredible project. When I discovered it, I discovered it online. And I really wanted to be able to get you on the show because you are what we would call a happy activist. You're really doing things to make the world a better place. And I guess before we really dive into all the details of it, can you start by telling us what MIME is all about? Yes. So MIME is about a girl who struggles with social isolation during a pandemic as she confronts her inner turmoil and ultimately discovers her path towards healing.

1:17And you do it very well in a remarkably short time. So that that's one thing that because it is a short film. And I thought, boy, you have taken on a huge subject and condensed it into under 10 minutes, I believe. Right.

1:32Gabri Blankson:Yes. It was around seven minutes, I think. Yeah, I thought that was incredibly well done. And I also wondered why that topic? I know on the show, we have talked so much about the effects of mental health and isolation that have occurred, and especially how it's affected younger people. So why did you want to take it on as a film project? So originally when I was applying to the program, they gave us a set of categories and I was going to choose a different category initially. And then I decided maybe if I tried one of the less chosen categories, my story could be really strong. And I decided to choose mental health because I felt like COVID really impacted me and a lot of other people around me.

2:16Gabri Blankson:And I haven't seen a lot of stories about it, honestly, at least through film. So I wanted to say that through a teenager's eyes, too. And I thought that was really interesting because, as I said, we've talked about it on the show. But when we as adults, as parents are talking about it, we're talking about what we've observed. Whereas you have a lived experience. How do you think that's important for the viewers, for the teenagers who are watching your film to be able to see it through your eyes, which is their eyes, instead of through the eyes of a parent or an adult? I think it just helps them to know that they weren't alone in their struggles.

2:57Gabri Blankson:I think especially in mental health, we isolate ourselves a lot, and that makes us feel like we're going through something really difficult by ourselves. But I'm a very strong believer that to be seen is to be heard and understood. So I wanted my film to play off that concept a lot. And in creating the film, did you better understand what you had been through or how did it kind of, I know I do writing, I did journaling and I write stories and that helps me process it. Are you doing the same thing with film? And then if so, what did you learn about your own experience? Yeah, for sure. I think it definitely helps me just understand myself.

3:38Gabri Blankson:And I think the whole process was very healing because I got to reflect back COVID's impact on me. And once I kind of started healing, it actually helps me like notice like signs of other people struggling that I noticed in myself. That makes perfect sense. One thing that was really compelling to me about it is your approach. So for the listeners that haven't yet seen this, you approach this as a fantasy and the mimes are a metaphor for the emotions. I thought that was incredibly clever, incredibly well executed. How did you come up with that? So I was kind of inspired by the movie Inside Out and how Riley's emotions are brought to life by these little characters in her head.

4:24Gabri Blankson:But I wanted to think of like my own creative way to put an idea like that into my own film. So I decided to choose Mines because I wanted viewers to be more focused on the actions of my film rather than like dialogue and to get distracted in the dialogue because I wanted to be very expressive so you would feel like you were there and like feel like you were in the mind of the character. And then how long did you have to create it? Had this, did you have an idea in your head and then you kind of rolled it around and wrote it? Like what was that writing and development process like? The whole process, writing and filming, all of it was about like six months.

5:06Gabri Blankson:But coming up with the idea, I only had like two weeks maybe to like finalize the idea because to submit, we had to pick our topic and then we had to like give them a basis of our idea and make like a PowerPoint step to step of like kind of our vision of the film. So very early on, I had to have a very solid idea. So was it pretty what fully baked when you came up with the idea or did it evolve as you kept working on it? It evolved so much. It changed so much. But definitely for the better, all the girls in the program, they actually did something new this year that was like a retreat. So we all went and met up in Florida and we all worked on each other's ideas and gave each other more ideas until we finalized our stories after that.

5:54Gabri Blankson:So we all went into the process with ideas. We didn't finalize them until we all met together and gave notes on each other's stories. Oh, that's an incredible way to do it because of collaboration. Yes, you absolutely feed off of each other's creativity. And one thing that you created is a downloadable guide and it's got mental health resources. It gave tips on things for viewers to look for, like the body language and even how the emotions were presented by each mind's actions. This guide is so good. And I do not want to sound ageist, but I was shocked that you could at 15 be so observant and so aware of these things.

6:36So how did you even go about developing such a comprehensive and thorough and insightful guide for that?

6:44Gabri Blankson:Because COVID was so long when I struggled with my own mental health, it just gave me a lot of time for reflection. And when I was kind of like healing myself and coming out of COVID, It was just gave me a lot of time to reflect on myself and ways I coped with my mental health and my struggles and ways I didn't cope very well. And all that reflection, I think, just really helps me understand myself and other people. And that's kind of how I have a deep understanding of mental health, having gone through some struggles myself. Yeah, I thought it was just in addition to the film being so well representative of the emotions, I thought that guide was really, really impressive and makes us think as it's supposed to do about really what we're witnessing.

7:36I know for myself, I watched the film, then I downloaded the guide and looked at that. And then I watched the film again and it did change how I was watching the film. So very effective. Very well done.

7:48Gabri Blankson:Thank you. Absolutely. So tell me about how you got so interested in filmmaking. Oh, wow. I think I started filmmaking when I was really young, like eight. I was always interested in acting and we tried acting for a little while, but when it wasn't working out, I just kind of decided I was going to make my own movies and do it myself. So I would make movies with my little sister, Kobe. They were not very serious, but eventually that developed into me taking some film classes at school and making films at school and doing summer camps. And then eventually the film camp program I just did earlier this year.

8:28So you've created other films before this? I have. Okay. Have you done it? Really? Have they been just like this in terms of, you know, you've got opening credits and music and closing credits. It's the whole package.

8:42Gabri Blankson:definitely not to this extent not as professional and as well done as this most recent film when I did it with my school we did have we did have credits and we did have music and editors I think just unless you're very passionate about it then the result isn't as good and when you're working with people who aren't as passionate it's different but being in the program I was just in everyone just was so passionate about film and like everyone wanted you to be successful festival so I think it was just a very serious space but in a good way where everyone took you seriously and took your idea seriously so the result was just more than I could have ever expected so did it change how you look at filmmaking I mean did it make you say this is absolutely what I'm going to do or what kind of effect did it have to create a project like this we actually got to meet with a ton of people in the industry throughout the program in different jobs like directors and editors and post-production people so I could see a lot of different career paths people have and it definitely kind of narrowed things down for me to see what I'm really interested in and also showed me how difficult the workspace is when it comes to film and how brutal it is but to be very prepared for that if I do want to go into film professionally and it's I saw a lot of my mentors struggling who had lost their jobs working in film because there was just a job cut or also having their ideas taken.

10:18Gabri Blankson:So I think to a lot of people outside of film, it seems like all rainbows and sunshines, but there's a lot of hard work that goes into even making like the smallest short film. Yeah, there's so much more to it than people realize. and yeah we'll be right back with more of live happy now

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11:30Gabri Blankson:And now let's hear more from Gabri Blankson. You did this as part of Black Girls Film Camp. Tell us what that is and then how that experience was for you. Yes. So Black Girls Film Camp is around a six-month program that gives young Black filmmakers professional support and resources. Each year they pick around 10 girls that each get to make their own films and each girl is assigned a team with an editor, a cinematographer, and like a production coach and an alumni coach from the year before. All just as a resource to help us make our own films and just kind of help us through the process. All these people are professionals and adults who have gone through these things before.

12:19Gabri Blankson:So they have really good insight. And that was a really nice resource to use throughout the process. And then we have like a workbook each week, we have different assignments we had to complete. And zoom calls we had to make in order to make our film. And then we would travel for retreats, and then shoot weeks. And then it was over really fast. Wow, it sounds really comprehensive. Once you had your script written, you knew this is what you were going to do. Then did someone review it and say, tell me your process once you had that script and where did it go from writing that into creating a product and also how you got your cast?

13:03Gabri Blankson:So for the script, we would write a group. So we learned about scripts first. We had a Zoom call, where we all learned about script writing and different forms of it, and where we can find resources of other scripts. And then we wrote our scripts, and we could share it with our team to get feedback from them. And then we submitted those to an assignment. And then, like the head of the program reviewed that. And then we would do another phone call just with the head of the program. And we would go over like notes they had on it. And then we'd have like a take two, where we'd refine everything and all the notes they gave us, we'd resubmit that.

13:46Gabri Blankson:And for most people, it got approved after that. And for some people, they had to keep working on it a little longer. But there were deadlines that we had to meet. So it was a very short period of time. So then how did you, once it's approved, how did you cast it? I loved your cast. Your cast was great. Thank you. I love the mimes. I want to keep them. So the casting process is really fun. So the program, since they have their own website, they made a casting call on their website. And then they also allowed us to use other casting websites like Backstage to cast random people that we don't know.

14:25Gabri Blankson:We could only cast people from LA or like family members so that they'd be close to our location when we went to shoot in LA. So we would have people audition. We'd watch their auditions. If we liked them, we would do a callback phone call with the entire cast and we do like a table read, which is where everyone goes over and over the script and reads it together. And then we kind of see the chemistry of everyone. And then we'd either say you booked it or you didn't and you'd move on. For me, the head of the program, the head of the program also actually reviews your cast and they're the final approval.

15:03Gabri Blankson:So she actually thought that my family members would be best to act in my film. So I ended up having my dad and my little sister act in my film instead of some of the actors. So that was a really fun experience. And then I actually did have some other actors that I had that I didn't know who also acted in it. See, that is a great family project together. For sure. I mean, how fun is that at the end of the day? And then to be able to watch it together, that had to be just, that's great. Yeah, it was lots of bonding time. And it was fun that they got to travel with me through the whole process and see everything for themselves.

15:42That is so cool. And so then did you actually film or did you have someone else that did the filming? And how hands-on were you with that part?

15:50Gabri Blankson:So I did have a cinematographer assigned to me and he brought his own camera equipment. But all of the shots, those were my decision. We do like beat sheets and like we write out a shot list way early on. So we already kind of have an idea of what we want and we share that to our cinematographers. So he kind of knew what I was wanting. and so it was a very in-the-moment process where we were just working together and like sometimes I had to change my mind if we were running out of time or I liked a different shot better but yeah I really liked my cinematographer and he was great but he actually he did all like the holding of the camera and I was kind of just directing him telling him what I liked and what I didn't.

16:33That's great and so you've gotten good response off this great feedback and you've won a bunch of awards from it. Can you tell us all the honor? I'll put you on the spot. You got to tell us how great you are. Tell us some of the awards that you've picked up because of this. Some of the awards I have gotten, they are just, they are just selection.

16:54Gabri Blankson:So I was selected for their festival. I've gotten to, so I selected by the Indie X Festival, Independent Shorts Festival, and then the World Film Festival. I was selected for that one. And then I was a semifinalist and we were like whoa and then I was a finalist and it was crazy and the deadline had passed for when they were saying winners so I thought I didn't get it and then a day like a couple days later they posted that I won something and I was like oh my gosh and so I won best student short film award and that's so far been my biggest award and there's a website called Film Freeway where all of the girls from the program.

17:39Gabri Blankson:That's where we find festivals to submit to. So I have a few other I'm waiting on just to see if I got selected by those. So do you think future efforts you'll do more in the vein of mental health or are you going to look at other topics? What's kind of your your path from here? I think I definitely want to branch out. I really am so glad that I chose mental health. But I definitely want to try a lot of different genres of film. Like I want to try an action film and I want to try a horror film. I think as a filmmaker, that would give me a lot of variety and just experience in all areas. So my next one, I'm not exactly sure what it will be, but I've started writing down a few ideas already.

18:27Oh, that's great. And do you think, will you do that through the film camp or are you going to do things independently or what are you kind of planning to?

18:34Gabri Blankson:So for the film camp, now that it's technically officially ended, the only thing we can still do with the program is be like an alumni coach and just kind of support the next set of girls. So I technically couldn't make anything else with them, but I could work with other people from the program if I wanted to. So that might be an option, but I recently did get into a film class at my school. So I'm hoping to collaborate with some of my classmates and make some more stuff. Excellent. So you also recently collaborated on an interesting project for the Duology Days of Mindfulness tour. Tell us what that's about and tell us what you did.

19:13That involved your family as well.

19:15Gabri Blankson:Yes. So that is something run by another girl in my cohort named Denver and her older brother named Dylan. And they go around doing all these things surrounding wellness and mindfulness and mental health and so they travel to different locations and this time we decided to do like a family dinner style and they were like is your family up for it and we were like yeah sure we'll do whatever so they came to Dallas and we sat around at a dinner table and just shared a meal and talked about what mindfulness means to us and what it looks like and how we can choose to be mindful. And we did it with my grandparents also, which was really cool.

19:59Gabri Blankson:And they recorded it so that they can share around and hopefully inspire more families to have interesting conversations like that at their dinner tables. Yeah, I watched it. That was a very cool project for them to do. I thought, yeah, very thoughtful to just do something that seems so simple and so common, but is so important. Yeah, they do so many cool projects. We were really excited to be involved. So we are going to tell our listeners how they can find your website, how they can watch the film, where to down. We'll give them a link so they can directly download the viewer's guide and enjoy that with the film.

20:37And so what is it that you hope they most get out of what the work that you've done here?

20:43Gabri Blankson:I just hope they have a new understanding of mental health. and just a sense of understanding of themselves and other people, and also just a new sense of awareness. I just really wanted to bring awareness to the topic because I think it's very sensitive. Not a lot of people want to talk about it. They like to keep their feelings to themselves. But I think the more we talk about it, the more comfortable we'll be with it. And I think especially for younger people, that's something that needs to be normalized. so I hope I hope they take away just a valuable lesson that it's okay to be open about your feelings it doesn't make you weak and yeah.

21:26Gabby very well said thank you I'm excited to see where you go from here because you obviously have a lot of talent you're channeling it in the right direction and it's really exciting and so I thank you for just sitting down and sharing this time with us today.

21:42Gabri Blankson:Yeah thank you so much for having me this has been so great.

21:49That was happy activist Gabri Blankson talking about how she addressed teen mental health in her short film, Mime. If you'd like to learn more about Gabri, check out her film and download the free discussion guide. Just visit us at livehappy.com and click on this podcast episode. That is all we have time for today. We'll meet you back here again next week for an all new episode. And until then, this is Paula Phelps reminding you to make every day a happy one. Thank you.