As is the case with previous generations of 20-somethings, there’s been quite a bit written and reported on the Millennial generation.
But for one filmmaker, what’s been reported hasn’t always aligned with the realities that Millennials often face on a day-to-day basis.
Unimpressed with the traditional media and marketing accounts of who, or what, a Millennial truly is, filmmaker Garrett Bradley set off to make a film to showcase the lives of 20-somethings in an honest, and realistic way.
There were a lot of narrow perspectives that weren’t congruent to the people I was meeting, Bradley says.
Unimpressed with the traditional media and marketing accounts of who, or what, a Millennial truly is, filmmaker Garrett Bradley set off to make a film to showcase the lives of 20-somethings in an honest, and realistic way.
As a result, Bradley hopped on a series of Greyhound buses traveling from New York to New Orleans and began interviewing young people about something simple: the issues impacting their daily lives.
“People need to see images that are accurate and not just there for marketing purposes,” she said.
Bradley’s inclusive addition to the myriad of stories about Millennials that are sprinkled throughout our culture deviated from the traditional, college educated, commitment fearing tropes that take up quite a bit of the current media landscape.
A portion of her Greyhound interviews would become her debut film, Below Dreams, which follows the lives of three 20-something people, a single mother, an ex-felon and a New Yorker navigating life in New Orleans.
“These are real issues that people are dealing with on a real level,” she said. As a result of the rawness of the subjects, Bradley noted that she strived to make sure the film was respectful while still being honest.
“It was important that the film didn’t come across as romantic or sentimental,” Bradley said. “It had to feel real.”
The film debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival back in April 2014 to a flood of praise, and Bradley has been the recipient of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Award, as well as the Motion Picture Association of America Award.
On August 28 Bradley appeared at her alma mater, UCLA, to screen both Below Dreams and her newest film, Cover Me, at the Billy Wilder Theatre.
Making its North American debut, Cover Me follows an aspiring singer living in New Orleans.
After the screening, guests were treated to a Q&A with Bradley to discuss her filmmaking process, her works and her upcoming projects.
Up next, Bradley will be shooting and editing a series of 12, 35 millimeter films scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
