“Capriccio,” the new short from writer Israel Vaughan and director Kiah Clingman, feels like a breath of fresh air.
The short film, which will have its world premiere at the 50th Atlanta Film Festival on April 25, is about two strangers (one played by Vaughan and one by Alexis Louder) who meet in a bookstore and quickly develop a romantic connection through music and dance. From the meet cute, to the chemistry, to the music, “Capriccio,” is a sweet and delightful watch.
For Clingman, that sense of joy was important.
“Especially as Black creators, I feel like we’re always put in a box or forced to [think], this is our one project, and we have to put all of our trauma in it, or have this project with a strong message or call to action,” she said. “That’s what I loved about Israel’s initial script, and what it ended up evolving into, because we never had to think about that. We got to have fun.”
The short was made with an Atlanta-based cast and crew, including producers Kenisha Johnson and Rocky Mohammed (Clingman and Vaughan also produced), cinematographer Clifford Johnson, and editors Zack Burkett and Derek Evans. In addition to having a connection to Atlanta, Vaughan said one of the most important things for him was having a majority Black female cast and crew.
“That meant the world, to be able to provide that space,” he said.
Ahead of the Atlanta Film Festival which runs from April 23 to May 3, Rough Draft Atlanta spoke with Clingman and Vaughan about the making of the film. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I’d love to hear about how you guys met each other and how you linked up to work on this project.
Israel Vaughan: I was an intern at Drama Inc., which is a studio for actors to train in Grant Park. I can’t remember if we were in the same class, or if I interned in her class, because I was also an intern there, but that’s where we initially met.
Kiah Clingman: Yeah, years ago. Like, 2016 or 2017?
Vaughan: Yeah, 2017. And she had a lot of success very early … I saw a lot of her success and drive, and I was like, I need to work with her at some point. Hopefully, she’ll still consider me a peer, even though it seems like she’s leaps and bounds ahead of me. But I talked to Alexis [Louder], who’s the co-star [in “Capriccio”], and she said, “Just ask her!” And I said, “Okay, okay! Don’t yell at me!”
Clingman: [Laughs]
Vaughan: So I reached out, and she said, “Send me the script, and we’ll have a conversation.” That’s kind of how we linked up, because I’d just been following her career.
Clingman: We had stayed in touch, of course, on social media and supporting each other along the way. But when he brought it to me, I was like, absolutely. The yes didn’t come from me reading the script. It was because I like [Israel], and I love Alexis, and he was telling me about the team that he had.
A big goal of mine that year was to direct something that wasn’t my own. And “Capriccio” gave me that opportunity, because I wanted to hone my directing skills on the short film side. It’s one thing to direct something that you write, and something that’s your truth. But when you direct someone else’s vision – Israel’s vision – it’s a more collaborative process. We were lucky to have an amazing working relationship. I know some writers and directors don’t have that [laughs], but we had an amazing relationship. The entire producing process was great. Our producers, Kenisha Johnson and Rocky Mohammed, are stellar, superwomen producers, and it was just great to have them on the team as well.
I’m curious, Israel, where did this idea come from? I was looking at your IMDB, and I know you’ve primarily acted. I believe this is the first short you’ve written that’s at least been made into something, but did you always want to write?
Vaughan: Always. I feel like there’s a lot of pressure at times to say, you’re this one thing. I am a writer, I’m a singer, I’m an actor. This is what I do, and the other thing is to do on the side. But, my mom actually reminded me that she still has stacks of folders that I used to write short stories in when I was a kid. They’re all terrible, mind you – but I always loved the idea of creating new worlds and having characters to play in them.
I was an understudy at a show at the Alliance called “Into the Burrow,” which was about Peter Rabbit. The three band members doubled as Peter Rabbit’s mischievous little siblings, Flopsy, Mossy, and Cottontail. They were characters, but they would “speak” through their instruments. Us, as the cast members, understood what they were saying. It was kind of cool and reminded me of those old – I think it was on PBS or NPR, they used to do little radio plays of a similar kind of concept, where the duck would be an oboe.
I remember this!
Clingman: I remember too.
Vaughan: So, on the drive home, I was like, I kind of want to play with that idea. I got home and wrote it immediately – the first draft of the script, and the draft that everybody signed onto the project [for]. Then Kiah coming on really helped round out the story and make it into the final piece that it is today.
How did it change? What were the kinds of things that once Kiah came on, rounded themselves out?
Vaughan: Initially, it was gonna be like those radio plays where we wouldn’t speak – we’d do everything through action and through music. The only thing that was kind of missing was the story. That was the one critique I got from one of my friends, who turned out to be right – and he actually ended up turning around and doing our additional edits, Derek Evans. [Laughs] He said, “It’s cute! It needs a story.” And then, about a week before the shoot, Kiah goes, “It’s cute! But it needs a story.” And I’m like, okay!
Clingman: Was it a week before? I feel like it was more than a week before.
Vaughan: It felt like a quick turnaround for me … but I’m not a career writer, and I feel like career writers tend to spit out pages. And I know I need time. It felt quick. But I will yield that to Kiah – it definitely was longer than a week [laughs].
I thought the idea of the main character reading a pickup artist book was very funny. Is that where that sort of came into play?
Vaughan: When we were chatting about the script, I was telling her where some of the inspiration comes from. I remember one of my acting teachers says, a lot of times we’re drawn to stories where characters make the decision that we wish we’d made. I was talking to Kiah about my dating woes, and she said, “Well why don’t you make that the driving force? Make the character make the decision that you never got to make with all of the women that he would be scared to talk to.”
Clingman: Yeah, and adding a little more of Israel’s truth. I’m always so big on, we can make the most outlandish story or script, but the heart comes into a script when you add a little bit of your truth.
That leads us to the dancing. Who choreographed that? Kaia, I don’t know if you’ve ever filmed choreography like that before, so I’d love to hear about that process.
Clingman: I’d never done that. It’s crazy because, looking back on this entire process, I thought I’d be a lot more nervous or scared about doing certain things, but I really wasn’t. I actually have a music background. I was in musicals and plays growing up in middle school and high school, but I also played violin and piano through college. I’m sure if I picked it back up again, I would still kind of remember. But I grew up in the performing arts. So, I wouldn’t say this was a foreign language. It was just something I had to re-acclimate myself to.
But, we brought in Candy McLellan, who I had actually worked with her as an actress in [a movie produced by Clingman called] “Color Book.” … She plays one of the MARTA workers in that story. I had no idea how amazing a choreographer she was. Israel, was it you or Kenisha who brought her on?
Vaughan: I brought her on. I had known Candy just from the theater world, from the plays that I had done. She put on a Facebook post: “Anybody trying to work? I don’t care what it is – directing, choreography, or whatever. I just want to work with my friends.” I said, “DM me,” in the comments [laughs]. I reached out to her and asked if she would do it, and she said, it sounded cute.
I know you’ve done stage stuff, Israel, but as far as choreography, had you done musicals or anything like that?
Vaughan: Yeah, my background is really musical theater before anything else.
Clingman: But Alexis said this was the hardest choreo that she had ever done. We did a little cast and crew screening last week, and she was like, “I still don’t know how I learned all that.” [Laughs]
Vaughan: She’s been in two music videos with Solange [Knowles]!
Clingman: That’s the first time I ever saw Alexis – she was in Solange’s “Cranes in the Sky” and “Don’t Touch My Hair” videos.
Israel, was it different for you acting in something that you wrote? Did that add any extra anxiety throughout the shoot?
Vaughan: Absolutely [laughs]. The portion of the writing becoming a necessity is just the nature of the way I look. Certain roles don’t come to me as frequently. I don’t have as much opportunity to kind of flex muscles, especially not being a leading man. I’m not saying it’s a bad or good thing, It’s just facts.
There was a short that I wrote in 2018 – never saw the light of day – but I didn’t write myself as the lead in that one. One of my writing partners was encouraging me to start writing with myself in mind. She was pushing me in that direction. This whole project has been the story of me thinking one thing, and then the people around me pushing me to think bigger. I mean, just this interview alone was Kiah being like we need to do this.
Clingman: Oh yeah, I immediately said that. I was like, “Israel needs to be a part of the interview too.” Because I wouldn’t be here without him. Like I said earlier, so often it’s writer/director, and the writer is the director. But this was so fun because we got to take two different perspectives and collaborate. I think that makes the best projects, when you have multiple strong, talented voices in a room, coming together to tell one story.
“Capriccio” will play in the “Each One, Teach One” shorts block on April 25 at 12:30 p.m. at the Tara Theatre.
