Black Film Space is proud to serve as the fiscal sponsor for the short film Cottonmouth.

Black Film Space's fiscal sponsorship program allows for members to use its 501(c)(3) non-profit tax-exempt status to receive tax-deductible donations on the film's behalf and solicit charitable contributions throughout the production process.

Cottonmouth has been chosen after careful evaluation from our board, and we believe it supports our mission to provide career advancing opportunities for Black filmmakers.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

PROJECT TYPE: Short Film
GENRE: Romantic Dramedy
PROJECT STATUS: Pre-Production
WRITER / DIRECTOR: Ama Anane
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY: Matt Hayes
PRODUCER: Jess Barr

PRODUCER: Alex Spenser Gould

LOGLINE: A Black grad student gets cold feet about bringing her white girlfriend on a research trip to visit the Cottonmouth Plantation & Wine Cellar.

SYNOPSIS: Cottonmouth: (n.) a large, dangerous pit viper that inhabits lowland swamps and waterways of the southeastern US. When threatening, it opens its mouth wide to display the white interior; (n.) dryness of the mouth.

Cottonmouth is a romantic dramedy about a Black woman named Ayo, who’s writing her graduate thesis about her namesake, Nana Ayo Forbes, who died on Cottonmouth Plantation thirty years after slavery ended. Oh, Georgia... with its trees, birds, cottonwoods, and peaches. Why do the ugliest things happen in the most beautiful places? Ayo wrestles with the legacy of slavery and her romantic future. She’s falling in love with her White. Girl. Friend. She hasn’t yet strung those words together, but Ayo’s not falling without a fight.

TEAM

AMA ANANE, (Writer/ Director)

The product of Jamaican and Ghanaian parents, Ama Anane (pronounced Ah-nah-nee) grew up in two of the wildest places on earth: Papua New Guinea and Las Vegas. Her scripts, standup, and poetry explore the identities and experiences that divide and make us whole. She was a 2024 Moonshot TV Pilot Accelerator Fellow, a 2024 Script Competition Finalist for the Austin Film Festival, and a 2024 Semifinalist for the Humanitas New Voices Fellowship. Ama Anane is part of the 2025-2027 NBCUniversal Launch TV Writer's Program, which aims to "develop emerging episodic TV writers and prepare them to be staffed on scripted series with the long-term goal of developing the next generation of showrunners. "Cottonmouth" is her directorial debut. A graduate of Emerson College and Columbia University, Ama is also the founder of Good Influence Consulting, which works with nonprofits, foundations, and public institutions. She serves on the governing board of Communities in Schools Los Angeles and lives with her wife and daughters in Highland Park.

MATT HAYES, (Director of Photography)

Matthew W. Hayes III believes people deserve to be seen as they truly are. Working across digital and analog cinematography, his work focuses on intimate portraiture, using light and texture to create an emotional connection with the audience. Matthew lives in Brooklyn, NY, and is represented by Supervision.

JESS BARR, (Producer)

A multi-hyphenate filmmaker raised in Portland, Oregon, Jessica Barr's work often explores loss and discoveries made from grief. Sophie Jones, a feature that Barr wrote, produced and starred in, premiered at the 2020 Deauville Film Festival. The film screened at numerous other festivals before being acquired by Oscilloscope Laboratories with a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Barr produced the indie feature Can't Seem To Make You Mine, which recently won best feature at Local Sightings Film Festival and is being distributed by Gravitas Ventures. Her short film Tight recently had its world premiere at SXSW and was listed as a top 10 best film to see by Harper's Bazaar. It premiered online as a Vimeo Staff Pick.

ALEX SPENSER GOULD, ( Producer)

Alexander Spenser Gould is a producer based in Brooklyn, NY with experience that spans narrative, documentary, and commercial work. He’s produced projects for global brands such as AT&T, Everlast, and SoulCycle. His narrative work has played at reputable film festivals such as IFF Boston and Tacoma Film Festival. His latest project, Let No One Lose Heart, is a feature documentary currently in post production.

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COTTONMOUTH FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN

Team Leaderboard

Team Members