I’m the pivot queen. Do I have an award or crown for it? No. It’s self-proclaimed, but I have proof to back it up.
My name is Oluwaseun Babalola. I am a director, writer, and producer. For the past decade, I have been working as a documentary filmmaker. I have faced production hurdles such as a surfing film in Sierra Leone with no waves, a day of shooting musical performances in Botswana with no sound recorded, an interviewee in Ghana becoming a no-show after hours of telling me “I’m on the way!,” a drive-by shooting on Skid Row in California, rain starting before a filmed outdoor dinner in Oklahoma, many passport altercations at borders, shooting a feature film during the height of the pandemic and much more.
You could say pivoting comes with the territory. Every scenario I’ve encountered has prepared me for the next. My most recent project, “Fighting Giants,” a narrative short film I wrote and directed in Sierra Leone, needed all of my experience.
“Fighting Giants” is a story about grief, humanity, and strength from the perspective of a Sierra Leonean mother and her daughters. It’s a personal story based on the disappearance of my sister, who was last heard from in August of 2018, in Freetown, Sierra Leone. According to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC), in 2022, more than 97,000 Black women were reported missing, which is about 35% of missing women and girls that year.
This disproportionately affects the Black community, as Black people make up about 14% of the U.S. population. You’ve heard of Missing White Woman Syndrome, right? The coined term is somewhat misleading, as Black women and girls receive less media attention than not only white women and girls, but Asian and Latina women as well. This can lead to missing cases remaining open longer and lower the chances of a successful outcome. On average, cases involving Black women stay open four times longer than other cases. That is just in the United States. Globally, there are no concrete numbers or data.
I didn’t know I was going to make “Fighting Giants.” Following years of rumination, I decided to just do it. After applying for grants (I got none) and saving for a long time, I created a budget and slowly assembled a producing team, next, a crew, and in 2023, I set a date. Let’s go! But the universe said, “You gotta be quicker than that.”
I have a moment in my script that takes place in front of Freetown’s Cotton Tree, a 400-year-old historic symbol in the capital city. In May of 2023, the tree was struck by a storm and fell. Cotton Tree, no more. My initial reaction was, “Wow…is this a sign? Now what do I do with that shot?” ‘Seun, please. Don’t get superstitious. Just pivot! I did a quick scene rewrite, and the Cotton Tree has an even deeper meaning in the film now that it is broken.
Pivot Lesson No. 1: Be ready to… adjust your darlings (you know the original phrase). It might be better than your original idea.
Moving on, ignoring the symbolic threat of destruction, I went ahead with pre-production. My then-director of photography needed a visa, so we sent her passport to the Sierra Leone Embassy. Unfortunately, we got the news a week before the flight that her passport had been stolen at the embassy. We couldn’t get an emergency passport, so I rescheduled the shoot. I thought, “Alright, it’s better if we go in the winter anyway, the weather will be better, and we won’t have to worry about rain.”
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Pivot Lesson No. 2: Do as much as you can with your reality, but look on the bright side to keep you motivated.
I alerted the team on the ground that there were new dates, I cut losses, and we moved forward. A few weeks later, the same DP backed out of the project. Damn, I thought. We have weeks to go before filming and now I have no DP and no time to go over the months of work we did on the shot list, look, and feel, with someone new.
My pivot idea: “I hired an Assistant Camera, Schwarbu Kamara. I’m going to promote that person to co-DP. I and the co-DP will share camera duties!” Insane, I know, but drastic times call for drastic measures.
Pivot Lesson No. 3: Be ready to STEP UP and do whatever you can to make it work.
I am going to speed the next few hiccups up because they are crazy. Soon after, there was an attempted coup in the country. I had to reschedule again (refer to Pivot Lesson No. 2).
In early 2024, I finally made it to Freetown for further pre-production, rehearsals, and production. During that time I realized the cost of fuel and essentials had risen drastically, I lost a sound mixer a few days before shooting and had to find a replacement ASAP. Wardrobe issues had me doing another script re-write. And I dealt with the mental and emotional processing of being back in the country where my sister was last seen, all while directing, shooting, and producing. It was a lot. This leads to…
Pivot Lesson No. 4: Breathe. Remember why you’re doing the work and find support systems that you trust to help you through the process.
What I Learned From ‘Fighting Giants’
These lessons are applicable outside of film. We can’t control what happens to us in life, but we can control how we react. Filmmaking is hard. Be patient with yourself and your progress. If you are lacking resources or countless blocks appear in your way, reassess, see what you have available at hand, and keep it going. You got this.
My film, “Fighting Giants,” is currently in post-production and raising completion funds. I made this film to share my family’s story and raise additional awareness toward injustice surrounding Black women and missing persons cases.
If you’d like to support this short film and its cause, visit https://seedandspark.com/fund/fighting-giants to make a pledge and spread the word.
Main image: “Fighting Giants” director Oluwaseun Babalola and co-DP Schwarbu Kamara touching base on a shot choice. Photo by Ezekiel Kargbo