This is Capsuled a site showcasing sub-genres and subcultures of queer and/or BIPOC descent. This series will be highlighting queer and/or BIPOC creatives in a casual interviews with a focus on understanding the impact of community on marginalized identities and learning more about really cool individuals.
Today, I sat down with the Trinidadian bartender and filmmaker in an hour Zoom conversation. We discussed her transition from photography to filmmaking, her music taste, and if whether her art speaks to a community or creates one. Check out her interview below and watch the full-length interview under the videos section!
Share a bit about yourself
Hi, my name is Danny Payne. I'm 21. I'm born and raised in Bed Stuy, New York. I just graduated from college about two months ago from Claremont McKenna. And I'm a photographer and budding filmmaker, now budding bartender. i Yeah, I've been a photographer for the past seven years, and then recently got into camera work and film. So since graduation, I've just been, you know, taking a little bit of a break that I feel like it's well deserved, because college is a lot. And then, um, yeah, just doing little freelance gigs around the city with like, short film student films. And then I very recently started working at a bar. Yeah, and just trying to fill my time with that stuff while working on my own passion projects. I'm first generation Caribbean child. Why'd I say like that? Um, yeah. First generation, my family's from Trinidad. Me and my brother. were the first ones born here.
How did you transition from photography to filmmaking?
I love that question. Because it's a really funny story, because it happened by accident. And it also happened because of COVID. I feel like so many people's explanation for things in their lives are just like, oh, well, while I was in lockdown. But when lockdown happened, or lockdown, whatever this country decided to call that, a lot of things were getting canceled on like school abroad programs. And I was a sophomore going into my junior year, which junior year, you know, everybody studies abroad. And I had already applied for a program in Prague. That was a photography program. And it was very centered towards fashion photography, it's really crazy to think about, I could have been going into fashion photography versus film now, but it was very targeted towards portraiture and fashion photography.
I applied for the program, and I gotten it COVID came I supposed to go, the fall of my junior year, COVID came, it got pushed back. Because everybody was hopeful, of course. And by the time it came to the spring where the program reopened, they had canceled the photography track and the documentary track, and they were only offering the narrative film track. And at the point where they had told me this, I'd already applied for my visa, like paid the money to apply for my visa was kind of figuring all that stuff out about leaving the country. And they said, Okay, we're not doing the photography program anymore. But there isn't a spot on the narrative film program. Because we know you've already spent your money and stuff like, do you want to do this? And I'm sort of playing with this idea of like, I've never done film before. Like, I don't know anything about writing your script, making a short film is really intimidating, because I was like, oh, all the kids on there. Like they're gonna have background. So I very, I was very, very close to not going until like, I had a conversation with somebody like right before like, like, I think like that November, or whatever. That kind of told me they were like, there's no reason not to, like it's either this or you do another semester on zoom through your college, and I hated that. So I was like, You know what, you're right. Like, I'm scared but you know, it'll be an experience. So that's kind of how I got into it.
As I got to Prague, the we kind of formed student groups to do the project. So I was with two other students. And I was the only person who is familiar with like camera work. Like, even though I hadn't done like film camera work, I was photographer and I like understood. We were also shooting our short films on physical film roll. So it wasn't a digital film camera. It was like, the, like 35 millimeter film. And I started as a film photographer, so I was familiar with kind of like the restrictions of working with film and the lighting that came with that. So they're kind of like, okay, do you want to be the cinematographer of the group? And I was like, that's where I felt the most comfortable. And I was like, okay, I can catch on to that easier than like, you telling me I have to write a script. So yeah, that's kind of how I fell into that. And then I yeah, I just wanted to do it with an open mind. I that was gonna be like, cool, but I wasn't expecting to kind of do a 180 and be like, Oh, I actually want to do this more. So but that's what ended up happening. By the end of the semester, I kind of was like, Yeah, I think I definitely enjoyed this sort of production more than I've enjoyed photography, even though I still love photography. Yeah, and then I kind of just, like, switched gears a little bit and started focusing on those things.
What communities do you belong to?
I would say, of course, black female community. And I definitely think that that plays a huge part, in kind of my comfort in life, especially just like, you know, you go to a PWI. So you've really tried to hold on to the people that you feel like get you the most. And I think that black women have 100% in that community. For me, um, the Caribbean community, I would say, while a part of that community, it's definitely been hard for me to navigate being American, and, but being Caribbean heritage and trying to find the balance of what that looks like for my family, what that looks like for my friends. And kind of the difference of that.
I would say, along with filmmaking community, very specifically, black filmmaking community has been something I've been tapping into a lot more since coming home, because it was hard to do on my college campus, because, again, only so many black people and then our film program is only so large, so there's only so many of us in that film program. So I think it was kind of hard for me to feel like I had the resources or the backing to make kind of the stories that I was imagining, or I was thinking of, but since coming home, obviously, Brooklyn, New York, like I think one of the first pa gigs I did out here was like a fully black casting crew. Except for like one person. Well, no, there's two people. One person was white and one person was Asian, but that was about it. Like everybody else is black. And I think that was such a great experience for me to kind of just like get back into the workforce because I was like, okay, like, this is very comforting like this is I feel like to my worlds that have been so separate before are like blending for me now. Which was nice. Other communities don't know, I think that's like the biggest pillars for me. Um, I don't want to call Tik Tok a community because it's like, social media, but I've been on Tik Tok a lot. I feel good, Tik Tok people heavy. Like, I think it's fun. But again, that's just like, mostly black woman again. So like, Yeah, I think that's, I think those were the biggest ones for me.
Do your forms of escapism often include community?
I guess like some forms of my escapism include community so definitely like tick tock I would say like social media as a form of escapism for me and you know, that's definitely like a community based things like tick tock Twitter, my Instagram close friends you know this I think yeah, I definitely rely on those a lot when I need to, like, just kind of get things off my chest or just like kind of fuck around and just like say whatever's on my mind. Especially in the case that like, I'm not with going to college out in like, LA County. A lot of my friends aren't in real close proximity with me and I don't have a lot of my friends from like growing up in middle school and elementary school, I still talk to you. So I use social media a lot. To like, kind of get all of those thoughts out there to the people that I'm closest with, because a lot of them are like, in Chicago or like in LA and stuff like that. I think like those forums definitely rely on community. Um, definitely tick tock though, like 100% I love I'm on the side of tick tock, that's like three big pillars. It's black woman being gorgeous. Which, yes. And then cats. Don't ask. I just have a lot of kittens for you page. And then just like, random, like, dad joke, like people who do like random dad jokes like, like those kinds of tick talkers. I don't really understand why. But they're kind of funny sometimes. So I respect it. And I just like those communities to things and I'm like, okay, like, I don't know any of these people. But I feel like this is great.
I definitely feel like, even when I'm not posting on Tik Tok, because I don't push super, super often, I don't spam or anything, but like, being able to watch through people's like, kind of lives, or just like the thoughts they have. I'm like, This is great. Because like, I love reading, I love watching and hearing about other people's intrusive thoughts, because then I feel less crazy, because I'm like, Oh, shit, I thought of that last week. And I thought that was a little weird, but cool. Like, you thought that and like 20,000 Other people liked it, and also probably agree. Um, so that's really cool to me. My other forms of escapism aren't community based, though. They're just like watching TV, or like watching movies. So that's very solid to thing when I'm like, I'm an introvert. So sometimes I just, like, need to be done with people.
Do you think has social media been integral in fostering community?
In general or like, for me, and your experience, and my experience, um, I love social media, I think it's great and fostering community, I think that like, you're also asking a very socially awkward person, I like this, what we're doing right now, this is fine, because there's like a computer screen between us. And to certain extent, I'm like, I can do this, like, I'm kind of just talking to screen. But when I'm in person around people, like I get very awkward and conversation is really hard for me when I don't kind of have, like a few seconds of buffer to figure out what I'm saying. Um, so I think for in my personal experience, like social media has been really great and kind of helping me do those first steps of creating those friendships with people. And still being my authentic self. But like, not being completely terrified of like, freezing when I speak. And then kind of building connections enough to meet up in person and kind of continuing those friendships. Because I definitely, like I've made a lot of friends.
I also think like, because of COVID So many things are like just like, different now, but kind of during those that first year were like, you know, because we're still technically in COVID times. But in that beginning part where schools were shut down. A lot of people in my experience too, I was making a lot of friends on my college campus of like students of color and other queer students that I never knew of before because maybe they went to Pitzer, maybe they're like, a year below me a Pomona and stuff like that. And things like Twitter and Instagram was just like, it was easier to meet these people in a very like low stakes sort of situation. And that was, I think, really helpful for like, creating those friendships. Epson kind of. Yeah, eventually into a place where we can go to like this concert, we can go to this, whatever. So yeah, I know a lot of people disagree with that though a lot of people think that like, social media is like bad for, you know, making friends because you can be fake and you do this, but I don't like I don't approach it like that. So I guess I'm just like, very, very positive about it.
What would be your opening song in a film about yourself?
That's hard. That's a really hard question to ask Hold on, I'm gonna myself I really quickly. I don't know if this is allowed, but I like can't I don't have like a conception of like my music. Like tastes until I look at it like I have to be like Anytime somebody's like, what's your favorite song? Like, I have to look at my Spotify because I'm like, I kind of need to know what I've been listening to. Okay, I got to get to that. Like, once I looked at my stuff, I was like, okay. They're both interludes though which like, I don't know if there's like any sort of like, like, analysis on that. But um, so, shooter interlude by Kailani on her last, their last album, blue water, road, road, water, whatever, that one. And then the wavy interlude by Sousa on control. I think those are two staple songs I can't like. Now I can confidently say I think those two songs I listened to every day for like, the past. While since Pelamis albums come out and then wavy for like the past however many years or every other day, like I just there's something about the melodies in them that I just like very grounding. And also, the content of the songs. I feel like yeah, like I like I really like I don't know. So I'd say those two, I can't choose between them. So it has come up to like post production, which one makes it into the movie.
In what ways do you think music can enrich an individual and/or collective experience within communities?
I think like, Yeah, I'm not gonna say anything profound here. But like, I think that like music just brings people together. In the most non cliche way. I can say that. But I just I don't know. I feel like for a lot of people, it's really hard for us to say how we feel about things. And I think that amazing songwriters have such phenomenal ways of encapsulating experiences into like short little two to three minute songs, maybe four minutes, they're feeling generous. And I think they're a really great way of kind of helping people verbalize the experiences they've been through. Kind of the pain, maybe the love, they've experienced, like happiness, like, really profound sadness, like, and I think it helps people realize that a lot of the things they've gone through is very similar to other people. Like, because I think a lot of times it's really easy to feel alone, and a lot of the shit that we feel like, it may be a breakup that like you feel like this was crazy, and I have no idea how it happened like this. And I have all these conflicting feelings about myself and this person and like this other person that was like kind of involved. And you're like, is this like ridiculous? And then you hear like, the right song that you're like, oh, oh, wait. No, like, that's exactly how I feel. And like, she kind of just explained a situation that's really similar to mine. So I think that, that music really has the power to like help people understand themselves and their feelings about the world around them a lot better. And then, because of that, you can then say, like, I really love the song to somebody, and somebody who maybe went through something similar can be like, Oh, I love that song too. And then you connect this to why. And maybe that's like somebody that like, has gone through similar transformation as you and like, you realize you guys can like, get along well, or like just, you know, like similar music artists just open up so much avenues, I think, to connecting at concerts and going to festivals and things like that. So definitely like, Yeah, I think music does for a community so much more than it does. Have you ever been to a function without music? Like, it's kind of trash? You know? So like, I don't know, yeah, music is a big staple of my life, too. Like, before I put the little screen up, I'm sitting in front of, I'm sitting in my family's music room, actually right now. So behind me was like a wall of just vinyls. So yeah, very musical family. I'm from my dad's DJ. So like, I feel like music plays has played such a prominent role in my life. Like, I can't not listen to music while doing something at this point. Um, so yeah, I think I think I could not live without it. And I think communities are metaphor.
What inspires you? Do your projects speak to a community or create a collective?
I just want to see kind of what inspires me, like myself and kind of my my talking to a certain community or like, hoping to create it. Um, what inspires me? Black women in film have been a huge inspiration for me. Honestly, I'll just open that up a little bit more women of color, and film had been very inspirational for me. Because I want to open that up to a lot of like, actresses as well have. I was thinking about this last night to this crazy that you asked that because like, I was not remember her name right now. But the actress who plays Kate, in bridgerton season two, there was so much about I'm not even an actor. I'm not interested in acting, by the way, but like, it's really interesting to watch how she translated the script of bridgerton into kind of just her acting style and that's been something really inspirational for me of just like writing and just like how do I explain whatever the fuck it is she just did with their face because that's crazy.
But I think like women of color within the film scene have been very inspirational for me because I think that for such a long time, we've always known women were in the backgrounds of making these films making these TV shows you always know there they were the unofficial writers on a lot of things that weren't being listed are kind of this like I mean, this is a story is well, this time like Even like not remembering the name of the author that this was about, but I remember reading a story about like this huge author, there's old white guy. Book is it, but basically the it was his wife story he stole his wife's writing and just like published as his own, which you know was allowed at that time and you know, no one found him about it. So it's like, we've always seen like women of color just in the background of these things. And I think in the past like decade or two, we're seeing more and more black women being given their flowers and being given their crowns of just like you did this like you are the highest earning showrunner like Shonda Rhimes, like, to me, that's phenomenal. Like, she has so many amazing films that I'm just like, I mean, TV shows, and I'm just like, that's so inspiring to me. Because, you know, there's probably been so many people leading up to it, that we're just kind of like, oh, sit in this corner, or like, you know, just like, bring me coffee, but like, she's been like this budding genius the entire time.
So I think like, yeah, women of color within film are just like, my biggest inspiration to just look at, in all aspects, the writing the show running like actresses, like, think it's really important. And then community wise, I don't know if I'm trying to, like, bring together a community by any means with like, things I've been working on as passion projects. But I definitely think that my stuff like speaks to a community of diversity. Like, black queerness, that's maybe a little bit less defined, or less aware of itself. Um, I'm gonna phrase it better, but I don't know how to phrase it better. But like, kind of, I guess what I'm getting at is just kind of like, I feel like a lot of media we see about like, fairness, or maybe just like youthful queerness have just been one white people. Or, it's not white, and it gets canceled. Hashtag justice for skill, even though I didn't love it. Um, but I feel like a lot of it is also just kind of isn't really hits the nuances as well as I think it can, like, I think, because for a lot of the times, like, this stuff is really confusing, even in like 2022 words, like, obviously, we're not in like the 70s anymore.
So things are a lot more accepting. But it's still an internal thing that I think a lot of people get confused about. Or maybe those lines of, like friendship versus not, and what that looks like when you're thinking about like, your sexuality, and also just like your upbringing, and then kind of your own lifestyle outside of that or just like your what's the term again, just the Romance languages, but like, Yeah, I think the stuff that I've been trying to work on for myself, like passion projects have kind of addressed that or just kind of wants to talk on those nuances a little bit. Just to give like, maybe not definition for a lot of the things I feel like we experience what we don't talk about, but just give like giving like a visual example of like, oh, yeah, okay, like that does happen a lot in these friendships and like that's a little weird.
Any final messages?
I'll plug my Instagram it's I don't know how you're gonna edit this. I'm gonna I'm just gonna like pop up like right over my face or whatever. But my Instagram is at underscore Danny p 21. Underscore I have like a photography Instagram that I don't post on so everything I make or shoot or create I end up posting my main Instagram anyways, you know, I have all these other pages. yeah. So yeah, that's my instagram if people wanted to, like, keep updated on my slow move into indie filmmaking on my own. And my bar journey because I'm working in a bar now. So that'll be fun. You'll see me make drinks maybe when I get good and I post them on my main story.