“A Little Sun” is about young love and that inevitable moment when harsh realities of the modern world swallow our youth and propel us into adulthood, whether we’re ready for it or not.  This film was shot in Richmond, Virginia in June, 2021. Post-production was completed in St. Louis (brutonstroube.com) and Richmond (spangtv.com, redampaudio.com).

In “A Little Sun,” two teenagers’ blooming independence conflicts with their need to remain kids. The main character, played by Richmond native and Pittsburgh-based actor Donathan Arnold (appeared in Apple TV’s Swagger in a small part) goes through a wide array of emotions, from young love, to fearing for his life, to reckoning with his vulnerability as a young African-American male in a burgeoning relationship with his white, female friend. The cast and crew was a dream to collaborate with, and consisted of a wide variety of races, ethnicities, and genders, as well as a mix of seasoned filmmaking veterans and young, up-and-comers, several of whom were former students of mine in the cinema department at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA.

Our DP, Bron Moyi, is a longtime friend and collaborator of mine based in New Orleans. He recently DP’d a grammy nominated music video/short film for Jon Batiste, and has several longform and broadcast commercial credits (REI, Popeyes, among others) to his name. Bron’s technical expertise, sensitivity to the film’s subject matter, and cultural/social viewpoint on this story was absolutely essential to this project’s success. bronmoyi.com

This film is a Caporaletti Films production (caporalettifilms.com), made possible through additional gear donations made by SpangTV, as well as grant funds from RIFF (Richmond International Film Festival!), the VCU Pollak Society, VCUarts, and others.