HOW TO: Swing Big With a First Feature, and Win (w/ Elijah Davis)
The 50/50 Podcast · Mar 3, 2026 · 1:04:37
The 50/50 Podcast · Mar 3, 2026 · 1:04:37
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This week, filmmaker Elijah Davis breaks down how he swung big on his debut feature, Three Colors: Pan African — and what it actually took to get it made. We talk about the influence of French cinema on the film’s visual language, and Elijah’s larger mission: creating real authorship opportunities for Black creatives across every department. He shares how funding the first portion of the project as a proof of concept unlocked momentum — and why fundraising proved to be one of the most difficult stretches of the process.
We also discuss representation theory and Elijah’s perspective on the relationship between Blackness and media — who gets to tell stories and who controls the frame. Finally, he opens up about balancing all of this while working full-time as an assistant at WME — and what it means to build a filmmaking career from inside the industry machine.
