Tonya Lewis notably backed the 2005 series adaptation ofMiracles Boys, for which Spike directed multiple episodes.
A decade later, they were looking for their next collaboration.
Spike and I had worked together before.
Credit: David Lee/Netflix
Its been a while and we were thinking about what we could work on coming up.
At the same time, shes got to pay the bills and all of that.
And shes living in gentrified Brooklyn.
David Lee/Netflix
The show is really specific.
You really capture Brooklyn in a distinct and specific way.
How did you approach it?As I said, gentrification is a big character here.
As if its brand new.
Its been here, people have lived here.
People dont understand the humanity of the people who were already there.
Often, people think of poor people and they dont ascribe humanity to them.
What the show does is, it gives you that.
I think it shows you how we can coexist.
I think Nolas a great example of how shes been there and grown up there.
And maybe that helps in a conversation about gentrification.
I think, too, its about really seeing the people who were there: Nola, her parents.
This is a real community that goes back generations.
Theyre amazing, great people who deserve to be treated fairly as everybody does.
That really was important to us.
Men have been writing characters forever, but there are things that men dont know about women.
Spike recognized and appreciated that.
And he did, and it was really wonderful.
You mentioned it wasnt always easy.
Did these conversations inform his direction at all?
He did take on all 10 episodes, which is still pretty rare for TV.I know that it did.
For example, I will tell you, the sex scenes that we did.
We had a conversation about what it should really look like.
Because its coming from Nolas point of view: How are we showing that?
Men they look at women.
Its a way of showing that we can claim our power.
We can claim our voice.
And she does it in her way.
As an artist, her way of claiming her power is through her art.
For other women, its about figuring out: How do we claim our power?
Shes Gotta Have Itlaunches Friday on Netflix.
