Camrus Johnsondidn’t plan on sharing his animated shortGrab My Hand: A Letter to my Dadwith the public.
They said all the things that they needed to every day of their life.
And although I wanted to ask, “Are you okay?”
Jim Spellman/WireImage
and tell him I was there if he ever needed to talk, I didn’t know how to.
So I communicate best through art, filmmaking specifically.
So I decided to go for it.
Camrus Johnson and Pedro Piccinini
We met when I was working at a restaurant and it was my last day on the job.
My original idea was to have a completely different style.
It was going to be a lot more Pixar, 3D.
He lets the animation dictate where it goes.
And this was similar in a way where Pedro heard the narration and he animated to the words.
Obviously, you were grieving this loss, too.
How did it feel to sit down and write the script?I was definitely deflecting at first.
I was just doing it kind of monotone and deadpan.
I just wanted to sort of do it, and I was trying my best.
I didn’t even know if it was the right idea.
Coincidentally, we finished the film while he was in town.
And it wasn’t the plan, it just sort of happened that way.
He said, “Okay.”
And I hit play.
I looked straight because I was afraid of how he may be reacting.
And he just said, “That was amazing.
That was amazing.”
And then we hugged and cried together for a bit.
And I said, “Wow, I didn’t expect this film to inspire other forms of art.
Have you two bonded over filmmaking?Literally our first day meeting.
Since my shorts had been done at the time, we watched both of mine back-to-back.
I know you’re interested in filmmaking in general.
And directing onBatwomanis definitely something that I want to do in the future.
This interview was lightly edited for length.
Batwomanairs Sundays at 8 p.m. on The CW.
(Video provided by Camrus Johnson)
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