In Her Words (Seeing It Through): Sonya Steele

I thought about writing a web series drama for about a year before I finally made the decision to actually do it. Then I came up with a hundred reasons why I wouldn’t be able to produce it. But that was just fear overtaking me. Fear of not being able to finish what I started.

I had written and produced a short film before, but that was a two-day shoot done in one weekend. The episodic web series I had in mind was going to take a lot longer than that, which would require a commitment from me to see it through and not retreat into my default position of being a writer only. I took the first step of confronting my fear head on and wrote all 10 episodes of the first season. Although I was still technically in my comfort zone, the project demanded that I go further with it because there was nobody else to send it to. No production company was interested in reading scripts for a web series with a black woman as the lead character. The only way it was going to happen was if I made it happen. Otherwise, all that writing would have been for naught.

So I got my production team together and forged ahead. I wish I could say it was smooth sailing from that point on, but it wasn’t. There were cast and crew changes, re-shoots, and financial challenges. What I initially planned on being a three-month, weekends only shoot turned into seven months. New challenges presented themselves at every turn, and there were times that I just didn’t want to be bothered anymore. But quitting was not an option because everyone involved in the production had invested something in it, and I had a responsibility to treat their investments with respect. It was my production team that really kept me going when I was experiencing frustration and self-doubt as to whether Celeste Bright would ever be what I envisioned.

And then it was a wrap, and we were in post production. It was an incredible feeling of accomplishment to see it all come together just like I pictured it. It was the story I wanted to tell the way I wanted to tell it. I’m proud of Celeste Bright. Would I do it again? Oh yes. Season two is coming!

Sonya Steele
Creator/Writer/Executive Producer
Celeste Bright – A Web Series