WME Assistants Craft Feature Film

By Regan Lavin - TV Lit Assistant, UTA ; Artistic Curator, The Hollywood Assistant

Featuring

Chiderah Uzowulu - Assistant, WME ; Writer & Star, HIERARCHY ; Founder, SABi Productions

Alberto Medina - Manager/Producer, BASH Entertainment ; Former Assistant, WME

Watch out! A group of WME assistants (some current, some former) are living the dream of industry assistants everywhere—they’ve created their first original feature film. HIERARCHY, written by and starring Chiderah Uzowulu, directed by Russell Reed, and produced by Alberto Medina and Chiderah Uzowulu, is coming soon to a screen near you.

Uzowulu has always known the first film he did would be an action-crime thriller in the vein of BAD BOYS, HEAT, or THE TOWN. He started writing HIERARCHY during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic but eventually took a break. Until one day, in his Austin apartment, the story flowed out of him. Uzowulu said, “I wrote until my fingers got weak. By the time I looked up, it was 3AM and I had the story of HIERARCHY all fleshed out.”

While the process of putting together an entire feature may seem daunting, Uzowulu was well-equipped for the challenge. He had made prior short films with Reed (director) and Xavier Alvarado (one of the stars) and quickly drew them onto the team. They took advantage of living in San Marcos, TX, where there are ample students who are looking for experience on a film set. The rest of the team was made up of a majority of students with backgrounds in the roles needed—PAs, sound, grips, and ADs.

One of the next biggest hurdles for any indie film is, of course, financing. Uzowulu tells us he was able to secure $18,000 from his own savings and contributions from his co-star, Alvarado. By Day 9, they were out of money. Without a production proposal, investment offer, or any other say of securing financing, Uzowulu began to panic. He honestly believed the $18k he had ready would be enough. One day, Jerry Chan, a friend of a parent of a friend heard about the ragtag team and wanted to help. Chan met with Uzowulu, Reed, and Alvarado a few days later and loved them. Looking to honor his late wife, Iris Wong, who was in the arts, Chan decided to cut a check. In Uzowulu’s own words, “If I didn't bet on myself or my team… HIERARCHY wouldn't exist. So no, there was no plan to get financiers on board or raising capital. It was just hard work with a touch of favor.”

Now, how did this team balance their jobs at WME with creating an entire feature film? Uzowulu, who worked under Bernard Tyler in Music Brand Partnerships at the time, notes that he found his agent representing the project, Katie Irwin in WME’s Independent Film Group, by showing her the trailer. Tyler and Irwin were the only agents at WME aware of Uzowulu’s artistic goals, and both were very supportive. They provided valuable knowledge on film sales and advice on how to balance being a creative and an assistant simultaneously. Luckily for Uzowulu, they shot the entirety of HIERARCHY before he even got his job at WME. They are currently in post-production, which, of course, has its own challenges. Working under Tyler, who is understanding of Uzowulu’s situation, has been immensely helpful in being able to balance bouncing from a work call to a Zoom regarding HIERARCHY’S ADR.

If you want to follow in the HIERARCHY team’s footsteps, Uzowulu’s best advice is to do it yourself and not wait on anyone. To be resourceful, to look around you, and to utilize what you do have at hand. Uzowulu is grateful to have his team alongside him as he embarks on his journey. And what do they plan to do next? The answer is simple: “Make another one.”