Church Hat is an animated short film currently in production based on the children’s book of the same name. It captures a conversation between a young black boy and his traditional, conservative, Jamaican mother when she finds him playing dress-up, secretly posing in her fancy hats. Instead of being in trouble, she offers him emotional safety and empathy for him to talk about what he is questioning so he can fearlessly be his authentic self. Emmy winning actress Sheryl Lee Ralph is the voice of the mother, and the multi-talented Maximus Turner is the voice of Quentin, the young boy. #LGBTQ+ #LoveAlwaysWins #AllBlackLivesMatter #ProtectAllChildren #RepresentationMatters
Meet the talented team creating this production
Stop motion paper puppetry animation involves creation and precise manipulation of paper figures that are animated frame-by-frame. This artistic cutout technique uses flat characters, props and backgrounds using various materials such as paper, cardstock, stiff fabric and photographs. Miceal is precisely creating and manipulating physical three-dimensional scenes, like a small theatre, where the action takes place, for the 7 minute short film to come alive.
Here is a short clip from the film starring Emmy winning actress, Sheryl Lee Ralph as his mother and the talented Maximus Turner as the young boy.
To find out more details about the production status of this important film, please click here.
Debra Williams and Sheryl Lee Ralph at
Margarita Mix Studios in LA