Antonio Harper & Abby Burton

Watch FORWARD THINKING (2025) Now

I’m not sure if the pod has ever gotten a bigger honor than what Antonio Harper & Abby Burton gave it in this episode — sure, they said, listeners can watch our short, currently on its festival run. FORWARD THINKING (2025) is a “surreal short film about a young black man who is attempting to trademark his likeness in the event that he's murdered by the police.” And to me, that sells it short. It’s a film about race that goes further than any other film I’ve seen in a way that makes you think about what you saw so much you’ll watch it again, all to make you smile once again with the amazing closing scene. Go watch FORWARD THINKING, go watch it again, and come back and hear this fantastic conversation with an epic filmmaking duo from Cleveland. 

In this episode, we talk about

• how they got started in filmmaking;
• what they would recommend in regards to working as a team;
• the ideas that motivated FORWARD THINKING (2025);
• How the film goes further than usual on the topic of race — was there pushback for being so bold?;
• the amazing music for the film — the Cleveland connection got it from Chip Tha Ripper;
• the importance of a final shot in a short film;
• how to discuss race, disability, gender in filmmaking and finding the balance in between highlighting and ignoring those areas;
• the Black ecosystem of film and whether it’s represented well in the larger film festival/independent film scene;
• the advantages of subtlety and how it allows filmmakers to go further than if they were blatantly talking about a topic;
• The amazingness of Cleveland for independent film;
• what’s next for them — Abby saves them for giving away important information!

Abby’s Indie Film Highlight: TALK (2025) dir. by Jessica Perlman; RENEGADES - Judy-Lynn del Rey dir. by Jeremy Hsing

Memorable Quotes:

“Don't be a Dwayne. Practice cultural appreciation, not cultural appropriation.”

“ Do I see myself wanting to get up at 4:00 AM to run suicides or get up at 4:00 AM for a call?”

“The music just ended up being that Cleveland luck”

“ Disability and disabled filmmakers are just that, they're just more filmmakers and they need to have their stories told. They need to have the opportunity to show what they can do. And, yes, it's a very vulnerable thing to come out and talk about it when it's not as accepted in the industry.”

The approach to race “ should be a lot like what Abby and I did with FORWARD THINKING” 

“What I would hope to see is, especially in the in industry, is just having more people of color and underrepresented actors in roles that aren't necessarily traditionally tailored for that group.”

Links:

Follow Abby On Instagram

Follow Antonio On Instagram

Subscribe To West 10G Productions On YouTube