I decided to make this film because I had both the trust and access to our subject actor, Sharon Washington. You see, I have been married and in a relationship with Sharon for 23 years.  During those years, I watched a struggling African American woman actor in her late 30s nearly leave her profession for good in 2001, then slowly rebuild her career one performance at a time.

I was part of four straight New Year’s resolutions that Sharon was going to write her fairytale-like childhood story. I am lucky enough to have known her father, a sober George King Washington, who, when learning that his daughter and I were falling in love, referred to me as “the grey cat.”

My relationship with “POPS” was not easy in the beginning, but it became special as I got to know the man and loving father, especially since I never really knew my dad, who passed away when I was five years old. 

I believe that Sharon’s story resonates today in a time when we are so in need of inspiration, grace, courage, and the humanity to forgive, and that is what made me the best person to tell this story.