Seven Questions With Nia DaCosta '07

Photo credit: Erik Tanner

Nia DaCosta ’07 is a screenwriter and director. Her breakout film, the western crime thriller “Little Woods,” premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2018 and was released in April 2019. Her latest project, “Candyman,” is the “spiritual sequel” to the 1992 horror film of the same name. The film was directed by DaCosta and written by Jordan Peele, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his 2017 directorial debut, “Get Out”; Win Rosenfeld; and DaCosta.

The Masters School is grateful to Lakeya Graves ’07 for conducting this interview with DaCosta in March 2020.

Your directorial and writing debut, “Little Woods,” was released last year. What was that like to see your idea go from script to big screen?

By the time a movie actually comes out, especially as an independent film, usually you have been done with it for a while. The moment of being at the premiere and watching the movie was really cool. During the process of making it, you fall in and out of love with the film over and over again. It’s a rocky road to this wonderful moment of: “That’s my thing!” It’s an interesting feeling, but it’s really wonderful.

How would you describe your experience at Masters?

My Masters experience was awesome. I came from a school in Connecticut that had a great education but was very homogenous; everyone was from the same background. When I went to Masters, it was so much more diverse — not just racially, but also socioeconomically, and that was really important to me, having grown up in New York City. So it was great to get the same level of education I got at my other boarding school but to come to a place where people were from all over the world and all over the country.

What was it like to board at Masters? Do you have any specific memories that come to mind when you think of your time living at Masters?

I had so much fun boarding. My favorite memory is making my very first film, a horror film called “The Black Girl Dies Last,” in which, unfortunately, because Lakeya wanted to go to bed, the Black girl died first. But the other Black girl then died last. So we kind of recovered in the end. It was fun to be with friends, be creative, figure out what to do with all the time we had on our hands. And we decided to make an excellent horror film.

Did your time at Masters inform your career trajectory?

Jesse Sugarmann was one of my dorm parents and also taught a film class. That’s when I learned that my love of film could be put onto a specific path, which was directing. Also, there were always movies in the dorm that you could watch. One of the movies we had was Bong Joon Ho’s “The Host.” That was my first time watching any of his films, and I love them. It started my love of South Korean cinema. Another one was “Apocalypse Now,” which started my love of the 1970s and filmmakers of the 1970s. It’s a period that really influences my work now.

What was the most exciting part of working on "Candyman"?

The shoot was really, really cool. It was shot entirely in Chicago, which was important to us because that’s where the film was set and that’s what the movie is about. I had an amazing crew; I loved everyone I worked with. I loved being on set, as well. That was my favorite part — the process. And working with Jordan [Peele] was really fun. It’s been cool to learn from him and be guided by him but also be trusted by him.

What is your favorite part of creating films? What kind of stories are you interested in sharing with the world?

What I like about what I do — the fact that I write and direct — is that I get to do so many different parts of it. I love writing, but sometimes writing can be lonely. And I love directing, and I love being on set, but you cannot be on set for more than a few months — it’ll drive you crazy. I love the edit, but the edit also will drive you crazy. So it’s nice that I get to dip in and out of all of these things and be instrumental in every part of this story that I’ve been trying to tell. I just want to tell interesting stories about our world and to give my point of view on humanity. Something that I often say is that I like telling stories about women who are daring and dangerous — either because their ideas are dangerous or because they are dangerous themselves. I think we don’t have enough stories like that. “Candyman” isn’t about a woman, but that’s something that I really love to do.

What does “Do It With Thy Might” mean to you?

Do it to the best of your ability. You have a chance to really show who you are, to be your best self, and that’s what you should do.