RICHMOND, Va. -- Do you have a story from your life that you might think would make for a good movie or television show?
Henrico native Anthony J. Davis does.
His movie, "Yogurt Raisin," was recently screened at the Richmond International Film Festival.
The story is loosely based on Davis, his friends, and their longtime brotherly bond.
“It’s the brotherhood within the friend group,” Davis said.
The friends met at Brookland Middle School in Henrico County. They became even more inseparable at Hermitage High School.
“Sports is probably like the connector," friend Matt Kellam said. "Some classes, at some point, but when we got to high school we just all hung out together."
Now, that 30-plus-year brotherhood bond plays out on the big screen.
“I thought it was cool to see how it takes shape. You always wonder how you come off to other people, so that kind of lens was going to be cool,” friend Steve Knock said.
“It's kind of based on how we grew up and how we hung out and who we are but I think just to be involved in the process is just cool. Otherwise, I trust whatever he'll do from an artist's perspective,” Kellam said.
The 17-minute short film was shot in two days in Atlanta where Davis, who served as executive producer, now lives.
“[The title "Yogurt Raisin" is] is kind of symbolic to the film," Davis said. "It's about a person who is Caucasian on the outside but he/she acts Black in the inside."
The film puts cultural appropriation under the microscope.
“Some of the things in the movie maybe aren't relevant to us, but we have to stay very aware,” Kellam said.
“I think back to Brookland. I don't think I knew what culture appropriations meant at the time and to bring light to that now. It's great to be part of that education,” friend Mike McDonnell said.
And that’s the lesson Davis wanted those who saw the movie to learn.
“Why do some races use different things from other cultures and sometimes by them doing that imitating, it could be offensive? Teach a lesson on that,” Davis said.
Pet projects like "Yogurt Raisin" are Davis’s side hustle.
His main job is as a film accountant where he has worked on major movies like the Marvel series.
The recent Hollywood writers' strike was a reminder of how unpredictable his industry can be.
“We're hustling, grinding. We're independent contractors. We have to hustle to get to the next project,” Davis said. “They have stable jobs. I don't have a stable job."
Though the friends may find Davis’s Hollywood life fascinating, most of all they appreciate their brotherly bond.
Davis’s “Yogurt Raisin” is still on the film festival circuit before it’s eventually released to the public.
Prior to his career in the movie industry, Davis worked in the production department at CBS 6.
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