Openly gay filmmaker Maurice Jamal would rather air his dirty laundry than have it stink up his artistic plans. After all, the young muse is a role model for other filmmakers and buffs out there. In this Gay Life interview, Maurice Jamal talks about his first gig, The Ski Trip, Dirty Laundry and the upcoming B-Boy Blues.

You walked away from a bad car accident recently. How are you feeling?

I was with my cousin and a truck slammed into the front of our car and totaled it.

We both walked away and we're doing good. I'm happy about that.

Moments like those can be life-changing. It could have gone either way.

It really could have. I look at the pictures of the car and think, I walked out of that? It puts things in perspective. In particular, this crazy business that I'm working in is about small, unimportant and superficial things. It's nice to get a little reality check now and then.

Did your accident affect your work in any way?

That's an interesting question. I'm a self-reflective kind of guy, so the nature of most of my work and the stuff that I write (even when it's comedy) does tend to be about self-discovery and realization. I try to make the kind of movies that I like to see: films that have some integrity and challenge you a little bit. So, hopefully I keep going in that direction.

They say every artists' work is a reflection of them. Are your films a reflection of your life?

They are. I didn't think that they were for a long time. When I look back at my first two films and the scripts that I'm working on, there are some scenes that really resonate with me and issues that continue to come up again and again.

Are you able to resolve those issues in your films?

They definitely help. I've always used films are a cathartic release; even when I was a little kid. Watching films was my escape in many ways.

Do you feel a certain responsibility to stay within a certain genre as an openly gay black filmmaker?

I don't feel a responsibility as much as a pressure. I make more of a statement being able to branch out into different things. I'm proud to be an out black filmmaker. I know that there are a lot of eyes on me. Being able to make films successfully helps filmmakers who are coming up behind me or that gay kid in South Indiana who is contemplating whether or not he can be an out actor.

What about the big gay debate over whether gay actors or filmmakers should be outed. Is it our business or responsibility to out people in the entertainment industry?

I don't think it's our responsibility. Coming out is a highly personal decision and it's that individual's choice to make. With that, I don't think that we should lie to ourselves or lie to others.

There is an empowerment that happens with being out. I'm just one individual making movies for a living. Imagine if we had openly black gay politicians and ministers and teachers. My favorite saying is that you can't be heard in silence and you can't be seen in the dark.

You can't have it both ways: You can't complain about the lack of impact or representation in the black gay community and then not be willing to be a part of the force of change.

When did you start coming out?

I came out to my friends in high school when I was 16. I got teased a little bit here and there. It felt traumatic at the time, but it wasn't as bad as I remembered it to be. Overall, my friends were pretty cool. I was fortunate enough to be raised in the Bay Area, which is a fairly liberal place. I came out to my sisters at 21 and to my mom the year after.

And there you found yourself in Oakland, California with no job and no money. You packed up your life and moved to New York to pursue your dream. What was the first thing you did when you arrived in Manhattan?

It was so difficult. I didn't know anyone there. I was sleeping on the sofa of a girl that I met at Black DC Pride the year before. I had about $340 in my pocket and that was going to go really quickly. So, I looked for and found a job that I eventually quit. I realized that I didn't come to New York to work a 9-to-5; I came to pursue my dream. My first gig was on Spider-man grabbing coffee. I'm a huge believer in paying your dues and hard work because I did it.

You went from running coffee to directing The Ski Trip, which is a very popular movie. Did you ever envision such success back in Oakland?

Not in the sense that I thought I would be responsible for any kind of movement. But, my mom always encouraged me to think big. I didn't know I was going to be a 'gay filmmaker.' I was in a relationship and having troubles and friends of mine were having boy troubles, so I started working on the script for The Ski Trip. It became a black gay and brown love story with all the ridiculousness and silliness we go through some times. People identified with that film because it was the first time they felt like there were people who genuinely looked like them, talked like them, made mistakes like them and were dramatic like they are with their friends. If I hadn't made that film, I wouldn't have Dirty Laundry today nor would I be working on B-Boy Blues or any of the other projects I've got going on.

How does it feel now that Dirty Laundry is being released nationwide by Codeblack Entertainment and FOX?

Part of me still feels like that little gay boy from Oakland, California. The fact that all this is happening is really amazing. I'm floored and incredibly honored by it as well. It wouldn't have been possible if the audiences and all the amazing talent hadn't supported the film. It's an incredible blessing.

My hope for Dirty Laundry is that it starts conversations between people who haven't really talked about sexuality and those who are estranged from their parents because they don't think that they are accepted.

It's been 13 years since James Earl-Hardy's masculine versus femme novel B-Boy Blues (which you're now making into a movie). Has the dynamic between masculine and feminine men changed in the last decade?continue reading...