In sixth grade, Dominique took a creative writing class that spurred her to write endlessly. Now as a college student, she pursues her dream of becoming a famous screenwriter by working on a double major in Psychology and Creative Writing with a minor in Screen Arts.
Not wanting to imitate a specific writer, Dominique studies several writers to emulate the best "facets" of their works. She wants to weave images together and create “beautiful narratives” just like Zora Neale Hurston in Their Eyes Watching God and Barracoon, while writing transitions like Virginia Woolf in Mrs. Dalloway, as well as weave books with philosophical ideas like Iain Reid does in his thriller, I'm Thinking of Ending Things. "And I want to write like the movie, The Sun is Also a Star," Dominique says, noting how she greatly admires Tracey Oliver.
Dominique's inspiration behind her short story, “Huang Li,” started in high school. She was “fascinated with” how “the Tang Dynasty crumbled.” When she became a college freshman, Dominique participated in “an online historical fiction workshop” where she wrote about the theory behind its collapse. Supposedly, "the emperor’s concubine,” Yang Guifei, “was a part of" the Tang Dynasty's demise "somehow.” Dominique asked herself, what if Yand Guifei did it? “From there, the story erupted.”
"Experiencing the medium," is the best way to learn art or writing, according to Dominique. While she browses Instagram or Devianart to learn techniques for her art, Dominique finds her classes at LSU and "books on writing" have helped her perfect the craft. Also, having professors like Jason Buch, Dr. Trey Strecker, Prof. Frumkin, and Dr. Christina Rothenbeck, further helped Dominique improve her writing.
Dominique's current struggle as a writer is "finding a group of people to be peers." "I was going down the Ted Talk rabbit hole," she says, "and found this Ted Talk about five people you need in your life to be happy and it’s like a cheerleader, a mentor, a coach, a friend, and a peer. Peers are like people in the same industry as you who can help you succeed. I’m sitting there and I’m like, I don’t know any other screenwriters, so my biggest challenge is finding my people to help read my scripts and I read their scripts and we grow together."
When Dominique has free time, she works on writing or film projects. Dominique is currently working “on a short film” about “a little girl who wants a [barbie] doll with braids like hers, but she can’t find it.” The little girl “goes to Walmart and has an adventure trying to find this doll. Does she get it or not?” You need to watch to find out.
As of November, Dominique has begun filming for another project called, Lost and Found, that follows a black psychology pre-med student, Tyler Evans, as he struggles to follow his passions against the wishes of his family. Filming is slotted to start on November 15th, and the film is slated to come out on her Youtube channel on the 30th.
When Dominique doesn't have pending film or writing projects, she binges Youtube. All her Youtube viewing is mostly “indie game” channels like Stumpt and John Wolf, and art channel like Danica Sills. Her favorite indie game is Raft, which she’ll play for hours because it's "really cathartic." “I also love magic,” Dominique says, adding she watches magic videos too. “Sleight of hand, card magic—I want to get into that. invest in a couple of decks. Be at a party, in a corner, and be like, hey, wanna see something?" Then, pull out a deck of cards and perform the "Is this your card?" magic trick.
After graduation, Dominique plans to start in the Indie film business and work for smaller companies in Austin and New Orleans until she becomes a producer/screenwriter like Tracey Oliver and Stella Meghie.
You can watch Dominique's film projects on her Youtube channel 310_Productions, or follow her on Instagram or Twitter using the hyperlinks.
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The Delta