When asked what advice he would give to students in film school, award-winning LMU School of Film and Television (SFTV) alumnus David Fortune had this to say: “Be slow to advice. Instead, move quickly and listen to the voice inside of you.”
For Fortune, whose first feature-length film “Color Book” debuted at the Tribeca Festival to critical acclaim last summer, this outlook has proven more than fruitful. Fortune was the 2023 winner of the AT&T Untold Stories Pitch Competition, winning him the top prize of $1 million—and the ability to bring his vision for “Color Book” to life.
On February 24th, the LMU community was treated to a screening of “Color Book,” along with a talk-back featuring the director himself. Hosted in collaboration with SFTV, the Office of Black Student Services, Brothers of Consciousness, and Black Filmmakers Rebellion, the film joined an incredible lineup of back-to-back celebratory events in honor of Black History Month. On what inspired him to make “Color Book,” Fortune said, “I was inspired to explore the relationship between a Black father and his son in an intimate and meaningful way . . . I wanted to create a portrait of two human beings on a journey together while bringing depth and emotion to the cinematic experience. It was important to highlight the perspective of Black individuals within the disability community.”
“Color Book” follows an average day in the life of Lucky (William Catlett), a single father, and his son Mason (Jeremiah Daniels), an 11-year-old with Down syndrome, each finding their way after the passing of Tammy (Brandee Evans), Lucky’s wife and Mason’s mother. In “Color Book,” the drama du jour is getting Mason to a baseball game—a would-be simple exercise that gets interrupted by tribulations large and small. Fortune cites filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami and artist Carrie Mae Weems as influences but stays true to his own unique flavor of visual storytelling.
For Fortune, the accolades keep coming, and there’s no end in sight. “Color Book” won the Narrative Film Award at Austin Film Festival; the American Independent Award for Best Feature Film at the Denver Film Festival; and Best Feature Film at the Black Harvest Film Festival, among others. The film was recently nominated for two NAACP Image Awards — Outstanding Breakthrough Creative and Outstanding Performance by a Youth in a Motion Picture — and Fortune was just recognized as one of Variety’s 2025 Directors to Watch, noting, “It feels great to be recognized by Variety and to know that the work I’ve done is being appreciated on a larger scale. But honestly, making the list isn’t the finish line. It’s just fuel to push further. I’m not satisfied with just being named a director to watch. I’m hungry to create more films that leave a lasting impact. My job isn’t done. There are still so many stories to tell, and this recognition only pushes me to work harder.”
Fortune also reflected on the experiences that helped him build toward this exhilarating time in his craft and career, particularly the significance of being part of the SFTV Emerging Filmmakers Lab in partnership with Village Roadshow. “It taught me how to collaborate with studio and production company executives, which was invaluable in understanding the industry at a deeper level,” said Fortune. “I also directed my first documentary, which gave me insight into the creative process of crafting a non-fiction story—a completely different challenge from narrative filmmaking . . . it became a launchpad for future opportunities after film school.”
Right now, Fortune is focused on writing and developing his next project and pursuing his interest in teaching film in his hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, where he sees so much untapped potential in young and emerging filmmakers. “Grad school gave me the space to find my voice as an artist. SFTV was an incubator where I could explore, experiment, and refine my cinematic approach and technique. It’s where I developed my taste, perspective, and storytelling instincts as a filmmaker . . . I just want to do my part in cultivating their artistic expression, just as my professors did for me,” Fortune stated.
