As much as it is a broad comedy, One of Them Days is also a love letter to the South Los Angeles neighborhood known as the Jungles, as it is affectionately called by its residents. “I tried to represent the people there and their experiences as authentically as I could in my writing,” says screenwriter, Syreeta Singleton. “I wanted to make something that showcased the neighborhoods and the people that I love in Los Angeles.”
Though there have been many films set in the Jungles, the residents don’t often get to see themselves on screen in light-hearted stories. “Historically, the narrative behind this neighborhood, the Jungles, is from movies like Training Day and a host of other films that portray this neighborhood in a negative light,” says producer Deniese Davis. “But it’s a neighborhood like any other. People live here. There are families here. People grow up here.”
In the Jungles and neighborhoods like it, Singleton says, are people that fill the roles the community needs. “You have the matriarch or the mother figure; the person who does your hair; your strivers. I tried to make sure that there was some diversity to reflect the Jungles as it is.”
When Dreux and Alyssa’s day in the Jungles goes particularly off the rails, that’s drawn from Singleton’s life, too. “When I was in the Jungles, I was usually there when I shouldn’t be,” she laughs. “Being in the Jungles always felt like an adventure—you never knew what was going to happen. There were so many interesting characters and dynamics.”
Even the comedy around the looming gentrification of the Jungles was drawn from the filmmakers’ lived experiences in South L.A. “It’s a changing neighborhood,” says Singleton. “We’re all seeing and experiencing our neighborhood shift because of gentrification. From the candy house to the ice cream truck and hanging out at Jim Gilliam Park—the movie is filled with moments that felt very real to me, experiences that I had there in the Jungles.”
The joke Mama Ruth (Vanessa Bell Calloway) tells Dreux about seeing a cat in a stroller as a sign of the coming gentrification apocalypse was pulled directly from producer Issa Rae’s life. “I was doing my daily walk through my neighborhood, and I saw a white couple pushing a cat in a stroller!” Rae says about why she added that hilarious scenario to the script. “It really happened. I was indeed sick!” she laughs.
Best known as the creator and star of HBO’s “Insecure,” media mogul Rae shepherded this project through her production companies HOORAE Media and ColorCreative, where Singleton’s script was incubated.
Stories drawn from life—especially funny and rarely told stories—are what ColorCreative is all about. When the company joined forces with TriStar Pictures to develop future films from a new generation of storytellers, movies like One of Them Days was the plan. “The idea was to give emerging screenwriters an opportunity to write and develop their first feature in the studio system,” says Davis. “Syreeta was one of the four writers selected, and it started from a conversation where she pitched a story about two girls trying to find rent, being based in the Jungles.”
In fact, Singleton was one of the first writers that Rae and Davis incubated, roughly a decade ago, making a pilot called “So Jaded.” When Rae began production on “Insecure,” Singleton joined the project as an assistant to the showrunner, eventually joining the show’s writing staff. Later, when Rae began production on her show “Rap Sh!t,” Singleton was tapped as showrunner.
“It’s very rare that you get a buddy comedy with two Black women as the leads,” says Davis. In fact, One of Them Days is the first Black women-led buddy comedy since Townsend’s B.A.P.S. premiered nearly thirty years ago. To pull off the chemistry necessary to produce an instant classic in the comedy film canon, the filmmakers of One of Them Days needed to cast two certified stars.
“Comedy is just how I see things,” says Singleton. “I’m always finding the humor in situations. When I start writing, that’s just how it comes across. When I first started writing, I didn’t even realize—it took Issa, really, to tell me that I had written a comedy.”
“I love Syreeta’s writing. Everything about it just feels incredibly authentic,” says producer Sara Rastogi. “The humor feels like you’re talking to your friends. It’s truly the definition of seeing yourself in extraordinary circumstances—and more hilarious, because she’s funnier than all of us.”
The humanity and authenticity in the story also made the project attractive to executive producer Charles D. King, CEO of MACRO. One of Them Days represented a chance to work with some of his favorite artists on a project that aligns with his own goals. “We’re just huge fans of Issa and Deniese—who they are and what they represent in our industry,” he says. “We love the fact that this project was incubated through ColorCreative, which is about shepherding new voices. Our company, MACRO, is all about cinematic excellence and platforming stories from people of color. It was a perfect marriage of missions.”
And it doesn’t hurt that the film is laugh-out-loud funny. “I read the script and I gave Charles a call and I told him, ‘This is really funny. I think you should read this immediately,’” says producer and president of MACRO Film Studios, James Lopez. “I said, ‘This has the potential to be a cult classic, like Friday. That’s exactly what I said to him.”
For the filmmakers, One of Them Days was an opportunity to pay homage to their favorite classic comedies. “Of course, we reference Friday,” says Lamont. “Dreux’s character wears a plaid shirt like Ice Cube’s Craig wears a plaid shirt, and it’s set over the course of a day,” he says. “But Superbad was always one of my inspirations. I remember seeing that in high school and just the hijinks and the story of friendship also set up over the course of one day — I can go on and on, but those are the top two influences for me.”
“It [also pays] homage to B.A.P.S. in so many ways because there just hasn’t been something like this before,” says Rae. “And with the crazy looks and the wardrobe, and the hairstyles,” says Lamont. “Shout out to [B.A.P.S. director] Robert Townsend.”
With this (late) coming-of-age comedy, Keke Palmer embraced the chance to make a film that would represent everyday struggles in the most hilarious way. “Comedy is the best medicine to be able to relate to these [financial] pressures we’re all experiencing,” she says, “whether it’s student loans, trying to figure out how to climb the corporate ladder, or having five part-time jobs to make ends meet. When I’m doing comedy, it’s because at the core, what makes it funny is also what makes it hurt. It’s like, ‘Damn, that’s real.’ You laugh and then it creates a space for you to really discuss it and have a conversation.”
The film’s debut director, Lawrence Lamont, agrees that because Dreux and Alyssa’s struggles are very real, comedy was essential to tell the story. “Inflation is through the roof. The middle class is not really the middle class anymore. People really do have struggles trying to make rent. Things are so serious and it’s so chaotic on this planet. But humor is a gateway to happiness and joy. At the end of the day, hope and laughter and happiness override anything else going on,” he says. “So, even when people are down and out, you can have that one uncle or auntie that can make you laugh, and it can make you forget about the struggles.”
The film was shot on location in the Jungles—the same South L.A. neighborhoods where the film is set—because a love for these streets and the people who live there was baked into the screenplay.
“You can’t base a movie in South L.A. and not be in South L.A.,” says Rae. “I’d be embarrassed to put a movie out and not have people recognize the landmarks, not recognize the streets. Honestly, as a native, I would be watching this movie sideways,” she says. “There’s a certain essence that you get from shooting there.”
Capturing that essence was essential to the film’s director. “Lawrence’s central hope for this film is that it feels authentic and real, and not just a glossy movie,” says production designer Monique Dias. “Throughout the entire scout, we took so many reference photos of people’s homes and little details of every single space we saw—even when we knew we weren’t going to shoot there. It set us up for everywhere else we went. We were in South L.A., shooting in authentic spaces, and using the design to amplify those spaces rather than create something completely contrived. The heart of the story is this community.”
Dias especially cites her set decorator, Esmeralda De La Cruz, as crucial for getting the details right. “She was born and raised in South L.A.,” explains Dias. “She was very excited to be doing this film and pulled a lot of her inspiration and references from people in her own life. She really went to town, bringing a lot of warmth and color and light to the space.”
The production even employed locals. “One of the things we did when filming in the Jungles is that we let some of the neighbors who actually live there participate as background in some of our scenes,” says Davis. “We were happy to, because it only adds to the authenticity.”
Of course, when you incorporate the community, there’s an element of comical unpredictability that’s bound to occur. “We were shooting at Jim Gilliam Park one day and a car just drove by in the middle of a scene, and they started shouting at Keke, congratulating her on her performance at the BET Awards the night before,” recalls Rastogi. “Even though it was disruptive, it was hilarious. It was just so nice to be in a community that knows and loves these actresses.”
Both the scripted and unscripted comedy on set made the shoot a joyful place for the collaborators. “So many scenes made me laugh,” says Rae, “but the payday loan scene–let me tell you. Keke, SZA, Keyla (Monterroso Mejia who played the payday lender), the three of them together—I can’t! Everything that they did, I wish we could have put every take in there,” says Rae. “Keke’s anger, SZA, her aloofness, the addition of Keyla just took it to a whole ‘nother level. She’s so funny. And the three of them playing off of each other. Like it was just… it was perfect.”
Lamont agrees. “There were takes where I was yelling cut, and I was walking over to give notes and I couldn’t find Keke and SZA. They’re on the ground laughing—on the literal ground.”
That space for laughter and joy opened up an environment for the collaborators to operate truthfully and earnestly to elevate the work. “What I love about working with you [Lamont] in addition to just being extraordinarily collaborative, is that you think about everything. You think about every single element. You actually dream about it and every time you think about it and every time you put it into practice, it only gets even better,” says Rae. “It’s been three years of it living in your brain and there’s just… it’s fun to watch someone love what they do while they’re doing it and be excited about the little things.”
For his part, Lamont relied on producer Rae and his other Black women collaborators to help tell the most authentic story. “Honestly, there were moments where I’m rushing and I’m gonna move on, I’m in my director brain, and I have to step back and realize I’m directing a film about Black women and I’m a Black man. So, I listen,” says Lamont. “I love the collaboration. And just your insight, Issa — I don’t know if people have realized, but we’re changing lines on set a lot, you know, and that’s a testament to just your genius brain and the worlds that you help scope. So, I’m happy to be an architect in the world building with you.”
Detroit-born director and writer LAWRENCE LAMONT (Director) got his start shooting music videos for Grammy Award-winning artist Big Sean. Lamont went on to direct multiple episodes of MAX’s “Rap Sh!t,” produced by HOORAE Productions. He also completed a pilot for MAX and shot the Detroit Pistons’ branding campaign for the 2022-23 season.
Lamont is in development on two original television projects: “Bundles,” an hour-long crime drama in partnership with producers Stephen Love and Issa Rae, with Syreeta Singleton attached to write the pilot and potentially showrun, and “Break,” is an hour-long grounded sci-fi drama in partnership with Arsalan Asli from FIVE4 Studios, which is currently being developed into a graphic novel.
Born and raised in South Central, SYREETA SINGLETON (Written by) is a writer on the verge of becoming a household name. Singleton has written HBO’s hit comedy series “Insecure,” Showtime’s “Black Monday,” and Apple TV+’s animated series “Central Park.” She has been the showrunner and executive producer for seasons 1 and 2 of the MAX series “Rap Sh!t,” produced by HOORAE Productions. Up next, Singleton is writing a feature film remake of the hit movie Set It Off for New Line.
