By Monice Mitchell
Photos by Eli Reed/HBO

Director Gina Prince-Bythewood (center) with Wesley Snipes (left).

"In television, I used to freak out if someone changed a word in my script, because few writers direct in television. That's why I'm now protective of my child at all costs," said Prince-Bythewood, a 1991 UCLA film school graduate who has written for the TV shows A Different World, Felicity and the short-lived series Sweet Justice and South Central.

"I am on top of every little detail when I direct. I used to think something was wrong with being so controlling. But there's nothing wrong with being a control freak. It's all about the work and everything you don't think people will notice, they do."

Naysayers definitely took notice two years ago when a determined Prince-Bythewood took control of her career and left the security of television to write a screenplay that she was going to direct.

"Years earlier, when I was crewing on a student film, I had an epiphany - I wanted to direct. From that moment on, I knew I had to direct. But the first job I got out of school was writing," said Prince-Bythewood, who sharpened her skills directing short films, including the award-winning Bowl of Pork (aka The Black Forrest Gump) for Def Comedy Jam/HBO. "The whole time I was working in television, I kept waiting for someone to hand me a screenplay. I soon realized that I would have to write my first screenplay and get myself my shot."

The screenplay was Love and Basketball. The journey from script to screen, though, took much longer than she anticipated.

"I took a year off to write the script. That year turned into two and everywhere we sent the script, it got turned down. I didn't know what I was going to do at that point. Then the script got accepted into the Sundance Institute Writer's Lab and Director's Lab and that gave it new life," said Prince-Bythewood, who also wrote and directed the NAACP Image Award-winning School Break Special, What About Your Friends for CBS. "I used to wonder why it took so long, but now I understand. There is a lot of money involved. I'm still shocked that New Line Cinema gave me millions of dollars. They didn't even know me."

Now she is known and respected. Just two years ago, she knocked on many closed doors to convince studios to give her an opportunity to direct. Now those same studios are pursuing her.

Her first project immediately following the successful and personal film Love and Basketball is Disappearing Acts. The film, which tells the bittersweet story of a sometimes-employed Brooklyn construction worker and an aspiring singer on the brim of success, is based on Terry McMillan's best-selling novel of the same name. It aired on HBO December 9.

"About a year and a half go, I pitched myself to write the script. I didn't get it, so I went ahead and did Love and Basketball," said Prince-Bythewood, who was surprised when Wesley Snipe's production company, Amen Ra, revisited her to direct the film. "I was doing post on Love and Basketball when I began pre-production on Disappearing Acts in February. Everything was rushed because Wesley had to start on a certain date for his next project. We only had a tiny window to get the project done."

In addition to time constraints, the production also presented her with the welcomed challenge of directing a script she did not write. Lisa Jones, who also penned ABC's The Wedding, adapted McMillan's book for the screen. McMillan's other novels, Waiting to Exhale and How Stella Got Her Groove Back, were also successfully made into films. Disappearing Acts, however, marks the first time an African-American woman has directed a McMillan novel.

The one thing that made the process of directing Disappearing Acts easier was the fact that she had read the book, cover-to-cover, at least 11 times.

"I knew the characters," she said, laughing, "but it was still really hard, because this book is many people's bible. When we would hit a snag, we would go back to the book. It was really important to me that the film remained true to the book."

Prince-Bythewood looking in to the camera's eye.

And given the subject matter - the ups and downs of love - she could have easily put her directing skills on autopilot and turned the film into a male-bashing vehicle.

"When I was first approached about the film, I made it a point to talk to Wesley about that. I didn't want this to turn into a male-bashing film. I wanted the audience to see both sides," said Prince-Bythewood, who joined the Guild during the production of Love and Basketball, which was produced by Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks.

"Some men have seen the film and told me I did a good job of balancing both stories. I'm proud of that. And Terry McMillan seeing the film, crying at the end and telling me she loved it, that means the most to me."

Admittedly, she said she can't take all the credit for McMillan's tears of joy. She credits her cast, crew and an eye-opening experience at the Sundance Director's Lab for making the difference.

"In the Sundance lab, all of the directors had to act out a scene. It opened my eyes to where you have to put yourself as an actor," she said. "On my set, people have to respect the actor's process. I totally respect what actors do. I give them whatever time they need and I never scream out directions from the camera. I take the time to walk up to them and talk to them personally."

For Prince-Bythewood, true communication between her and the actors begins before the cameras are rolling. During the first days of rehearsal, she simply observes, then she and the actors share personal stories to begin the bonding process. For her first feature, she had two weeks to connect with her actors. On her sophomore effort, she was only able to squeeze in a week of preparation with her cast.

She said that if she hadn't been working with two great actors - Wesley Snipes and Sanaa Lathan - she would have been very nervous going into production.

"I definitely see why a lot of directors use a lot of the same ensemble actors to work with. There is such a great comfort level in those relationships and on the set when your cast trusts you," she said, referring to Lathan, who was also the lead of Love and Basketball. "The trust level this time between Sanaa and I was amazingly different. On my first film, I knew she could act, but it was always a constant struggle of knowing if her ball playing would look believable. On Disappearing Acts, she had to learn to be a singer and play the piano. But this time, I didn't worry, because I knew how hard she would work."

Prince-Bythewood was also on top of how hard her crew was working. Staying true to her nature and directing experience, she met daily with the crew and made herself accessible to everyone. Often that meant answering "a thousand questions a day," but she said she is willing to do whatever it takes for the good of her films.

"I need to make sure that everyone on the production is on the same page and as long as people respect each other, you can do great work," said Prince-Bythewood, who made an effort to ensure that women held many of the key personnel positions on Disappearing Acts.

"I have worked with some great people on both films. I didn't realize, though, how strict the unions were in New York, so I wasn't able to take anyone with me from Los Angeles. There are definitely people from both crews that I want to work with again."

Audiences, though, are going to have to wait another year or two before her next project graces the silver screen. She is taking a self-imposed yearlong hiatus to write her next screenplay.

"I've been receiving many offers, and it's so hard not to jump at them. There's a comfort in continually working. But I don't want to end up just being a director for hire. I think my career would suffer," she said. "I want a career like Carl Franklin's. He hasn't done a lot of films, but all of them have been great films. Like him, I want to do great work.

"And I know how the business works. I know there are waves of enthusiasm. Honestly, there are days when I panic a little. But I'm staying strong. I just have to believe that my work speaks for itself and that those same people who are interested in me now will be interested in me a year from now."

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