about me

about me

intro

hey hey!:) My name is Chloe Mary Wynona Minor (ugh! i know right! such a mouth full!), and I was born in sunny Los Angeles, California, before my parents decided to move me to Keller, Texas... (my villain origin story)! I love to talk, and I hate uppercase letters (in case *no pun intended* you couldn't tell)!

my childhood

Growing up, I had a vivid imagination and a knack for anything creative. I also had so many different interests as a child (I blame the ADHD!). First, I, like many other girls who grew up in the early 2000s and during the peak of Disney princesses, thought that I'd one day be one! Then, the theater kid in me wanted to be an actress, then a NASCAR driver, then a singer (and a drummer...), and then I finally decided on being a filmmaker!

Though you could argue that I don't know what I truly desire career-wise, one thing is for certain! I have always had the drive, the ambition, and the dream.

my passion

Throughout my childhood, I was in and out of the theater space starting at 4 years old as a choir member in a Los Angeles off-broadway production of "Norman's Ark" (a play on Noah's Ark, if you didn't deduce that already), took a break, and then in 6th grade took theater as an elective where we performed Shakespeare's (shocker) A Midsummer Night's Dream. More like A Midsummer Night's Nightmare! I was cast as a fairy and had one line ("Skim milk and sometimes labour in the quern and bootless make the breathless housewife churn"). I nervously laughed and did not complete the line. I then ran backstage (which was on the same stage divided by foam board backdrops of a set) with my mic still on, and my classmate running to tell me the whole audience heard me ugly crying. Then, i proceeded to accidentally knock over the backdrop set...exposing the entire "backstage"... and myself.

Anyways!

That embarrassment followed me for years as my sister and my colleagues and even my teachers who were present at the play that night recalled the incident. That being said, I decided to regretfully take a break from theater performances (we actually just had no budget and couldn't have another show for the remainder of my middle school career lol)! So, obviously I took theater throughout my freshman year of high school and had an amazing teacher who I still miss to this day (shoutout Ms. Bradley), and it was her who truly inspired me to take up writing as she had us as a class collectively write the script for the play that we'd later perform! I dabbled in stage managing as well, which made me realize I had a true passion for more of the behind-the-scenes creative process even though I truly love the acting stuff, too! With that discovery, I shifted my focus to writing and production which, paired with my love for film, developed into a fervent passion for screenwriting and directing!

Now, as a graduate of Emory University with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Studies, I am proud to say that my passion for film and creation has never left. Today, my dream is to one day be a screenwriter and director for the big screens and collaborate with other Black filmmakers such as my favorites: Ryan Coogler, Issa Rae and Jordan Peele!

my favs

• my sister (my best friend since day 1... literally)

• talking to strangers (my friends always say social anxiety is afraid of me lol)

• hosting game and movie nights with friends and family

• watching tv shows and movies (and rating them on letterboxd)

  • some of my favs ------------->

• food (specifically lomo saltado, pad kee mao, sushi, movie theater popcorn, patatas bravas, and ben and jerry's ice cream)

• Trader Joe's (need I say more)

• the movie-going experience

• any A24 film

• Black filmmakers

• Marvel comics and movies

• Spiderman

• cooking and baking

• romance movies

• writing short film screenplays

• content creation and graphic design

• bread service at restaurants

• LA fruit carts

• sunrises and sunsets

a letter from me

Living in Los Angeles for the first five years of my life marked some of the most elating memories of my childhood that I continue to reflect on today as a twenty-one-year-old. When my parents made the decision to uproot my family to Texas, I felt that a fragment of myself was prematurely left with those memories in Los Angeles. The longing to return home, however, followed me throughout all of my years from grade school to college as did the contents of my birth certificate, as I ensured that everyone recollected that, “Chloe’s not really from Texas.”

Growing up in a predominantly White suburb in Fort Worth, Texas felt like a nearly impossible task as a Black girl. I found myself counting down the days until I could finally check off the box signifying completion and the ability to move far away and truly discover myself outside of the bounds of bigoted lenses, at last. I grew tired of the unwarranted, “Your hair looks better straight” and, “You’re pretty for a Black girl,” commentaries that resulted in me internalizing thoughts about my identity that stunted my ability to prosper. The lack of Black kids in my area as well as the sheer fact that I could not turn on my TV and see people that I resembled instilled in me that I was alone in my experiences. I was not beautiful enough. I was not worthy. However, being in a new environment and the college relationships I have built have helped me learn about as well as learn how to love my culture.

My love and deep-rooted passion for film began when I was a young child. At the age of four, performing in an off-broadway production called Norman’s Ark was the genesis of my ardor. As I aged, I consistently enrolled in theater classes and performed in school plays until I came to the realization that my calling was behind the scenes. During the Summer of 2020, I began teaching myself the art of screenplays. From taking Aaron Sorkin’s online masterclasses, to watching YouTube videos explaining what Sluglines were, I progressed and fell in love with screenwriting. My dad displayed shock as he greeted me while preparing for work at wee hours of the morning as I refrained from sleeping to write. From my fascination with screenwriting, my decision to be a film major, and my desire to diversify the industry was born.

Being attentive to the kind of representation that Black people were allowed infuriated me, as I would constantly see modern-day enactions of caricatures and, “comedic relief best friends” as opposed to dignified main characters with complex stories. That discovery then segued into that of the “trauma story” and the perpetuation of the idea that Black people’s stories are only worth being told if they are rooted in trauma. I then noticed that most of these stories were not even written by Black people, but instead by White men, who also seemingly dominated the film industry. Enough was enough, but I knew that in order to get my foot inside of the industry door, I would need to approach it with knowledge. Upon my acceptance to Emory, I could not wait to take Dr. David Resha’s Film 101 course to expand my scopes. In his class, we screened a Spike Lee film entitled, Do the Right Thing. The subject matter of the film and the way in which it was produced put various things regarding Black directing styles and the portrayal of Black characters into perspective.

During my sophomore year of college, I decided to enroll in a Media Psychology lecture with Dr. Scott Garner to educate myself further on the technicalities and marketing aspect of the industry. Read in Garner’s course, an article by Albert Bandura entitled, “Influence of models' reinforcement contingencies on the acquisition of imitative responses,” delves into the topic of “self-efficacy,” which is essentially the belief in one’s capacity to succeed at tasks and believing in oneself to have the capacity to handle said tasks (Bandura, 1965). Relating to representation in media, if there is an absence of people that resemble Black viewers, especially young, impressionable minds, there will be a link to those viewers feeling incapable of being represented or unworthy to pursue the specific field.

Diversity, both on and off screen, fosters ways for media and entertainment to promote healthy societal perceptions of underrepresented demographics as well as rid the industry of the already existing stigmas and harmful stereotypes perpetuated in film. This not only aids Black people by supporting them economically and bridging the gap between White media and Black media, but also inspires more generations of writers, directors, actors and production crews from diverse backgrounds to pursue their dreams that once were intangible.

The release of Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther in 2018, a top ten-grossing Marvel film placed at number six, marked a new groundbreaking way to “do” representation, paving the way for Black filmmakers and aspiring writers to empower with their work. Similarly, the viral global reactions to the release of the first teaser trailer of the live-action film, The Little Mermaid, starring Halle Bailey as Ariel were overwhelmingly positive from Black and brown viewers. They were long-awaited exhales from Black parents who finally had more than solely Princess Tiana and King T’Challa to use as examples for their children to show them that they could and will be great. A reality that many were not afforded while growing up, this reminder was not and is not just for the children, as many adults, including myself, continue to be moved by these productions that act as mirrors into our lives. Mirrors into our beautiful, multifaceted lives, as opposed to our traumatic ones.