NOVEMBER INTERVIEW

Lori Lakin Hutcherson

Lori Lakin Hutcherson is a writer, advocate, thought leader and mother.

Was writing a passion of yours from a very early age?

Actually, not really. I had an interest in something traditional, like medicine. My parents were educators, and education was really emphasized in my home, but I was never really fully committed to a career path in entertainment. The process was very natural—there was never a striking moment that made me realize that writing was something I’d want to do for a career. I noticed for high school assignments, though, I would always find myself writing scripts and turning simple stories into complex dialogue between characters. Eventually, I began adapting books into stories of my own. But I had never completely given screenwriting any thought.

My playlist is called “Being Your Own Mainstream” about black women’s education. What was your own educational experience like?

The high school I went to, Fairfax high school, was very integrated. I went to school with people of different cultural, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. However, when I graduated and went to Harvard University, I ran into the most entitlement I had ever seen, encountering white privilege and racism firsthand.

With this experience, though, I learned that one of the major points of education is to learn about others’ lives, rather than putting so much emphasis solely on the information you can learn in class. School was structured—yes. But it also provided me the perspective of my white counterparts, while also positioning me to gain a deeper and fuller understanding of myself and my black pride. I graduated with a concentration in history and literature and minor in African American studies.

Were there any other factors that drew you toward film and television?

Even though I’d grown up in Los Angeles, I didn’t have any connections to the industry that I was aware of. When I worked on one of my first jobs - as a writers’ assistant on the television show True Colors – I hadn’t even realized that a friend’s mom happened to be a casting director until my friend suggested that I work with his mother! That job really launched my career, from there I became an executive at Twentieth Century Fox.

How did that transition happen? 

Susan, an executive at Fox, recognized that there was a lack of diversity in the fox feature development department and spearheaded finding someone of color to come in. I had gotten to know her through her husband stan who was one of the writers on true colors, and she invited me to interview for the position as a development executive. I had no idea what that meant, other than I would read scripts and give my opinion. I thought I could handle that - it was like book reports - and I would get paid more and not have to answer the phones. Once I was in there, I saw the bigger picture and decided, even though I wanted to write, that I would do development and let that be my film school. I had the opportunity to work on some groundbreaking films, such as waiting to exhale, on which I was a junior executive. Both the senior executive Elizabeth and I both read Terry McMillan's manuscript overnight (it hadn't been published yet) and loved it.

I never thought Fox would go for it - a film about 4 black women in their 30s finding love, but Elizabeth fought for it and that's how we ended up buying it. She taught me the valuable lesson to always advocate for what you believe in, no matter what you think other people might think or say. So that's been my m.o. ever since.

I left that job to write full-time. Later, in addition to film and television writing, I became the founder and editor-in-chief of my online platform “Good Black News” that sheds light on the positive things black people do, give or receive all over the world.

What inspired you to work on Hidden Figures?

I was brought in to review and add bits and pieces to the dialogue to make it become more realistic vis a vis how black women talk and interact with each other. The way that they crack jokes with each other— it adds dimension and an accuracy to black women. Hidden figures wasn’t just about showing what these women accomplished; it was also about revealing the truth and individuality that each person had.

Black women are strong, but they also make jokes and that’s what I helped do—reveal the reality of us. Unfortunately, I was not credited as a writer on the film because of the ways writing credits are governed between the studios and the writers guild. A writer needs to be responsible for at least fifty percent of the script or add a character, which I did not do. Regardless, it truly was an honor working on a film that celebrates such history and excellence.

But you’ve added such a realistic touch to the film that many in the audience were able to connect with, which is so important. Which leads me into asking, when working on this project, what elements did you think the film would have that would allow it to sell and distribute well beyond the black demographics?

I think this film exuded a pride that many Americans can reflect and feel good about. The entire storyline is about an achievement that we all share—going into space. The fact that it unveiled an untold story within that process and created a personal parallel to today’s world, was just that much more rewarding.