Diallo Javonne French, photographer and filmmaker, answers The Pitch‘s questionnaire
Name: Diallo Javonne French
Occupation: Photographer and filmmaker
Hometown: Kansas City, Kansas
Current neighborhood: Hyde Park
What I do (in 140 characters): I’m a black-and-white music photographer and filmmaker. I try to inspire through my images.
What’s your addiction? Cupcakes
What’s your game? Basketball. I’m older so I’m not what I used to be, but don’t leave me open.
Where’s dinner? Gates. I really missed Gates when I lived in Atlanta.
What’s on your KC postcard? 18th and Vine. My grandparents met in the original Blue Room.
Finish these sentences: “Kansas City got it right when …” The American Jazz Museum and Negro League Baseball Museum opened.
“Kansas City screwed up when …” They stopped having the Jazz & Blues Festival.
“Kansas City needs …” An NBA team!
“In five years, I’ll be …” Hopefully a full-time photographer and filmmaker. I would love to create a music foundation that gives inner-city kids that can’t afford music lessons the opportunity to learn how to play instruments.
“I always laugh at …” Old pictures of myself.
“I’ve been known to binge-watch …” Seinfeld and Miami Vice.
“I can’t stop listening to …” Michael Jackson Off the Wall. It was my first record as a kid. I have never gotten tired of it.
“I just read …” The Tipping Point.
The best advice I ever got: Never sleep with a woman that you wouldn’t want to have your baby.
Worst advice: Don’t be a dreamer.
My sidekick? My cousin Regina Robinson and many of the Kansas City jazz artists. I love going to their gigs and photographing them. I feel like I’m documenting this era of KC music.
My dating triumph/tragedy? One of the most beautiful women I ever met asked me out on a date. We never became a couple because she lives in California, but I was so honored to spend time with her. She was movie-star gorgeous.
My brush with fame: A few years ago, my short film May This Be Love aired on national television. It was a BET show called Lens on Talent hosted by actress Sanaa Lathan. The beautiful Sanaa introduced my film and said my full name.
What was the last thing you had to apologize for? Forgetting to tell my family about an exhibit I had last summer. They had to read about it in the newspaper. They were not happy.
Who’s sorry now? People who doubted my abilities as a filmmaker and photographer. I’ve been able to win film festivals, and my photos have been used all over the world.
My recent triumph: Several months ago I had an exhibition of my jazz photography at the Box Gallery. The exhibit was called KC Swing, the Jazz Photography of Diallo Javonne French.
French’s Kickstarter project to help pay for his feature film, A Song for You, a love story about a soul singer’s inspiration to make music, expires at 8 p.m. May 16.
