We’re excited to officially enter the 2026 Paramount Pictures slate and thrilled to announce that By Any Means will be hitting theaters this Labor Day weekend.
This one means a lot to us—built with intention, driven by purpose, and made for the big screen.
Thank you to our entire cast and crew for helping bring this to life.
Grateful to Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, TheWrap, and Deadline for covering the story.
See you at the movies. 🎬
Motherhood is something I’ll never fully understand, but one thing I do understand is the love I’ve received from the women who raised me. I watched my mother and grandmothers make a way out of no way. I watched them give unconditional love even when life wasn’t easy. Their strength, glamour, softness, discipline, faith, and sacrifice shaped so much of who I am.
Growing up, one of my favorite things about Sundays was going to church. It felt like the whole neighborhood came alive. Looking out the car window and seeing all the mothers dressed up — the hats, the heels, the perfume, the elegance — felt magical to me. It was fashion, love, community, and care all at once.
Thank you to every woman who has mothered me, guided me, protected me, prayed for me, checked me, inspired me, and loved me through different seasons of my life. My mom, chosen moms, aunties, grandmothers, mentors… even my TV moms 😉
Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers — biological and chosen. Today we celebrate you, your beauty, your labor, your sacrifices, and the incredible journey of motherhood. ❤️
Three years. Third feature. One love. ❤️
When you love what you do — and get to do it with someone you love — the work becomes something bigger than work. Today was our final day of post on By Any Means. A film we’ve been carrying, building, fighting for, and dreaming about for the last three years.
We poured our craft, our hearts, our fears, our growth, and our lives into this one. Finishing our third feature together feels emotional in a way that’s hard to describe. A real closing of a chapter.
One thing that truly helped guide us through this process was All About Love by bell hooks. It shifted the way we think about partnership, art, commitment, and care. If you haven’t read it yet, please do.
Thank you to every cast and crew member who carried us through every phase of this production. And most importantly, thank you to everyone in the world who gave us a listening ear throughout this journey. That support meant more than you know.
We cannot wait for the world to experience By Any Means in theaters September 4. 🎬
What’s something you’ve spent years building that changed you in the process?
Queering the Screen is BACK, hunni!
We’re thrilled to continue this beloved partnership with Coolidge Corner Theatre and keep bringing queer cinema, conversation, and community together under one roof.
This month’s featured screening is Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, directed by Elegance Bratton and featuring Lena Waithe, Kevin Aviance, and Malik Shakur.
This vibrant and essential documentary celebrates the Black queer underground music scene in Chicago that gave birth to house music as we know it. It’s joyful, revolutionary, sweaty, soulful, and deeply rooted in the brilliance of queer cultural creation.
Join us on May 28 at the Coolidge for the screening, followed by a post-film Q&A with director Elegance Bratton and producer Chester Algernal Gordon, moderated by Joseph V. Porter of The Theater Offensive.
It’s rare to find your person in this lifetime—and somehow, I found mine in you.
I love you more than words ever fully hold. You inspire me, challenge me, and make every day feel bigger, brighter, and more meaningful.
Happy Birthday, my love. Here’s to you, your brilliance, your heart, and everything you’re building in this world. I’m so proud to stand beside you. 💫
Greece is still on my heart. 🇬🇷✨
Thank you to all the festival directors, programmers, staff, and volunteers at @filmfestivalgr — you were incredible hosts. I’m so grateful to have served on this year’s jury alongside the brilliant Lorenzo and Nancy.
Before giving out The Mermaid Award, I shared how, as filmmakers, our job is to capture hearts and minds — to take audiences on journeys that help us see the world through someone else’s eyes. In these dark times, that mission feels more vital than ever.
We watched 22 films, and one stood out for its unapologetically queer spirit and remarkable craft. Congratulations to Plainclothes, the recipient of this year’s Mermaid Prize! 🧜🏾♂️🎬
Huge shout out to Gorgonà, Bearcave, Pillion, Fantasy On the Sea, and Erupcja — thank you for making this experience unforgettable. Until next time, Greece. 💙
Lake Placid 🏔️ thank you for the love!
What an honor to be Artists-in-Residence at the @adirondackfilm with my partner-in-cinema @elegancebratton — and to screen Move Ya Body to a sold-out crowd! 🎥❤️
We met an incredible new generation of filmmakers ready to tell their first stories. And yes, I geeked out over all the Olympic history 🏒— “Miracle on Ice” energy still lives here!
Huge love to Noah, Gary, the volunteers, and the entire programming team for the hospitality. ✨
#MoveYaBody #LakePlacidFilmFestival #FreedomPrincipleFilms #EleganceBratton #ChesterAlgernalGordon #HouseMusicHistory #indiefilm
Thank you @gothamawards for this incredible honor.
And thank you @rogerrosswilliams for being an amazing mentor through this process — a listening ear, a guiding voice, and a true inspiration. I’m so grateful for the love and support you’ve shown me.
Thank you @impact.partners.docs@hiddenlightproductions@onestoryup and @losangelesmediafund for believing in this story. Our industry is better with folks like you in it.
To our festival family — @sundanceorg@tribeca@sheffdocfest , @filmfestivalgr , @lighthouseinternationalfilm@blackstarfest@mkefilm@dcdoxfest@filmfestmunich and so many more— thank you for opening your arms to this film. Chester and I have traveled to over 40 cities around the world, to sold-out audiences who might never have seen Move Ya Body without your support.
This year since our Sundance premiere has been incredible — but it hasn’t been easy. Still, I believe Move Ya Body will find its home on a streaming platform and in theaters one day. Because Move Ya Body is about house music — and the way it frees us all.
To the “gatekeepers” who’ve denied our film: thank you. To the streamers whose buckets we don’t fit into: thank you. To the celebrity-driven, true-crime-obsessed status quo: thank you. Because Move Ya Body refuses to conform — it moves to its own beat.
And let’s be real — diversity didn’t end because someone in the White House said it did. This year we’ve witnessed a quiet purging: of Black stories, queer stories, stories by women.
In this climate, Blackness is simultaneously under attack and devalued — criminally overlooked yet hyper-policed. So what are we to do then? Give up speaking truth to power?
Hell no.
We keep dancing.
We keep creating.
We keep telling our stories.
Because Black Lives Matter.
Because Black stories matter.
Because Move Ya Body is the best film not in a theater near you — yet. 🎬🖤✨
✨AUSTIN, YOU SHOWED UP & SHOWED OUT!✨
Last Thursday’s sold-out screening of Move Ya Body with @paffnow & @austinfilm was PURE VIBES. 🪩💃🏾🕺🏽
From the love in the room to folks literally dancing in the aisles, we felt every bit of it. 🖤
Thank you for bringing the house (music) to Texas! Also Thank you @djshani for hosting the Q&A!!!❤️💞❤️
Let’s keep this party moving… next city coming soon 👀🎉
#MoveYaBodyDoc #HouseMusic #SoldOut #DanceInTheAisles #AustinFilmSociety #PAFF #BlackExcellence #QueerJoy #MusicDocs #AFS #MoveYaBodyTheFilm
CALL IN with Elegance Bratton @elegancebratton & Chester Algernal Gordon @algernal@filmfestmunich 💙💚🩵
The filmmakers talk to @christophgroener.official and @juleweigl.official about
🪩 their new film MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE – a musically captivating journey of discovery and time travel to the beginnings of the house music genre
🎭 what’s coming up at the German premiere this Sunday in the wonderful setting of the @muenchner_kammerspiele
🌈 @csdmuenchen vibes – we’ll be all celebrating together on Saturday!
On Sunday, Elegance and Chester will also be at the screening and answer questions afterwards. Tickets are available exclusively via Münchner Kammerspiele (link in Filmfest bio)🥳
#ffmuc #csdmuenchen #MünchnerKammerspiele @moveyabodyfilm@impact.partners.docs@hiddenlightproductions
