Sold Out Show
Filming for Meta Take One, directed and written by John Dierre and Ryan Dutter, started in January 2022. For the next few years, Dierre and Dutter put their all on the line to complete this film which is similar to what the film is actually about.
Meta Take One is an Atlanta-based film, shot in black and white, that explores what can happen when one’s passion becomes an obsession. The film follows obsessive director John (EJ Ezeruo) and the lead actor of John’s movie Damon (Ernest Emmanuel Peeples) as they work to finish John’s film. Meta Take One takes you on crazy twists and turns through John’s obsession to complete his film in time to submit for a film festival.
From long days, budget constraints, and constantly reworking the script, Meta Take One premiered at the 2025 Atlanta Film Festival. The film screened multiple times during the festival and even received a sold-out show. Meta Take One is heading to Miami next month to screen at the 2025 American Black Film Festival.
Behind the Directors
Meta Take One mirrors real life and is based on Dierre and Dutter’s passion/obsession for filmmaking. The almost two-hour film became Dierre and Dutter’s pride and joy, which is reflected in the quality of the film and its storyline.
Dierre and Dutter said Meta Take One is a heightened version of what can happen when obsession takes over. Yet, they both agreed that a certain amount of obsession is needed to push your passion forward, especially when it comes to inspiring the crew to keep going through all the ups and downs of filming.
“Being passionate is the only way you’re going to get your film made,” said Dutter. “People want to feel your passion…it’s about what you exude.”
Just like the film itself, Dierre reflected on times when they had to shoot scenes even if they didn’t have a permit.
“Energy is transmitted…it’s the passion and the energy that people usually connect with,” said Dierre.
It was December 2019 when Dierre and Dutter met up for around eight hours to map out the entire film. It was supposed to be broken down into multiple sessions but that night turned into magic for them.
The directors consider themselves visual/cinematic artists so they started with a storyboard before writing the script. Dierre said the story formed around “visual language” and Dutter added that the storyboard was used as a compass to ensure they hit all the plot points.
“We were like mad scientists,” said Dutter which is also depicted in Meta Take One.
Meta Take One‘s script was ever-changing. Each week before filming, the directors would revisit the script and rework it as they saw fit; the goal was to be better than the last iteration. The film features humorous moments that the directors didn’t intend to do but it worked out.
“The story told itself…things just organically, naturally connected,” said Dutter.
The two-year process of shooting this film resulted in growth for Dierre and Dutter.
“We become became better creators because of that,” said Dierre. “…we weren’t thinking about our destination…it was birthed out of a strong passion and interest to tell the story…we were personally connected to.”
Meta Take One is a cautionary tale.
“Your art is not more important than others well-being and your passion will make you suffer sometimes,” said Dutter.
Behind the Lead Actors
What brings any good film together is the actors themselves which Dierre and Dutter did not take lightly. They aimed to cast great actors for each role no matter how small or short the part was.
Lead actors Ezeruo and Peeples blew the directors away with their audition tapes. Both leads have different acting experiences yet both dominated the screen.
Peeples has been in the theater world since his high school days and has been performing professionally since 2017. No matter if it is theater or film, Peeples is focused on being a positive representation of albinism.
“I just want to create roles and show representation of people who are differently able,” said Peeples.
Meta Take One is one of Peeples’ first lead roles in a film. Ironically, Peeples’ professional career started in Atlanta but he currently lives in Illinois where he’s attending graduate school; he graduates this month. Peeples traveled back and forth from the midwest to down south during extended breaks like Thanksgiving and Easter to finish shooting the film.
There’s a saying that the stage is the actor’s medium, television is the writer’s medium, and film is the director’s medium. Peeples had to quickly learn that he had to not only trust himself but also trust the directors.
“I was definitely worried because we had so much time in between takes,” said Peeples about some breaks lasting months. As an actor, Peeoples’ realized it was only so many things in his control and that he just had to focus on embodying his character Damon.
Since Ezeruo was relatively new to acting, Peeples took some time to help guide him through certain scenes. But they mainly worked off each other’s chemistry and let the camera do most of the work.
Ezeruo submitted a selfie monologue for his addition. He wasn’t sure how people would perceive it, but the directors loved it and brought him in for an in-person audition around November 2021. Ezeruo auditioned and again he overthought his acting skills. He left that day for sure he wasn’t going to get a callback.
After being cast, Ezeruo focused on taking the script day by day. He admits he didn’t take a long time to get into character but that played well on screen. Ezeruo’s character John was blinded by all the bad things happening around him that he caused because he was so focused on finishing the film. Truly nothing else mattered to John and so for Ezeruo to just focus on his day-to-day acting, and not the entire script, goes hand and hand with his character, in the best ways.
“As we’re going along, I’m growing as an actor,” said Ezeruo. “[I was] learning the character more and more…I know what John represents…I know who John is.”
Ezeruo describes John as your “typical” creative at the beginning of the film but his passion quickly turned into an unhealthy obsession.
“The heart and the obsession of his art kinda conquered all,” said Ezeruo.
Although Ezeruo isn’t completely like his character, he is happy to have played this role and expand on what type of Black characters can exist in the film world.
“I’ve never seen a Black character like this…there’s so much room for characters like this,” said Ezeruo. “Hopefully more people that look like me…will do different things and have different characters…we got a lot of talented folks…and they need to be seen.”
Nyesha Stone founded Carvd N Stone in 2017 to cover positive news while attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Stone has a B.A. in Journalism. She has raised over $30,000 to award grants and scholarships. She has also been featured in ESSENCE and worked with the American Black Film Festival.
