little trumpet examines loss and trauma from a young Black child’s perspective – in a world we rarely see portrayed authentically: my home, New Orleans. This summer, this film will be brought to life by a diverse cast and crew, led by a Black woman writer-director.

We're shooting the film in late July, and once the film is completed, we'll submit it to film festivals and host film screenings where you, our audience and supporters, can view the finished film! As Black creatives, we also understand the necessity of a diverse team, so we’re committing to provide opportunities for underrepresented folks in film through this project. Your donations, whether big or small, empower us to do so – and help us get this powerful story on screen!

A note on shooting during Covid-19: Your contributions will also enable us to keep our cast and crew safe during production – with PPE, testing, and strict Covid safety protocols. 

On a late summer evening in the 7th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans, we find Javon, a shy, quiet young boy lost in his escape – an invisible trumpet and dreams of being a musician like his two older brothers. 

When his quiet world is interrupted and he’s summoned to errands by his depressed homebody mother, we get glimpses into his child’s eye world – run-ins with the neighborhood dealer, teasing and taunting from his peers, and his small pockets of joy in solitude. 

But Javon’s peace doesn’t last long – and back home, we see a broken and painful family dynamic that he can’t escape, even in his lonesome. His brothers are absent, each in different ways. His mother’s testy, with a tired soul, taking her troubles out on him. And Javon himself is still trying to figure out his place in the raw and bitter environment around him. 

Later that night, he gets a small win: a promise from his teenage brother Damon – a talented musician on the edge of an illicit lifestyle – that he’ll help him learn to play the trumpet. With that, Javon goes to sleep, reluctantly hopeful. But, without fail, he’s awakened in the middle of the night to yet another nightmare in this revolving door of trauma, and he must choose between shutting down and succumbing to his circumstances – or finding a way to hold onto his hopes and dreams.

 

I wrote little trumpet because I had a vision of a young boy with an invisible trumpet. Huffing and blowing. Performing his little heart out – much like I used to do after Mardi Gras parades as a child. Pretending and dreaming. I didn’t know where the story would go or what it would become. But it turned out to be my story. My childhood friends’ stories. And the stories of so many kids stomaching and wrestling with loss and violence, dreams and aspirations. Balancing dreams and survival on their two hands. 

For me, this story was an outlet – a way to not just recall the past, but go back in time and interrogate what I was feeling as a child, and what the kids I knew must have been feeling, as survivors of this trauma too. little trumpet is my way of unspooling that trauma, of revisiting my childhood and those of my friends I grew up with to see through a child’s eyes how much this trauma, this cycle of violence shaped us. 

But this is not just a story of darkness and grief. There’s a beauty in remembering the past and understanding it. A path to healing. So while many people would look at this world and see only pain and trauma and violence, I also see hope. Because I see myself. I see how far I’ve come from the circumstances I grew up in. And that is my hope for my main character, Javon. 

We are survivors. We are a city of survivors. And we are gifted with the resilience, the power, and the vision to break these cycles – and write our own story. 

- Megz, Writer-Director

This film explores a central question: When a family loses someone to gun violence, how does this trauma affect a child? little trumpet considers how the trauma of an act of violence ripples out through a child’s life and creates an experience of isolation, perpetuating the cycle of trauma. The story rests behind the eyes of a young boy sorting through his own grief while also trying to make sense of others’. He busies himself with dreaming as an escape, but signs of dysfunction are all around him. Yet, in the midst of this darkness, Javon’s story offers us a glimmer of hope, showing the powerful resilience of survivors. 

 

 

This story is told in New Orleans – the heartbeat of the South, a city rich with culture and history. A city of musicians, artists, hustlers and survivors. Shakers, movers and history-makers. It’s pulsing with tradition – colorful second lines, unique cuisine, and this raw, eccentric, and electrifying way of life. It can be hauntingly beautiful – dark when it chooses. With a long history of violence and tragedy, there’s always a musk of danger lingering. Even in the face of triumph. Even on the upbeat.

 

 

In this film, music is a character. The city of New Orleans is inseparable from its sound: from jazz, to bounce, to hip hop – the streets pulse with it. And young Javon is a child whose world is shaped by music – by a longing to make it, by the silence it leaves behind. So music is absolutely essential to the telling of this story. The award-winning jazz/neosoul/hip hop duo Magna Carda will serve as Music Directors of little trumpet, overseeing the film’s music supervision, as well as the production of the film’s original score – by bringing together a brilliant roster of musicians to build the unique soundtrack of Javon’s world.

From the entire little trumpet team, thank you for your support!