The Big Picture

Young Love, an animated series created by Matthew A. Cherry, follows the challenges and joys of African American millennial parents as they navigate parenthood. The success of the short film Hair Love led to the expansion of the story into a multi-generational series, highlighting the pursuit of dreams and creating a better life for family. Cherry’s journey from former NFL player to filmmaker shaped his career and perspective, with his experiences on sets like Girlfriends and Heroes inspiring and influencing his work.

From creator Matthew A. Cherry, the Max Original animated series Young Love follows African American millennial parents Stephen Young (voiced by Scott Mescudi) and Angela Young (voiced by Issa Rae), as they figure out how to navigate the ups and downs of life with the demands of being a parent to their young daughter Zuri (voiced by Brooke Monroe Conaway). The success of the short film Hair Love and its Academy Award win has led to an expansion of the multi-generational story about what it takes to achieve your dreams while making a better life for your family.

During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Cherry talked about his journey from former NFL wide receiver to filmmaker, what he learned from working on sets like Girlfriends and Heroes, the challenge of nailing the tone of the pilot, navigating a writers’ room, how surreal its been to hear the voice cast bring these characters to life, why this world would likely never have worked in live-action, hopes for Season 2, and why he’d love to direct an episode of The Bear.

Collider: I absolutely love this show. The animation is beautiful.

MATTHEW A. CHERRY: Thank you. I’m glad you dug it.

Image via Max

You made a short that started with a Kickstarter campaign, and that went on to win an Academy Award. That then spawned a children’s book that sold over 1.5 million copies. And then, you there was this TV series and another book. Did you always have a big picture in mind for what this could become, or are you surprised by how big the success of all this has been?

CHERRY: What’s so crazy is that, honestly, I feel like ever since we got those first images in from Vashti Harrison for the Kickstarter, we had those goals, but I never thought that a lot of them would come true. When you see Vashti’s work, we met her maybe six months before her first book came out, Little Leaders, and we were just like, “Wow, this looks like it could be a picture book. This looks like it could be a TV series.” And then, even with the short film concept being Hair Love and we knew the dad was gonna be doing a hair, we were like, “Oh, we’ve got these blank bottles. How cool would it be, if he had our own line that we could do for curly kids.” And that ended up happening with Dove. So yeah, it’s just been really crazy. I can’t lie and say that it all was thought of, initially, but there was definitely a decent amount where we were like, “How cool would that be?” And man, a lot of it happened.

When you read on paper about how you were this former NFL wide receiver, you retired, and you moved to L.A. to pursue a career in entertainment, it makes it sound like that was an easy transition, which very rarely anything in the film industry is ever actually easy. Now, you’re in this place where you’re a successful director with a career that spans various mediums. What was the early dream for you? In those early days of trying to carve out a place for yourself, as a filmmaker, did you have a picture in mind of what you hoped the dream career would be?

CHERRY: To be honest, it evolved. Initially, I was a production assistant, so I worked on a lot of commercials and music videos. And then, I was lucky enough to work on Girlfriends, the last season, that ironically got shut down because of the writers’ strike in 2007/2008. It was just really an evolution. Having a chance to be on a set like Girlfriends, seeing a Black woman running that show, seeing Debbie Allen come through, Millicent Shelton, Salim Akil, and all these great Black directors. I was just like, “Wow, I didn’t even know they let us really do it like this?” And then, the next show I worked on was Heroes. Ironically, the creator, Tim Kring, was a big fan of The Wire. That show was still going on back then, in 2008, and he brought over two or three directors from The Wire to direct episodes. It was one thing to see Black directors working on a Black show, but then to see the biggest show on television at the time and to see Black directors getting a chance to direct that, I was like, “Oh, my God, I wanna figure this out.” It definitely was hard. I definitely think that I stopped being a PA too early, when I got those first couple of music videos. I definitely wish I would have stuck with that, so it could have been a little easier to survive. But it all works out the way it’s supposed to. They say it takes many years to become an overnight success, and I really feel like that was my story. I moved to L.A. in 2007, and we did the Kickstarter in 2017.

The story of the family in this series is such a relatable story, on so many levels. You’ve got a multigenerational story, which gives the audience an opportunity to really see how this family interacts. How do you feel that’s opened up the storytelling? What are you most enjoying about what you can explore with it expanded in that way?

CHERRY: Everything, honestly. It’s just so cool to be able to build out all these different worlds. Steven is a music producer, so we’re dealing with a lot of the comedy that happens, just trying to make it as a producer and an artist. Angela, being a natural hair stylist, we see her in a salon and we get to see that world. And then, Zuri is in school, meeting all her friends. She’s the leader of her group and is trying to always make things better and change the world, even in her fun, kid-like way. It’s just been really incredible, honestly. Hitting the tone of the show was really the hardest thing to figure out. We were like, “All right, is this gonna be a super kids show? Is it gonna be an adult show? Is it gonna be in the middle and a family show?” That’s really where we tried to land. It’s this co-viewing family show that hopefully the entire family – grandparents, parents, and kids – can enjoy together. And it’s different. I never really saw a millennial-based animated series, where you get to see the messiness of being in your twenties, and still trying to figure things out, and trying to get people to pay you, 30 days later, after you did the work, and all the comedy that comes with that, and working with somebody that has more of an old school mentality and trying to innovate to make their life better and the pushback on that. That was really the most fun part about this, just figuring out, “Okay, this really hasn’t been done before, in this way.” And I love the fact that it feels like a live-action show, just with the realistic expressions and the way they move. So, it’s been really fun.

Image via Max

When you were trying to figure out what the pilot should be and what the tone of the whole series should be, did you actually write other versions before getting to what we see now, or were there just lots of conversations about what it could be?

CHERRY: Yeah, there were definitely different versions. This is my first time actually being in the writers’ room, so I had to figure out that process of how scripting works and setting up the story. It’s very different from doing independent features and even live-action TV shows, so shout out to the team. Carl Jones was co-showrunner. We had Dayna Lynne North, who worked on Insecure, help us out with the pilot. Ranada Shepard came in there, as well. It was just really great to have great people that really understand television and that were able to help translate the ideas and help to make it a reality. It’s very much a team sport.

When you take this thing that really started with, you and then you see how a writers’ room reacts to that, what did you learn about the characters that you hadn’t thought of? How do you feel that really strengthened what the series ultimately became?

CHERRY: Honestly, everything. I learned storytelling de facto on set. I didn’t go to film school. I never am the type of person that will try to act like I know everything, so it was really cool being like, “We have the general idea of what we want these characters to be. Now, we gotta really flush them out. What are their flaws? We know Stephen doesn’t like conflict. How can that be funny? We put things in there, like when Angela sees something she likes, she goes all in on it. And she’s coming out of this illness, so she’s just trying new things and making sure she’s able to find her purpose. Just working with multiple people to help figure this stuff out and having sounding boards to bounce ideas off, is really the best part of trying to figure out the show.

What’s it been like for you to see these characters, that you’ve already spent all this time thinking about, be given voices, and not only given voices, but this is a cast that anyone would kill to work with on any project?

CHERRY: Yeah. It’s just surreal. That’s the only way I can really describe any of this. Never in a million years, however many years ago, in 2017, would I have thought this would now be a living, breathing series that’s getting ready to come out. I’m just super grateful and super humble because obviously it’s a really hard time in the industry. Strikes are happening right now, and a lot of things are getting canceled, and things are getting made and not being put out. To even have something that comes out is really a blessing.

Image via Max

I absolutely love that you cast a kid to voice Zuri. There’s just something so special about that. I’m sure you considered all the possibilities for voicing that character. Did you immediately know when you had found the perfect person? What sold you on Brooke Monroe Conaway?

CHERRY: It was a nationwide search. We debated, should we have an adult voice her because we knew the voice wouldn’t change, or should we try to have a kid? We tried to find her locally and it just felt like they weren’t grounded enough. We ended up finding Brooke in Baltimore. If you see her in real life, she just looks so much like Zuri. She has the big hair, the great personality, and her parents are great. It just has been a really fun experience. Just working with her is honestly my favorite part of the show. I love how confident she is. She represents Gen Z, wanting to change the world and really not taking any stuff, to the fullest degree. I just love her.

Now that this story has existed in book form and it’s existed in animated form, do you have any desire to see these characters in actual live-action, or do you prefer that they continue to live in animation?

CHERRY: I think we prefer to see them in animation. That was the big thing with the short. It was like, “Could this be a live-action thing?” Peter Ramsey, who was an executive producer on the short, was one of the first people I asked. I was like, “Do you think this idea is big enough to be in animation?” He was just like, “Look, man, animation is a medium, not a genre. It’s okay to have stuff that’s grounded in animation. It’s okay to have stuff that’s really big and has action and is explosive, too.” I don’t think it would work in live-action, in the same way. I always joke, “I feel like the short probably wouldn’t even have gotten to any festivals, let alone win an Oscar if it was live-action.” I just think that medium really allows it to be more universal, in some funny ways.

What would you say is an important lesson that you’ve learned about this business, that seems invaluable to you now, but that you might not have been able to receive or have been open to hearing, early on in your career?

CHERRY: That it’s okay not to have the answer. Especially being an athlete, you’re always put in these leadership positions where you’re expected to learn your stuff and know everything, and you have to have the right answer for every question. In this industry, it’s okay not to know everything and it’s okay to seek help from the outside. That’s really how I try to be a creator. I used to be a P.A., so I know P.A.s have great ideas. I know a great idea can come from an assistant, can come from a writer, or can come from a producer. It’s just about not being so closed off and feeling like you know everything. A lot of times, that’s when the best stuff happens because either that idea is gonna be great, or it’s gonna lead to an even better idea.

Image via Max

Obviously, with every project you do, you learn. What was the earliest project that you feel you learned so much from that it was the first real step toward shaping who you are, as a director now?

CHERRY: All of them, honestly. Like I said, I didn’t go to film school. Even with the early music videos, it was just like, “All right, now we’ve got a tripod.” The next video, it was, “Now we’ve got a dolly.” Next one, it was, “Now, we’ve got a crane.” It literally was just learning by doing. If you work in music videos, you work with these stars and these really big personalities. I was like, “All right, am I able to direct a music video for Beyonce?” Being such a big fan, and then seeing her in front of my face and being able to give her a note that could make something better, I was in that situation and I did it. I’ve learned something from them all, and I’m gonna continue to learn with each one that comes after.

You directed episodes of Swagger this last season, which is a show that’s been growing in popularity since its debut. It also seems like a show that throws a lot of things at you. What did you learn and what did you take from that experience? What did you most enjoy about directing that series?

CHERRY: Everything, man. Reggie Rock Bythewood is similar, in that he’s done a lot in his life before he got to this position. He was an actor, he was a playwright, and he was a writer of various different things. He’s just such a dope person to learn. He leads with love, and everybody loves him so much. He knows exactly what he’s doing and where he wants things to go, and he’s super patient and gives people a chance. It was really dope. I’ll forever be changed from that experience. Reggie just really means the world to me, him and his wife, Gina Prince-Bythewood. They’re just incredible people.

Do you know what will be next for you, or are you in the same holding pattern as everyone currently is because of the strike?

CHERRY: Yeah, very much in a holding pattern. The good thing with me is that I have a lot of interests outside of just the traditional things. I’m definitely interested in trying to figure out some documentaries. I love plays. Obviously, I love working in animation, and the book side of things, too. I just wanna continue to expand and grow, and not be confined to just one box.

Image via Max

Is there a TV show on the list of TV shows that you’d love to direct an episode of?

CHERRY: Oh, my God, the entire Power universe. I love that. Man, I wish I’d had a chance to get on Snowfall and Atlanta. Oh, my God, I would love to get on The Bear. The Bear would be amazing because I’m from Chicago. That would be pretty incredible. There’s just such great TV. I was really honored to even get on Swagger. If it’s a great TV show and it’s got some Black folks in it, both in front of and behind the camera, I’m down to try to figure it out.

You were not yet a father, when you created Hair Love. Now that you are, and you are a storyteller, do you see yourself, at some point in the future, trying out stories on her, as your first audience? Will you be looking to your daughter to give you unfiltered feedback?

CHERRY: Yeah, for sure. I’ve already shown her the trailer on television and it was so cool seeing her sit up and take an interest in it. I think she really sees herself in the characters, and that was really always the goal, that young people would see themselves. Karen Toliver was so right, in her Oscar speech, animation is the first medium of filmmaking that oftentimes kids are introduced to. So, to have characters that look like them moving in this medium, it means a ton. It just gives a lot of self-confidence. So, any time you can have that representation, it can do wonders for a child.

It’s cool because this feels like a show that could go on, for a long time.

CHERRY: Oh, yeah. We definitely have some ideas for a Season 2. Just hopefully, it does what it needs to do. We would really love to get another chance to do another season on this.

Young Love is available to stream on Max.