Someone with a true vision is hard to come by. It’s easy to have an idea, but bringing it to fruition is much more difficult. Anele Morris knows this better than most.

Inspiration struck, and this versatile South African actress came up with a concept for a film about the ancient African humanist philosophy ‘Ubuntu’, which shapes the journey of six young multinational blogging entrepreneurs who come together in Los Angeles to launch a blogging business. Now, Bloggers has been submitted at multiple film festivals worldwide.

The film, which Morris considers to be the highlight of her career, raised 130 per cent of its budget on Indiegogo. Morris not only has a starring role as the character Anna, but she also was the executive producer and writer. Her character, Anna, blogs about everything from dating to paying the bills. Anna decides to start and head the bloggers’ website that the film centers around.

“Working on Bloggers was a dream come true. I have always wanted to write a story like this and it was awesome being able to make my debut as a writer, producer, and actress to film festivals in this fashion,” said Morris.

Morris created the concept and worked on pre-production for it with her two best friends. They decided to fundraise for the campaign on Indiegogo, which many young filmmakers are doing. With the financial investment from the campaign they were able to create the film.

“I liked that it was a story that I could relate to in many different aspects,” said Morris. “Also having creative control in many areas was an absolute joy.”

Despite starting out as a small project between friends, the film grew to much more. The editor of Bloggers is Paul Skorich, a professional editor, producer and composer. He has produced over fifty specials for the cable network TV ONE and two of his shows have been nominated for NAACP Image Awards.  He is currently supervising post production and editing the feature film Revival! along with Emma E. Hickox (Bad Moms, Pirate Radio, A Walk to Remember). Revival! is written by Harry Lennix (Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, The Matrix: Reloaded; Revolutions) and directed by Danny Green (Star Trek, Coach Carter).

“Working with Paul introduced me to how story telling is hugely done in the editing room. Working with him was a delight,” said Morris.

In addition to Skorich, Morris also worked with the director of Bloggers J.R. Curry, the head of the film production company Benevolent Pictures. Curry previously directed M.A.G., which screened at the Martial Con Film Festival in August. He has also directed films such as Silent Voices and Butterfly which have been accepted into multiple film festivals.

“Anele’s knowledge, creativity and instinctive grasp of what makes a successful actor are all second to none. Her work has enabled her to carve a career as a talented actress in films such as Debris: The Ganymede Event and Arsenic,” said Curry.

Morris has also acted in films such as After, the upcoming film Snake Outta Compton. She also appeared in the series Adopted, where she worked with Jeff Larson. Adopted is a web series that has been running since 2013. Larson won the Vancouver Web Festival award for best overall series which he shared with three other producers of the series. One of the directors is Oscar Rene Lozoya II who has edited multiple episodes of NBC’s Chicago Fire. Despite Morris’ past achievements in acting, working on Bloggers still taught her to trust in her abilities.

“I learned to figure things out and to say what you mean and mean what you say,” she said.

The biggest challenge Morris’ experienced at the beginning of her acting career was self-confidence. Now, she is very confident in her acting abilities, but in the beginning it wasn’t so easy. She now uses what she knows to walk onto any set with the natural creativity she brings to each role, and her love of writing helps her visualize a story for each character, making her fully embody each role she portrays.

“I am a lover of life and really, that’s what acting requires,” she concluded. “It requires you to be alive, to be present and open to the possibilities of any experience.”

 

You can view Blogger’s trailer here.