Venus Vs. is a new the film by 2012 Sundance Best Director Ava Duvernay. The film produced for ESPN chronicles story of tennis champion Venus Williams and her struggle to get women equal pay at Wimbeldon.
via ESPN
We know about the swing. We know about the swagger. But what most Americans don’t know about Venus Williams is how she changed the course of her sport. In a stunning case that captured the European public beginning in 2005, Williams challenged the long-held practice of paying women tennis players less than their male counterparts at Wimbledon.
With a deep sense of obligation to the legacy of Billie Jean King, Williams lobbied British Parliament, UNESCO and Fleet Street for financial parity. And it was her poignant op-ed piece in The London Times that convinced many people that the Wimbledon tournament organizers were “on the wrong side of history.”
Roland Garros and Wimbledon finally relented in 2007. That year at Wimbledon, Venus became the first women’s champion to earn as much as the men’s singleswinner (Roger Federer). “Venus VS.” chronicles Williams’ fight for pay equality.
I was extremely honored when approached by Ava to work on the soundtrack. Largely because I was a fan of her work as a Director, and also a tremendous fan of Venus Williams as a ground breaking tennis champion from my native California. I considered myself pretty clued up on things of this nature so I was actually shocked at how little I knew about this historic story. To participate on the scoring of such a film was a benchmark moment for Deepblak as a label. It is very rare that a small indie outfit such as Deepblak is tapped for a project of such magnitude, and was humbled by Ava’s confidence in our music.
I was struck, and inspired by the dedication, and tenacity that Venus Williams showed in taking up this cause of Women’s rights not only in her sport, but also in merging it with the larger push for women’s equality on the international stage. She took on tremendous risks to herself financially by challenging some very well entrenched institutions, and corporations to right a long standing inequity. As the weight of the story unfolded so did my anxiety at scoring some of these moments. Here I find myself as a modest musician in the middle of narrative that will sit for generations to come, and my music will be a part of it.
It was surreal… I pushed through the process learning many many lessons along the way. In the end with the brilliance of Ava, along with her music composer Karyn Bostic, and all the amazing people that worked on this film something memorable was created. And yes I am totally biased… 😉 I hope that you find the time to see the film, and that you can draw the same strength, and inspiration from it that I did. Let us know how you thought the music sounded.
Love, Respect, and Power Always
AYBEE
