▁directed ▁the ▁film ▁and ▁wrote ▁its ▁screen play . ▁Camera ▁work ▁was ▁handled ▁by ▁Ash ley ▁Con nor , ▁and ▁music ▁was ▁composed ▁by ▁Caroline ▁Shaw . ▁The ▁film ' s ▁produ cers ▁were ▁Krist a ▁Par ris ▁and ▁Elizabeth ▁R ao . ▁ ▁De cker ▁and ▁Howard ▁first ▁met ▁in ▁ 2 0 1 4 ▁at ▁a ▁te en ▁arts ▁festival ▁that ▁the ▁director ▁was ▁jud ging . ▁ 1 5 - year - old ▁Howard ▁performed ▁a ▁mon olog ue ▁from ▁Black bird ▁by ▁David ▁Har ro wer , ▁and ▁De cker ▁was ▁so ▁moved ▁by ▁the ▁performance ▁that ▁she ▁began ▁to ▁cry , ▁which ▁caused ▁Howard ▁to ▁cry , ▁too . ▁De cker ▁told ▁her ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁the ▁best ▁performance ▁she ' d ▁ever ▁seen , ▁and ▁that ▁she ' d ▁like ▁them ▁to ▁work ▁together ▁on ▁a ▁film . ▁ ▁The ▁film ' s ▁story ▁began ▁as ▁a ▁fict ional ized ▁telling ▁of ▁Howard ' s ▁own ▁life , ▁but ▁De cker ▁also ▁wanted ▁to ▁explore ▁her ▁own ▁anx iet ies ▁as ▁an ▁artist . ▁In ▁her ▁previous ▁work ▁Bi ▁the ▁Way ▁and ▁Fl ames , ▁she ▁had ▁experiences ▁where ▁artists ▁told ▁others ' ▁stories ▁in ▁ways ▁that ▁she ▁felt ▁were ▁explo itative , ▁and ▁she ▁wanted ▁to ▁explore ▁whether ▁it ▁would ▁be ▁possible ▁to ▁tell ▁someone ▁else ' s ▁story ▁faith fully . ▁ ▁In ▁ 2 0 1 4 , ▁she ▁began ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁work sh ops ▁to ▁dev ise ▁the ▁story , ▁based ▁on