Married producers Tommy and Codie Elaine Oliver are a genuine team. For a Zoom interview during the Tribeca Film Festival—where their new rom-com The Perfect Find, starring Gabrielle Union and Keith Powers, premiered in advance of its June 23 Netflix debut and won the Audience Award for a narrative feature—they sit shoulder to shoulder, exchanging loving, sometimes playful observations about marriage and careers.
They work together within film production company Confluential Films (Juice WRLD: Into the Abyss; Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project) and media company Black Love, Inc., which produced their long-running Black Love docuseries and now hosts podcasts, photojournalism, live events, and more. They contribute to each others’ creative concepts and develop projects jointly—all while raising their three young children.
The Olivers met 10 years ago, at a party at the Toronto Film Festival. “Where she hit on me,” Tommy cheerfully interjects. “That’s—up for debate,” Codie responds. “I believe it’s totally OK for a woman to make the first move. But I would never say I hit on you!” “Doesn’t mean it isn’t true,” Tommy answers, starting to laugh. (The established facts: They were at a party, and she began to speak with him. Eventually, he asked her if she was hitting on him. She replied, “Uuhhh?!” Make of this what you will.)
Tommy had founded Confluential and was a producer, director, and writer; Codie was with Film Independent, producer of the Los Angeles Film Festival, the Independent Spirit Awards, and year-round filmmaker labs. “He was more focused on making movies, while I was more supporting storytellers,” Codie recalls. Both concentrated on bringing Black stories to light.
Asked about the strengths and drawbacks of intertwining personal and professional lives,…
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