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Boston Globe

Moviemakers working hard to make dreams come true

Anawan has two short films screening at the Guignard, who is drawn to stories of transformation, writes many of Anawan's scripts. Once the script is in hand, 'then it's talking to each other and being like, 'How do we actually bring this to life?',' he said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Anawan is among the first 10 grant recipients from Advertisement 'Going through that process has opened up my mind to all of the possibilities of what we can accomplish,' Lopes said. He's hoping to move Anawan to a larger space in the next couple of years. Rui Lopes and Brahms Guignard in front of the green screen at Anawan Studios in Brockton. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Where to find them : Age : Lopes is 38. Guignard is 33. Originally from : Lopes came to Brockton from Cape Verde at 10 with his family. Guignard, a Haitian-American born in Boston, lives in Canton. Advertisement Making a living : 'We use money from the client side of what we do to invest into what we do on the narrative side,' said Lopes, who produces projects for nonprofit and health care customers. Guignard is a project manager at Amazon. A poster for "Billy Somethin'," written by Brahms Guignard and produced by Rui Lopes, hangs at Anawan Studios. The film screens as part of the Roxbury International Film Festival on June 27 at the Museum of Fine Arts. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff Studio : Anawan is home base for hair and makeup, for pre-production and post-production. It's also a film fantasy construction zone: The crew built a family basement set there for 'Bridged Together,' rather than finding one. That way, they could film from above, have flexible lighting, and be as loud as they wanted to be. 'You only see what the camera is showing you, and the camera's never showing too much unless you want it to,' Guignard said. 'No one watching that will ever have any inclination that that was not shot in an actual basement.' How they started : As a young man, Lopes used his laptop to film his creative process making paintings and sculptures. Soon, he was moving the camera and editing footage. 'I started to realize that there was this hidden passion for visual storytelling by cutting these angles together,' he said. Rui Lopes and Brahms Guignard gather camera and lighting equipment at Anawan Studios. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff What they make : 'As Black and brown filmmakers, we feel like you're put in a box,' Lopes said. 'Bridged Together' and 'Billy Somethin'' are 'two completely different films,' he said. 'We're trying to showcase that as Black filmmakers, we have the opportunity to be able to tell the stories in whatever fashion we want to tell them.' Advice for filmmakers : 'If you want to do narrative work full time, you're asking for a unicorn with wings,' Guignard said. 'Getting better each time — that's the only thing you can control.' Advertisement Rui Lopes edits a film at Anawan Studios in Brockton, where he's cofounder and CEO. John Tlumacki/Globe Staff