Taking Pride: A Journey of Creativity and Community
Project Manager Ellen Phillips reflects on another incredible Pride month, her collaboration with DP Mike Griggs, and how creating music videos for MidSouth Pride’s annual Drag N Drive pushes her to be a better director and–this year–a better performer with her own hula hoop music video.
Mid-South Pride came to me in 2021 and asked if I would be interested in filming and editing Drag N Drive. Drag N Drive started during the pandemic as a way for the community to support drag entertainers safely through a video medium instead of in-person shows. I knew that this would be a massive undertaking, so I immediately went to Mike Griggs for help. Mike is a DP at Running Pony and he’s not afraid of a challenge as long as it’s creative. We filmed 10 music videos in one day at Theater Works in Midtown. It was exhausting, but successful!
As we were watching our drag movie at the Malco Drive-In, it was so gratifying for us to see the drag performers’ reactions to their videos. They were so proud to see themselves on the big screen. Many of them were moved to tears during their performances. That’s what brings us back to Drag N Drive every year. We love getting to create a safe space for these artists to tell their stories in an impactful and long-lasting way. And you can really see our progression from 2021 to 2024. Over the years, we’ve added filmmakers like Jared Callan and Gabe DeCarlo, another DP at Running Pony, to the project, plus my husband Dylan who programs and runs the stage lighting.
We love getting to create a safe space for these artists to tell their stories in an impactful and long-lasting way.
Throughout 4 years of working on this project, it’s kind of been the joke on set- put Ellen and her hula hoops in a video! They’ve seen me perform multiple times and are always like, “we should give you your own video!” But that has never been a goal of mine because I am more interested in directing rather than starring in my own music video. But with it being the 5th year, I decided to submit a proposal for a big, choreographed number featuring local hula hoopers all wearing rainbow colors and lip-synching to Carly Rae Jepsen.
In total, the number ended up being something like 14 hoopers on camera at one time. Even though the stage at Evergreen Theater was really small, and 14 hoopers need a lot of space, I trusted that Mike would make us look good. And he did! Pride took it a step further and asked if we would like to perform our Drag N Drive number on the mainstage at the Pride Festival, and of course we all said “Yes!” It was an incredible experience and I am so grateful for Mid-South Pride for giving us this opportunity to spread our LOVE for the queer community.
This year’s Drag N Drive was the best one yet. I’ve grown so much as a director and editor over the past 4 years and really have Mid-South Pride and Running Pony to thank for this growth. Drag N Drive wouldn’t be possible without the support and sponsorship from Running Pony. Since day one, owner Jonathan Epstein has very generously supplied us and Mid-South Pride with all the resources we need to create these videos for the LGBTQ+ community, and it means so much to me that he’s such a big ally. And not only that, he allows us to cultivate relationships with non-profit organizations in Memphis to give back our talents to better serve our community.
