FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES PRESENTS An ... - Thecia

African-American culture — especially with the character of Rosaleen, partly modeled on her
own black caretaker; and the characters of May, June and the women who belong to the
Daughters of Mary, all of whom called on memories of the Southern black women whose
enthralling stories and kind nature left an indelible impression on Monk Kidd. As for August, the
matriarchal figure played by Queen Latifah, she sprang from what Monk Kidd describes as “a
vision I carry inside, of feminine wisdom, compassion, and strength… what I would have wanted
to find if I’d been in Lily’s complicated situation.”
The novel was published in 2002 to critical acclaim and has since been published in more
than 23 languages. The novel spent more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list
and has sold more than 4.5 million copies.
SPECIAL SETS PUNCTUATE THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES
“Most people have no idea about the complicated life goin’ on inside a hive.
Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about.”
-August
THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES was shot on location during the months of January and
February 2008, primarily in Burgaw, a small North Carolina town outside Wilmington. Much of
the movie was filmed in a beautiful old house, painted Pepto-Bismol pink, just like in the book -
though it took the director three attempts before she finally settled on the right shade. “The first
time we painted it, I actually loved the color but it was a little too salmon,” the director explains.
“Then we went too Pepto Bismol and it was just wrong. Finally, we arrived at this happy
medium that everybody was pleased with.”
With the exterior in place, production designer Warren Alan Young, together with his
property master and set-decorating crew, proceeded to transform the large old house into a 1960’s
home, referencing magazines and catalogues from the era. “With writer Sue Monk Kidd’s help,
we came up with a history for the house that put it near the end of slavery, when the Boatwright
sister’s grandparents would have acquired the home,” Young explains.
One of the film’s other pivotal sets, May’s “Wailing Wall,” was constructed as a two feet
by two-and-a-half-feet-wide stone wall, just large enough for Okonedo to sit on, per the director’s
request. It was that kind of care that stamped the film.
Honored when renowned African-American artist Charles Bibbs agreed to collaborate
with the filmmakers to create signature artwork for the honey jars featured in THE SECRET
LIFE OF BEES, the design process became an exciting and fruitful one. Following multiple
design consultations and subsequent conversations, Bibbs’ initial sketches included pencil
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