Episodes

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Andrews, Tina. "Video Report: Imagining Sally Hemings." Jefferson's Blood. PBS Frontline, 2000.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/jefferson/video/report3.html

Andrews, Tina. Sally Hemings, An American Scandal: The Struggle to Tell the Controversial True Story. New York: Malibu Press, 2001.

A step-by-step look into the creation of the film by the writer herself. The film almost was not made because companies did not know if the public would believe it; DNA results came out and gave Andrews a chance to air her screenplay. She composed many drafts. Originally there was not enough detail about Martha Jefferson (Jefferson's wife) and Sally's familial relationship and not enough action in the final sequence. Andrews's changes included creating a quilt to describe the Hemings/ Wayles relation and adding the scene in which Sally is whipped. She agreed to these changes but was angry about alterations to other scenes. She did not want Sally to initiate the sexual relationship; it reinforces a promiscuous black woman stereotype. Sally was only fifteen, and Andrews wanted an innocent depiction. She also felt Harriet should have been more dramatic about her desire to be white. Andrews thinks the movie downplayed the race card that was so important to the film. The Hemings descendants had a huge part in the movie. They gave oral history, saw the film being made, and went to the premiere. Their support helped Andrews through the difficult journey of making the film.

Brown, DeNeen L. "Labor of Love; 'Sally Hemings' Writer Adds Romance to the History." Washington Post 12 February 2000: C01.

Interview with Andrews.

"Connecting the Dots of History: The Research and Points of View behind Sally Hemings: An American Scandal." Sam Neill Home Page.

http://www.ibiblio.org/samneill/films/shhistory.txt

Interview of Tina Andrews and Craig Anderson. Emphasizes the importance of oral history. Blacks did not have written history like whites and depended on the next generation to pass it down. DNA tests proved the accuracy of the oral history of Heming's descendants. Andrews read many books and interviewed Hemings's lineage to write the screenplay. Her inspiration came after being fired from a soap opera after her character engaged in the first interracial kiss on television; she wanted to write more parts for black actors. The movie is historical fiction, and while it should spark interest in the story, viewers need to do their own research. Connecting the dots is the way that Andrews pieced together the story. Using written information on Jefferson, she figured where Hemings would be. Heming’s children helped free slaves and tutor, and Andrews thought they learned it from their mother. Those around Hemings allowed Andrews to connect the dots and formulate Sally's personality.

McCluskey, Audrey T. “Tina Andrews: Having Her Say.” Black Camera. 16.1 (2001): 1-2.

Andrews discusses the shift from acting to writing, the racism she has faced, and the difficulties blacks have in the movie business. She states there is a need for more black people, and women, to be producers and writers, and that the big companies must give them a chance.

Sally Hemings: An American Scandal. Dir. Charles Haid. Perf. Sam Neill, Carmen Ejogo. Written, Tina Andrews. Craig Anderson Productions, 2000.

Tina Andrews

http://www.tinaandrews.com/index.html

Andrews' web site.