Ahead of Father’s Day, director David Fortune’s debut feature Color Book, follows Lucky, played by William Catlett, a recently widowed father raising his 11-year-old son Mason, portrayed by Jeremiah Daniels. Mason has Down syndrome, and together the pair set out on a trip through Metro Atlanta to attend their first Atlanta Braves game. This supposedly simple outing becomes an examination of fatherhood as transportation problems, financial struggles, grief, and everyday obstacles force the two to navigate a difficult day together.

Shot in black and white, the film immediately stands apart from most contemporary dramas. Yet for Fortune, the decision had little to do with aesthetics. “To be honest with you, going black and white wasn’t really a stylistic choice, more so based around story,” he told ESSENCE. “With black and white, it allows you to focus on these characters and their relationships. It takes away distractions and allows you just to be immersed within these relationships between Lucky and Mason.”

The visual approach traces back to a short film Fortune directed several years ago titled Us, which also explored the relationship between a Black father and a son with Down syndrome. Many of the ideas introduced there eventually evolved into Color Book, and the origins of the story reach back even further. After graduating from Loyola Marymount University, Fortune found himself searching for stories he rarely saw on screen. 

“I was kind of wanting to see more Black father-son narratives, but I wasn’t seeing it,” he said. “As an artist, if there’s something that you want to see, it’s your responsibility to go make it because you can’t wait on Hollywood to decide that this story’s important.” His experiences working as a camp counselor with individuals who have Down syndrome helped provide another layer for the film. Before writing the screenplay, Fortune spent time speaking with parents raising children with Down syndrome. Their experiences informed much of the emotional reality within the story. “I wanted to make sure that the voice of the film didn’t come from me,” he explained. “It came from them and I was advocating on behalf of their narrative.”

Color Book ultimately became an exploration of several subjects at once—grief, disability, resilience, community, and fatherhood. Yet the relationship between Lucky and Mason remained the forefront, so the casting of the film’s lead proved critical to its success. Fortune already had Catlett in mind while developing the project. Familiar with his work in Love Is and Black Boy Joy, the director believed the actor possessed the range necessary to portray a father carrying enormous emotional burdens while still maintaining tenderness. “I was looking for a five-tool actor,” Fortune said. “Someone who could give me joy, pain, struggle, anger, fear.”

Finding Mason proved equally important, and according to Catlett, the chemistry between himself and Daniels was immediate. “Jeremiah wasn’t the first choice,” Catlett admitted. “But the thing about Jeremiah, Jeremiah had this glow, this youthful energy and he looked like me.” During the casting process, Catlett became convinced Daniels was the right person for the role. “I remember having a conversation with David because David was kind of torn between the two choices,” he recalled. “And I was like, ‘Man, that’s my son. Jeremiah, that’s my son.’”

Lucky and Jeremiah’s connection becomes particularly important because Color Book never simplifies the realities of parenting. Lucky loves his son deeply, but the film also allows room for frustration, exhaustion, and uncertainty. Catlett embraced those moments, and he spent much of the production observing Daniels’ real parents and watching how they navigated everyday situations.

“I’m an observer,” Catlett explained. “Sometimes parents, if I just talk to them, they may give me the best part of their kid. They might not share the things that are challenging. So I’m just observing how they act in moments of difficulty. Also, if they can look at me and be like, ‘okay, this is what we would do,’ then I’ve done my job.”

The film arrives at a moment when conversations surrounding Black fatherhood continue evolving. This story is an opportunity to present something familiar to many families but often underrepresented in popular culture. For Catlett, the experience also reinforced lessons he carries into his own life as a father of two.

“I believe one of the things that I took away was patience,” he said. “Not just with your children, but patient with yourself.” After being asked what fatherhood means to him today, his answer came quickly. “Father means source,” he said. “You just got to be present more than anything.”

Beneath the grief and challenges, Color Book tells a story about commitment. Perhaps that’s why the film resonates so deeply. It understands something many parents already know; that love is often found in the decision to keep going, even on the hardest days.

“It’s easy to be a dad in the joyful moments,” Catlett said. “It’s easy to be a father when things are going good, but what is your character like when you’re facing challenges and you’re facing difficulty? But to all the fathers out there, I want to tell them, You got this. You can do it. You can do it. You were born to do it. You were built to do it.”

David Fortune’s Color Book is streaming exclusively on Netflix now.