Albany auteur Andre’a Lewis gets invite to Cannes Film Festival

ALBANY – Becoming a filmmaker was never the plan for Andre’a Lewis.

The Albany native studied computer engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology until she switched her major to Science, Technology and Culture in her final year. This major peaked her interest as it sought to infuse humanities into STEM class work. 

“I was becoming more interested in how great stories can affect people,” Lewis said. “I was open to new experiences. I wasn’t stuck. Something in my soul was like, just try it to see what happens.” 

This mindset would follow Lewis as she graduated and accepted a position with Antioch University’s actors theatre workshop in New York. It followed her when one of the founders of the workshop took notice of her talents and invited her to work in film production at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. There, she befriended actor Tom Hanks, who took interest in her thesis studies combining STEM and arts. 

This mindset followed Lewis as she wrapped up screening the first film she produced in Georgia theaters and went to apply to film festivals, including the international Cannes Film Festival. Just a few weeks ago she received an email with her paid badge and registration. 

The engineer turned movie producer’s film, “The Delilah Factor,” was going to France. 

Lewis formed her own Atlanta-based production company, Dream of Drea, in 2012. Under this umbrella, she’s worked on a variety of platforms – producing a desegregation story for the anniversary at Georgia Tech or hosting an acting camp. 

It was this same year where she and her mother, Vallerie Lewis, began working on “The Delilah Factor,” as a play. The idea behind the story began as a way for Andre’a Lewis to make her friends, dealing with various motherhood challenges, smile. 

The movie centers on the character, Omega, who has challenges with having a child and is distraught by the thought of her deceased children. Omega resorts to IVF treatment which hasn’t been successful so far. During Omega pain, she takes an herb which takes her on a hallucinogenic journey/near death experience. In Omega’s journey she pairs with an unlikely spirit and must meet certain goals to return to earth. Omega is given a time frame in which she must help historical women – such as Marilyn Monroe, and Phyllis Wheatley – move past their trauma and crossover before it’s too late to save her own life and get a reset on life.

Lewis plays the lead role.

The play was read at Darton College, and then the idea to turn it into a film began brewing. In 2012, she began working with Deborah Liz Green and Jeff Green at Andrew College to transform the script into a movie script. 

“Starting back in 2012 all the way to 2021, I had saved, little by little, year after year, in a production account so that I could move forward and start shooting,” Lewis said. 

When she’d finally saved up enough money to begin filming in the summer of 2021, the world was coming off the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, Lewis decided the film, which was originally intended to be filmed in Atlanta, would instead be shot right in her hometown, Albany. 

“I was like there are places here in Albany,” Lewis said. “We can tell a story here. I just opened the door connecting with artists here in Albany in southwest Georgia, who would even be interested in playing in a space like this.”

The film turned into a southwest Georgia production, with local creatives both behind the camera and in front of it. Scenes were shot at Radium Springs, the Albany Museum of Art and local homes.

Lewis said it elevated the energy of the film.

“If I were to go any other place, I mean Radium Springs itself has one of the most climactic moments,” she said. “No place in Atlanta really provides that type of energy. It’s a healing point in the scene, and it’s such a healing place.”

The film’s post production began in the Fall of 2021, and Lewis said she ran out of money again. She worked hard to raise funds for two years until she could pay an editor in 2023. That year she also received a creative artist grant from Invest Atlanta to support editing and visual effects. By May 2024, the film was complete. 

“The Delilah Factor” had its opening screening at the AMC Albany Movie Theater. Lewis hosted family and friends of cast members. She turned it into a special event, reflective of movie premieres she’d attended in Los Angeles. She said it was a special time for southwest Georgia creatives who’d never experienced a movie premiere before. 

The film would be screened in Atlanta and Macon as well before Lewis decided to submit to film festivals.

This landed her a ticket to France. While “The Delilah Factor” won’t be screened at the Cannes Film Festival, Lewis was invited to share the film with screen and sales agents. She said she plans to spend her time connecting with people in the industry. 

“Hopefully I’ll meet more women,” she said. “It’s really a male driven industry, and I really want to meet more women who own their own production companies, who are taking control of the stories and working with people who are ethical artists who stay true to the message of the story.” 

Lewis said she’s excited to take Dream of Drea to the next level as well, continuing to form industry connections and produce more film projects. She’ll be in Cannes until the end of May, but she could have an exciting announcement in June. 

To other young creatives, she said not to be limited by their hometown’s boundaries. 

“First, you have to make a decision … you’re going to be on this path,” Lewis said. “You need to work with people who align with your vision, and don’t take no for an answer. Take no as a challenge.”