Lessons from the production and politics of Boots Riley.

Craft

From initial ideas to finished film, Boots Riley creatively presents the process behind I Love Boosters as a case study in movie production (via Panavision and NEON):

BTS photos by Pete Lee (via American Cinematigrapher):

Colour

“For those loving the color on the I Love Boosters trailer- the grading IS amazing. But that color starts w Production Design, Costume Design, & Cinematography. Panavison developed lenses 4us. Our DP invented a device she put on the lense. U get this look from putting it in on set.” Boots Riley elaborates not only on the how of his film’s vivid colours, but also on the why (via Letterboxd):

Boots Riley tells us about his creative approach to sensory storytelling and the monochromatic sets of I Love Boosters ✨

Watch more ➡️ https://t.co/K1wJs0tw4C pic.twitter.com/DneOQTVmse

— Letterboxd (@letterboxd) May 17, 2026

“the color you see is 90% from PRODUCTION DESIGN, COSTUME DESIGN, HAIR&MAKE UP, & CINEMATOGRAPHY,” says the film’s director, sharing more BTS stills:

Costume Design

A look at the costuming by Shirley Kurata (via NEON):

More appreciation for Shirley Kurata’s work:

Shirley Kurata killed Costume Design on I Love Boosters. Killed it dead. Everybody just be naked in movies after this. https://t.co/RGkBu1JN6r

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) January 28, 2026

More in this interview with Shirley Kurata (via W Magazine):

'I Love Boosters' costume designer Shirley Kurata talks dressing Boots Riley's surrealist Oakland heist film.

“I got leaves and twigs from the yard and just glued them on top of a camo corset. The glue gun was definitely used a lot." https://t.co/Bvgc3yejw1

— W Magazine (@wmag) May 31, 2026

Practical Effects

The practical and handmade sets (via NEON)…

Make some noise for the practical and handmade sets in Boots Riley's I LOVE BOOSTERS. Now playing only in theaters. pic.twitter.com/GIAefEWR4n

— NEON (@neonrated) May 29, 2026

… as explained by I Love Boosters cinematographer, Natasha Braier…

Credit to Natasha Braier, the Cinematographer. She posts a shit ton of bts pictures and videos on her ig and who I'm getting all this content from! Thank you queen

This magic is how Boots Riley got his now iconic Zolly shot. Dolly + Dolly = Zolly pic.twitter.com/fCT96YvwAr

— Beezus 🇵🇸 🇸🇩 🇨🇩 🇭🇹 (@dizziibee) June 16, 2026

… including the 45° (or 25°?) angled office set, according to Production Designer Christopher Glass…

Christopher Glass, Production Designer for I Love Boosters, pulled off amazing feats

The slanted apartment set was one of DOZENS of awesome designs that have never been done before in film- and production designers r talking

Lets make sure he's in the awards convo this season. pic.twitter.com/aj73BfP2Cc

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) September 20, 2026

… as dutifully collated by @dizzibee:

On a hornier note. the soul-sucking pussy demon scenes were a mind fuck. The camera was rigged and shaken in different directions for an eerie hypnotic effect
And I couldn't tell if it was my own heartbeat or if it was coming from the movie. Boots. Lakeith. Yall need to chill lol pic.twitter.com/LBxR9pvrTb

— Beezus 🇵🇸 🇸🇩 🇨🇩 🇭🇹 (@dizziibee) June 16, 2026

Boots vs The Biz

Boots on how self-described “expertise” is part of Hollywood’s structural bias. This was part of the panel ‘High Risk, High Reward | Behind the Chair: Representation and the Business of Filmmaking‘ (via Ankler):

"The biggest discovery I made that helped me in my filmmaking career was to realize nobody knows what the f*** they're doing."

Director Boots Riley told Richard Rushfield that self-described "expertise" is part of Hollywood's structural bias during "High Risk, High Reward," a… pic.twitter.com/Zy2yLadbAm

— The Ankler (@TheAnkler) March 12, 2026

“Director Boots Riley, a self-described communist, built the film around his philosophy that the working class should democratically control the wealth they create” (via Variety):

#ILoveBoosters star Keke Palmer says all the cast and crew shared “the same politics” but “not all the same approaches.”

“We believe in democracy and people being owed freedoms, even though we don’t get them because of systems we were born into.”

Director Boots Riley, a… pic.twitter.com/7xKo9c9unR

— Variety (@Variety) March 4, 2026

Sure enough:

got on this movie as the unit photographer. Then i got pulled into some dialect coaching. Then technical advisory. Then second unit work. Then one day they called me and told me I was late for my wardrobe fitting and that was how I found out I was gonna be in this movie lol. https://t.co/UqwL4ZaB5Y

— Pete Lee (@kungfupete) January 27, 2026

Class Struggle

According to Boots, stories set in the workplace naturally reflect class struggle:

"In real life, class struggle is happening all the time…"#ILoveBoosters director Boots Riley shares why he believes stories set in workplaces naturally reflect class struggle — and why removing it takes more effort than showing it. pic.twitter.com/ZdHFTLZxny

— TheWrap (@TheWrap) May 25, 2026

Boots Riley explains why Capitalism is built on Theft (via TIFF):

Amid his relentless social media promotion, Boots also dropped this thread expounding his movie-making as activism…

The idea that showing the "end goal"- as something that inspires ppl2 fight 4 that- is not something Ive so far found2b true in the work Ive done. Thru trial and error I've seen that giving someone achievable next steps w which2reach that goal has always been more inspirational-

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) June 3, 2026

… and this one on how “It is how you teach the concept, not the end of the understanding”:

Incorrect. Violeta puts out the pedagogical approach used in the USSR & other revolutions for masses of ppl to GREAT success. On surface level seems mechanical like Fichte's, but leads to understanding beyond. Academia has taught what's necessary 4 more academics, not 4 mvmnts. https://t.co/8riWAhByYI

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) June 2, 2026

Music

I Love Boosters star Keke Palmer recorded an EP of songs by Boots’ daughter Alina Kanin in addition to the score by Tune-Yards (via NEON):

Boots Riley and Keke Palmer dive into the music and score by Tune Yards at the heart of I LOVE BOOSTERS. Now playing only in theaters. pic.twitter.com/i2HxnCtfdR

— NEON (@neonrated) May 28, 2026

This clip was literally a reference I sent to Tune-Yards.

We contemplated going up and finding this guy to record him. https://t.co/ENEGx4eV8r

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) May 28, 2026

Folks, it seems, sure are feeling it:

pic.twitter.com/Mzn5O6Ktex

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) May 31, 2026

Further Viewing

Boots, the hardest working director on social media:

Hey! For clarity- put out a song "ILoveBoosters" in 2006 re: a lifetime of experiences (inspiring my film), yrs b4 the real rainbow girls were in the news. finished writing in 2021 & filmed in 2024. saw that RainbowGrls short in 2025, the year it came out, &thought it was amazing

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) January 29, 2026

So that's what that was about https://t.co/0q5mB893VZ

— Boots Riley (@BootsRiley) March 6, 2026

More BTS in American Cinematographer’s interview with Boots Riley:

“A Visceral Feeling”: Boots Riley on I Love Boosters

In a fix-it-in-post / here-comes-AI age, we’re loving that I Love Boosters is part of a wave of movies featuring in-camera and lens effects:

Film School: Lens Effects in Feature Films

More on the work of I Love Boosters cinematographer Natasha Braier:

Film School: The Cinematography of Natasha Braier

More lessons on resistance, organising, and creative filmic storytelling in Boots Riley’s 2018 film, Sorry To Bother You:

Film School: Sorry to Bother You (2018)

Other ways of using and interpreting colour in film-making:

Film School: The Psychology of Colour in Film