We are an independent production company run by former and current HBCU student filmmakers of the Atlanta University Center in Atlanta, Georgia in partnership with artists and talent across the U.S.

Founded by Kyle Walker, a 2024 Morehouse College Film Undergraduate, Apple in the Box was initiated to serve HBCU film students, and black indie narrative and documentary writer-directors, stunted by restricted access to resources and exclusion in an oversaturated and competitive industry.

Our visual and narrative identity merges historical realism with modern art house experimentation using monochromatic (b&w) imagery to contrast black bodies, on the verge of silhouette, against the powerful landscapes and moods of nature. Inspired by Andrei Tarkovsky and Soviet filmography, the paintings by Kerry James Marshall, and the images of 20th century Jim Crow America captured by Gordon Parks and Dorothea Lange, our films focus on expressing the complexity of mundanity, metaphysical vignettes of the black American condition, and the nature of black orphanhood.

“THE POWER OF COMPLEX SIMPLICITY” means there is complexity found in mundanity and power in simplicity.

We value the overlooked and undervalued. We strive to demystify the exclusivity of the film industry by proving that it takes nothing more than passion, an eye for mood, and a strong intuition to capture one of the infinite perceptions of our existence and tell a visual story. Art over accolade. Grit over grandiosity. And most of all, an artist must be a servant of nature.

We offer crew, loans, grants, pitch competitions, as well as script and budget counseling on how to produce, write, direct, and photograph no-budget to low-budget narrative films and it all starts with what’s on the page. Writing for budget is key. Use the beauty of nature to your advantage.

Kyle Walker is an independent screenwriter, director, cinematographer, and composer with a BA in cinema and media studies from Morehouse College. He is a Student Academy Awards Semifinalist and graphic artist with a background in visual design and composition.