Today, Doechii and Vevo premiered a new episode of Footnotes, offering an exclusive behind-the-scenes look of the music video for “DENIAL IS A RIVER” from her Grammy Award-winning project, Alligator Bites Never Heal. Co-directors Carlos Acosta and James Mackel share insights into the sitcom-inspired visual, which reflects Doechii’s personal and professional journey.
In the episode, the directors explain that when they first heard the song, they immediately envisioned a sitcom vibe, drawing inspiration from classic 90’s Black sitcoms like Family Matters and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. They break down key moments in the video, including the kitchen scene where Doechii chops a cucumber while rapping about her boyfriend’s cheating. They also recall the energy on set during the three-day shoot and discuss cameos from comedian Zack Fox and musician SiR. Additionally, they reveal that the video was filmed on the same soundstage used in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
The directors also provided background around the explosion scene, explaining that they only had one take to get it right and that it’s the only scene where they use a handheld camera. Lastly, they share details about an alternate ending where Doechii collapses, prompting EMTs to rush on stage to revive her, but a power outage during filming complicated things and they decided to go with a cleaner ending.
TRANSCRIBED BELOW:
0:10 – The moment we heard the song, it sounded very sitcom, and it was the perfect medium for us to communicate Doechii’s story. We looked at episodes of 90’s Black sitcoms as our main inspiration; primarily “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” and “Family Matters.”
0:30 – Carlos Acosta & James Mackel: In the kitchen scene when Doechii is speculating that her boyfriend is cheating, she is seen chopping up a cucumber hinting at you know what.
1:00 – Carlos Acosta & James Mackel: The entire shoot was just so much fun, such positive energy. Because it was a sitcom, a lot of it relied on comedy and our amazing cast killed it with the performances. We couldn’t stop laughing behind the camera.
1:20 still frame on SiR
FACT: There are two cameos in this video, Zach Fox plays Doechii’s cheating boyfriend, and SiR is seen throwing a man out the window.
1:40 – Carlos Acosta & James Mackel: The entire shoot took 3 days. One day of building the entire set and two days of filming the skits and music video. We filmed at a sound stage in Simi valley, which is the same place they filmed the Spawn Ranch scenes in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
2:05 – Carlos Acosta & James Mackel: The explosion scene had to be perfect because it was done in one take. When the explosion went off it shook the whole room.
That is the very first time we break the visual language of a sitcom and go handheld.
2:25 – Carlos Acosta & James Mackel: We had an alternate ending where Doechii passes out and EMT’s rush on stage to revive her, but during the last hour of shooting the entire power at the stage shut off. We still filmed it with tube lights, but in the edit we actually went with the cleaner ending in the video.
