In the United States, the collegiate experience is supposed to be a formidable and pivotal moment in a young person’s life. It’s a time for you to make new friends, discover your personality and learn valuable lessons. Even during my own two short years at Michigan State University, I learned more about myself than I ever thought I would. At the same time, I was combatting vats of racism and sexism on a daily basis. Being a part of a small percentage of Black students that attended a PWI (Predominantly White Institution) was a jarring experience that, at the time, I felt completely alone in. So when I found out there was an opportunity to interview writer/director Mariama Diallo of Amazon Prime’s Master, I immediately responded yes.

Master is a one-hour-and-thirty-eight-minute social horror about two paralleling stories of Black women in academia. We first meet Zoe (Jasmine Moore), a shy, studious freshman looking to find her place. At the same time, Gail (Regina Hall), struggles to dismiss the campus’ racist history as their newly appointed master. As if being a Black woman in a majority white, male-dominant space isn’t challenging enough, legends of a malevolent witch who haunts the grounds start to surface. When I sat down with Diallo for our fifteen-minute conversation, I couldn’t help myself but ask her about the inspiration for the film.

“Knowing that I had this past that I went to school where there were masters and knowing how multifaceted that word is, I told myself I going to write a movie called ‘Master’ about a Black woman who becomes a master,” said Diallo.

After settling on the premise, Diallo shifted into a mix of bullet points and paragraph outlines.

“Outlining was the next step for me, which is something that I didn’t always do,” she said. “I would start a script and then got to page fifty and had no idea where to turn. So, I told myself after the second time, I would never do that again. Even if I deviated from the outline, I would always have that roadmap.”

Having an outline also made it easier to maintain the horror through line in the film, which was important to Diallo.

“At the center of the film, it’s a character drama and everything else is in service of that.

so we can have a visualization of where the horror beats were coming from and if they were clustering in a particular way,” Diallo explained.

There are a few horror homages you can catch in the film that Diallo herself—along with cinematographer, Charlotte Hornsby—plotted out together.

“There are shots inspired by Rosemary’s Baby, The Hour of the Wolf, and we express our love for The Shining in a few different spots of the film as well,” Diallo said.

When asked what advice she has for her younger writer self, Diallo paused for a moment before confidently answering:

“I would tell my younger to write a lot, she said. “I would probably also tell myself to not waste my money on screenwriting competitions. They tell you upfront about the statics, but you still go in really hopefully.”

Diallo added, “Approaching a screenplay as a thing you really want to make and not as a document you want to win an award or impress someone can really open things up and help you write more honestly with more passion.”

Master is available to stream on Amazon Prime Friday, March 18th. This interview was condensed for clarity.