Director and screenwriter Matthew A. Cherry parlayed the crowdfunding campaign for his concept, Hair Love, into an Academy Award-winning short film and a best selling children’s book with illustrations from author Vashti Harrison. Amid Hair Love’s rising success, fans are getting a closer look at the Milwaukee father and daughter duo who served as the inspiration for the short film.

In an interview with CBS 58, DJ Hines explained how he tried to do his daughter Chloe’s hair for the first time.

Here’s the full story!

Thank you to @DJHINES and Chloe for talking with me about inspiring such a heartwarming film! The family is so sweet.

“Hair Love” by @MatthewACherry is a wonderful piece. Check it out if you haven’t seen it!https://t.co/0oOkIK6tyF

— Kim Shine (@KimShineCBS58) March 3, 2020

“I’m like, ‘I have to do something to her hair,'” DJ Hines said. “I can’t go out like this. So I’m like, ‘I got this.” Hines eventually sent a clip of him trying to do Chloe’s hair to America’s Funniest Home Videos. It was this video that eventually laid the seed for Cherry’s idea for Hair Love.

“Sometimes as black men we’re raised to have this strong exterior and only deal with raising our boys to be tough, to be strong and all of those things are great,” Hines said of the film’s impact. “But there is a sensitive side that I’ve learned to connect to through my daughters.”

Hair Love earned Cherry and Karen R. Toliver the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

Photo: CBS 58

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Karen Toliver