In her blipster comedy I’m Through With White Girls, which cleaned up on the black film fest circuit last year before finally landing in NYC at a contentious BAM screening earlier this month, Jennifer Sharpe wears her black nerd credentials on her sleeve while maintaining a sure hand of a relatively conventional romantic comedy. Anthony Montgomery starts as a comic book-drawing, cigarette holder-using, fedora-sporting prolonged adolescent case who serial dates Caucasian woman and, after tying his relationship troubles to his ex’s lack of pigmentation instead of his own fear of commitment, takes up with a neurotic, light skinned black novelist (one who seems to be a charter member of the George Clinton hair club for women).

On the eve of her film’s DVD release, we caught up with Sharpe, a current IFP Market laureate for her script Native Honkeys (clearly she’s outdoing herself), about watching earnest dramas, whyThe Poisonwood Bible should be made into a movie and just how long someone can listen to The Roots for.

What films or television shows have you seen recently?

I’ve watched alot of Reno 911, Top Chef, Project Runway, My Life on the D List on TV recently. As for films,
MASH, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, The Great Debaters, Bella, The Hulk, Lars and the Real Girl.

Which ones stuck with you and why?

Bella because it was so strikingly powerful, and yet so simple in its storytelling and execution. The Great Debaters because it was much better than I thought it would be (my expectations were pretty low honestly), Monty Python because, well, they’re brilliant. Reno 911 is extremely stupid and funny as all hell. I can’t get enough of it.

Does your interest in them have anything to do with your own work as a filmmaker?

Yes, I’m working on writing a satire so I’m seeing a lot of comedic stuff inspires what I’m working on right now, but dramas that really move me emotionally always remind me why I want to make films.

How often do you read fiction? Do you wish you read more?

I read maybe one work of fiction every 2 years. It’s terrible. I’m so busy. I wish I read fiction much, much more, but I have no time.

What would be your ideal literary adaptation and why?

The Poisonwood Bible. It is a brilliant and poetic work. A very visual book. It deals with just about every aspect of life. It would make a great movie!

What are you listening to recently?

A lot of Justin Timberlake. Stuff like “Cry Me a River,” “What Goes Around Comes Around.” India Arie’s albums are getting a workout to. I love the song “Wonderful, Simple.” Coldplay, Prince… I’m still listening to The Roots’ Things Fall Apart nearly ten years after I first started.

If you could collaborate with one musician on a film, who would it be and why?

OutKast. Hands down. They are creative geniuses.

I’m Through With White Girls is available on DVD August 12th.