Beyond a haircut with ‘A Little off the Top’

By Cameron Williams

The relationship between Charlotte barbers and their clients is the subject of a new animated short.

“A Little off the Top” runs just over five minutes but dives into how barbers are more than just people who cut hair. They are friends, mentors and advisors in their community. The film, part of Black Public Media’s AfroPoP short series, is directed by William Caballero, a New York native who was raised in North Carolina, highlights an encounter at BB’s Barbershop on Sunset Road. Caballero, who is based in Los Angeles, is highly accomplished, with awards such as the 2018 Guggenheim Fellow and the 2021 Creative Capital award.  

“I was raised in Fayetteville,” he said. “So, I already knew a lot about southern culture. Even though I now live in Los Angeles, two years ago I was accepted to an artist residency in Charlotte at the McColl Center. I was one of four nationwide artists chosen. So, I had my own studio space and my own condo which was nice. Even before that, I had funding from Black Public Media to do a project called ‘A Little off the Top.”’  In Caballero’s time writing the script, he struggled to settle on one that felt authentic to him. As a Puerto Rican, he felt it lacked authenticity that captured what it meant to be Black and the relationship between barber and customer.

“I talked with one of my high school friends who was African American who told me about his barber,” Caballero said. “So, I went to the barbershop called BB’s Barbershop. While I was there, I not only met his barber but two other barbers who were a bit older. Then I had the idea, ‘Why don’t I make this an improvised sort of conversation between all of us where I am leading them to different story beats.’”  

From there, content was improvised on the spot.

“We got three barbers as well as one of the actual teen customers and he served as kind of the main character,” Caballero said. “The four of us got together and we had this great conversation and afterward we animated all of it in 3D and created this first episode.”  

AfroPoP’s series aimed to create films that explore life, art, and culture from an African American perspective. Caballero feels the conversation that took place in the film shows the genuine and authentic connection between barber and client. They aren’t just customers, but in a way, they are extended family.

“I knew through pop culture that barbershops were a very compelling way of having people come together for this informal mentoring and guidance,” he said. “And so, when I wrote the proposal for the project, I knew I wanted to animate something where it was the advice of an older Black barber giving (advice) to a teen customer.”  

Caballero, who was born in Coney Island, New York, believes expanding upon the short series to recognize the regional differences in Black culture is a worthy project.

“I would really love to take this idea even further,” he said. “I think it would be great because like in New York City the African American culture itself is a lot different than southern culture, Puerto Rican culture, Dominican, and even in L.A. you have the Mexican barber culture. So, it is all very different depending on where you are. A lot of things could help extend the project and make that happen.”

The original idea – in part – was also sparked by a prior animated show that Caballero created.

“I had a show that was on HBO,” he began, “an animated show that featured 3D printed miniatures of my grandpa. They are called ‘Grandpa Knows Best.’ And that show is based on real interviews with my grandfather, who is now deceased, talking and giving me advice on a whole bunch of different topics.”  

Although at times, like the case in the short film, a barber might be a significantly older than their customers, they offer wisdom in the form of life experience.

“I feel like there is always something we can learn from our elders,” Caballero said. “Especially when we’re young and when we’re teens, we can learn a lot. So, I felt like the best way for me to get that and really show the Black male perspective was through barbershops.”