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The Search for the Face Behind Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing | A Film

The filmmakers behind “Seeking Mavis Beacon” wanted to know what happened to the Black woman who was paid only a couple hundred dollars to be the face of a wildly successful typing program. To find out, they had to do some “trolling.”

The film shows the duo setting up a detective room, conversing over FaceTime, running up to people on the street, and even tracking down a relative connected to the ever-elusive Mavis. Using shots from computer screens, deep dives through archival footage, and sit-down interviews, the noir-style documentary reveals that Mavis Beacon is actually Renée L’Espérance, a Black model from Haiti who was paid $500 for her likeness with no royalties, despite the program selling millions of copies. At a time when Black models still face challenges in the fashion industry, Gram has appeared in Vogue Czechoslovakia, partnered with Sony Pictures, and amassed 239,000 followers on Instagram.

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