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First Fifteen

October 27, 2024

Feedback with Jonterri Gadson and Sylvia L. Jones

THE DEVIL’S GATEKEEPER written by Rodney Nugent

For centuries, the Holy Grail and Pandora’s Box have been searched for with the hope that they would hold the key to humanity’s salvation. Today, Pandora’s Box has been found. Today, hope will replace the evils that have plagued our world… but suppose the Box was hidden for a reason.

Featuring Cassandra Hunter, Alberto Isaac, Phil Idrissi, James Tang, Rebekah Jarvis, Trip Langley, Suzan Mikel, and Darryl Alan Reed

Currently, Mr. Nugent is a prolific independent writer with multiple feature and television scripts in various stages of development. His film, John Henry, has been optioned by The Woods Entertainment Group, while his play, Skidders, a poignant portrayal of a homeless community, is under consideration by The CTG Group. Mr. Nugent’s play, Lost Voices, premiered at the 2020 LA Fringe Festival. Mr. Nugent’s play, The Letter, has not only captivated audiences but also garnered several prestigious NAACP nominations, a testament to the quality and impact of his work. Mr. Nugent began his professional career as a dancer and traveled the globe for a decade as a Principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. He also choreographed for numerous commercials and music videos. Mr. Nugent’s footage of a story that has deep personal meaning to him, a documentary on the life of choreographic great Alvin Ailey, has been included in the current documentary on Alvin Ailey, which premiered at Sundance in 2022, in which Mr. Nugent appears as a dancer and interviewer of Mr. Ailey. Mr. Nugent is a native New Yorker and currently resides in Los Angeles. 

SOULLESS written by Tiffany Baker (supernatural drama pilot)

After Rashida Gaines’ near-death experience, she’s burdened with supernatural gifts that further complicate the relationship with her religious family, endangers her life, and forces her to become a vigilante in the army of an Egyptian Goddess.

Featuring Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Kim Estes, Phil Idrissi, Kila Kitu, Leonard A. Thomas, Elena Campbell Martínez, Rebekah Jarvis, Chanell Bell, and Tamika Simpkins

Tiffany Barker was raised in a large family in St. Louis. After entering the corrections field, she encountered every level of offender from traffic violators to murderers for 11 years. While she’d already recognized the unfair application of the law due to race and socioeconomic status, her favorite show Law & Order: SVU opened her eyes to gender-specific injustices. For years she sought to be like Olivia Benson, even becoming a member of her local YWCA’s sexual assault response team to support victims in the aftermath. But when Mike Brown was murdered in the St. Louis County municipality of Ferguson, everything she witnessed from law enforcement, sowed an inherent distrust she’d never previously felt. While justice is rarely achieved in the real world, she chooses to make every script she writes, reflect one where it does. And, after realizing having a badge and gun wasn’t necessary to help people, she enrolled in nursing school. Since 2018, she’s been applying for network fellowships and entering screenwriting contests, most recently being a finalist for ScreenCraft Drama and Save the Cat. In 2021 to improve her writing, she joined a weekly lab to be held accountable, improve her skills, network with actors, and offer her support to fellow writers. To take the journey into professional screenwriting more seriously, she has just relocated to Los Angeles. 

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First Fifteen

September 29, 2024

Feedback with Christina Martin and York Walker

A HAUNTING IN GATLINBURG written by Daniel Lynch (horror feature)

When a passionate filmmaker’s future is on the line, he is forced to work with other filmmaking students as they realize their hometown is a warzone for a local witch and Bigfoot.

Featuring John Chukwudelunzu, Isra Elsalihie, Leonard A. Thomas, Lorene Chesley,  LaNora Terraé Hayden, Torie Tyson, and J.D. Elliby

Daniel Lynch is an independent filmmaker, writer, and actor from Decatur, Georgia. He knew from an early age he wanted to be in the entertainment industry, but it wasn’t until 2020 when he started making self-produced content. His directorial debut was a Star Wars short film called The Legend of Doon Rah which screened at the National Black Film Festival and Hayti Heritage Film Festival. The Legend of Doon Rah has been reacted by the biggest Star Wars YouTubers such as Star Wars Theory and Kyle Katarn. In 2021, Daniel met his co-screenwriting partner Eric Krehbiel. Eric cast Daniel in a short film called Night, and soon after Daniel brought on Eric for another project, The Wild Ones, which they made a proof of concept for. His acting credits include Autobot Jazz in Transformers Rise of Unicron, Dante in The Wild Ones, Curtis in The Offer, Jet in Deadman Playground, and many more. Daniel sets out to create an exciting cinematic universe for aspiring filmmakers and their families to enjoy. 

SET written by Ade Dina (coming-of-age drama pilot)

De’Vonte has long been guarded from his gang-infested environment. When his older cousin’s, Aaron, affiliation with the Crips trickles down to his innocent family, De’Vonte is forced into navigating the dangerous world of blue and red. 

Featuring Jared Bennett, Darryl Dunning II, Lee Sherman, John Chukwudelunzu, Maurice Demus, Leonard A. Thomas, Courtney Gabrielle Williams, LaNora Terraé Hayden, and Gita Reddy

Ade Dina is a Houston-born writer-director and producer with a dynamic portfolio that spans short films, commercials, and feature screenplays. Ade’s work has not only received accolades at various film festivals and script competitions but has also contributed to global campaigns for Meta. With both of Ade’s Nigerian parents being an accountant and a lawyer, he didn’t grow up in the most creative household. Therefore, he found his love for film from movies placed in front of him passively. As he matured, so did his taste and approach to the art form. Ade has found influences in Martin Scorsese, Ryan Coogler, Damien Chazelle, and Christopher Nolan. Ade founded Oba Productions and has utilized the agency to create in-house films and commercials for various brands and clients. He wanted to create films and projects that felt like the art he grew up on but with people who looked like him for once. Oba also prioritizes the brand work of black and underrepresented groups who operate on slender budgets to deliver boundary-pushing campaigns. Currently, Ade is developing the feature Set, a story about two cousins navigating gang life amid rival warfare. He completed a proof of concept short film for Set and has played at film festivals nationwide. Set will be Ade’s feature directorial debut. 

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First Fifteen

June 2, 2024

Feedback from Jonterri Gadson and Teresa Huang

ETTA LERAE written by Jana Naomi Smith (psychological drama feature)

After being denied access to the documentary subject of her dreams, a filmmaker goes to great lengths to convince an elder who doesn’t want to be bothered to be in her film, making questionable decisions along the way.     

Featuring Jerrika HintonMegan MendozaEmma Van LareKrystal FarrisDana L. WilsonSabah MuhammadNicolas diPierro, and Gita Reddy

Jana Naomi Smith (she/her) is a Gary, Indiana-bred, writer, filmmaker, and cultural worker. She is the creator, writer, and director behind the Tribeca Selected, audio drama, Red for Revolution. Previously, Jana wrote the podcast Built to Last for American Express, hosted by Elaine Welteroth and featuring Issa Rae and Kimberly Drew. Her prose has appeared in Essence magazine. Additionally, she created the meditation series Relax, Relate, Release during the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring archival audio from Angela Davis, Debbie Allen, and Maya Angelou, among others. These projects each examine the intersection of Black womanhood, erased historiographies, and intergenerational healing. Throughout her career, she’s worked for the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, HBO, CBS, ABC, and POV Film. Jana is an alum of Ryan Murphy’s “Half Initiative.” She is also a recipient of the Ida B. Wells Disrupting the Master Narrative Award and has been a finalist for numerous screenwriting awards. Jana holds a BA in Film Studies from Sarah Lawrence College. Through all of her work, she strives to reflect the truth of our time while encouraging audiences to re-imagine our collective power for radical love and compassion. She is currently developing two features inspired by her latest existential crises.

NEGRO-TISM written by Aadrise Johnson (comedy pilot)

When Courtney Jones, the first daughter of Black Hollywood, is outed during her father’s Oscar press week, she and her family must navigate their fame amid scandal to maintain their status among the elite.

Featuring Courtney Gabrielle WilliamsRyan Michelle BathéLeonard A. ThomasMichael FloodMegan MendozaJason T. GaffneyJames Mercer IIJames TangKaitlyn Foley, and Emma Van Lare

Aadrise Johnson is a comedy writer who was born in the Bronx but raised most of her life in Irving, Texas. Even though she tried her hardest to reject the Southern lifestyle, it melded into her New York grit. To cope with the changes moving caused, Aadrise created stories to escape a world where she didn’t fit in. A lot of her writing style and comedic humor stem from real-life situations mixed with the crippling anxiety that she might have peaked early. Being constantly told that you’re talented at a young age but growing up and realizing you might not be all that special does a number on a young Black woman. However, that doesn’t stop her from sharing her joy and pain through comedic stories of Black women just trying to exist. Aadrise likes to satirize Blackness in her work to celebrate, explore, and challenge Black Culture.

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First Fifteen

May 19, 2024

Feedback from Jonterri Gadson and Rochée Jeffrey

URBAN UPTAKE by Kenisha Morgan (Afrofuturism short)

After Ayanna Bell gets fired, she stumbles onto a digital world called Urban Uptake, a place for women like her.

Featuring Jasmine Ashanti, Nicolas diPierro, LaNora Terraé Hayden, sola bamis, Tehana Weeks, Stephanie Rocío, and Gita Reddy

Kenisha Morgan is originally from Atlanta, GA. To be more specific, she is from College Park, GA and East Point, GA. Nonetheless, she is an actress that became tired of waiting for opportunities; so, she decided to create them. She is a proud alumna of Northwestern University’s theatre program in Evanston, IL and the Atlantic Acting School’s Evening Conservatory program in NYC. Last year, Kenisha became a Stowe Story Lab 2023 alumnus. During the pandemic, she co-wrote a virtual production, No Justice, and won several accolades for the best virtual production at The WTFringe21 Festival & The Women’s Theatre Festival. No Justice was accepted to the Central Illinois 2021 Black Lives Black Words Festival and it was published in the BLBW anthology. Currently, she is writing a series. Her pilot for the series made it to the quarterfinals for Filmmatic – Inroads Fellowship Season 6. When not writing or acting, she works as a Low Code/No Code developer. She enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, friends, family, and her plants. Kenisha is a plant mom. Her experience in tech fuels her writing to focus on sci-fi and put people of color and women in these roles. 

ORNITHOMANCY by Marquis “The Honey Bear” Wright (absurdist comedy short)

Minutes before an interview for his dream job, an anxious man who bases his major decisions on the flight pattern of birds, confronts the most important people in his life.

Featuring Henry Alexander Kelly, Jerome Beck, Christopher Horice Jr., Gracie Fojtik, Shirley Jordan, and Isaiah Dòdó-Williams

Marquis “The Honey Bear” Wright is a Northwest Emmy Award-nominated producer for his work on the PBS Kids’ show Molly of Denali. He is a screenwriter and playwright, with three produced plays under his belt: Ricochet, Ornithomancy: the practice of reading omens through the flight patterns of birds, and Getting Distance. Besides writing, Marquis channels his comedy through stand up and Upright Citizen Brigade improvisation. He loves comedy about the intersections of blackness, queerness, body positivity, and the ex-religious experience. During his time as an Editor at WEBTOON Entertainment, he worked on 24 web comic book series. In addition to writing Ornithomancy, he will be producing and lead acting in the short film this year.

Marquis is a Mr. Bear Los Angeles 2023 title winner and a Southland Honors Cultural Arts Award winner for his contribution to the Los Angeles queer community. In addition to his charitable club event, “Black Bear Joy” at the Eagle LA, he has also co-hosted popular programming at Precinct DTLA, such as Fat Slut, Club Chub, and Howl. Armed with his “Honey Bear” brand of yellow fashion, he aims to uplift black queer people to feel an unapologetic sense of belonging in the LA nightlife scene. He is represented by Queer Up Talent. 

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First Fifteen

April 14, 2024

Feedback from Delondra Mesa and Jonterri Gadson

SAINTS OF 145TH by Darian Dauchan (supernatural pilot)

When a newbie pastor and his Black clergy are ordained with supernatural powers in a dystopian Harlem they must fight to keep their church alive, reigniting the age-old war between angels and demons. 

Featuring Brooks Brantly, Bernard Addison, Karla Mosley, Rob Nagle, Trip Langley, Brian Dykstra, Katrina Nelson, Eric B. Anthony, and Tamika Simpkins

Darian Dauchan is an award-winning actor, writer, poet, and musician who has appeared on both Broadway (Twentieth Century starring Alec Baldwin and Anne Heche) and Off-Broadway theater (Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Cherry Orchard starring Wendell Pierce). TV and film credits include Law and Order, Nickelodeon’s Bet the House as Darian the “SoundFX” Guy, and the Lionsgate feature film Things Never Said. Darian is most known for The Brobot Johnson Project, an Afrofuturism, Sci-Fi Hip Hop transmedia piece that won Outstanding Comedy Series at the LA Web Festival and BEST soundtrack at the Escape Velocity Festival sponsored by the Museum of Science Fiction. The show The Brobot Johnson Experience is a critically acclaimed Ben Brantley New York Times Critics’ Pick. More recently Darian was nominated for a Drama League award for Darian’s piece “Brobot PSA” in the AFO Solo Short series, a contributing voice-over actor for the short doc Lynching Postcards by Oscar-nominated director Christine Turner, produced by Fireflight Films and MTV Studios which won the Image Award for Outstanding Short Form Special, and is a New Music USA grantee. Darian is also the narrator for the recently released audiobook Master Class on Being Human published by Beacon Press. Darian’s music Doin’ it Live and Ohm can be found on all streaming platforms. www.dariandauchan.com www.brobotjohnson.com

SECRETS AND LIES written by Rodney Nugent (thriller feature)

A psychologically damaged detective, haunted by brutal murders from his past, visits his estranged brother in New Orleans. That night, his brother is arrested for a gruesome double murder and then commits suicide. Clinging to what sanity he has left Desmond must become the man he’d hoped he left behind and enter the underbelly of Orleans’s shadow worlds of opulent wealth, prostitution, ritual sex, and voodoo. 

Featuring Christopher Mychael Watson, Leonard A. Thomas, Rob Nagle, Conni Marie Brazelton, Trip Langley, Kermit Burns, Jordan Maia, and J.D. Elliby

Currently, Mr. Nugent is a prolific independent writer with multiple feature and television scripts in various stages of development. His film, John Henry, has been optioned by The Woods Entertainment Group, while his play, Skidders, a poignant portrayal of a homeless community, is under consideration by The CTG Group, promising exciting prospects.

Mr. Nugent’s play, Lost Voices, premiered at the 2020 LA Fringe Festival.

Mr. Nugent’s play, The Letter, has not only captivated audiences but also garnered several prestigious NAACP nominations, a testament to the quality and impact of his work.

Mr. Nugent began his professional career as a dancer and traveled the globe for a decade as a Principal dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. He also choreographed for numerous commercials and music videos.

Mr. Nugent’s footage of a story that has deep personal meaning to him, a documentary on the life of choreographic great Alvin Ailey, has been included in the current documentary on Alvin Ailey, which premiered at Sundance in 2022, in which Mr. Nugent appears as a dancer and interviewer of Mr. Ailey.

Mr. Nugent is a native New Yorker and currently resides in Los Angeles.

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First Fifteen

March 24, 2024

Feedback from Lauren Glover and Jonterri Gadson


UNSETTLING written by Sarah Jayne Brown (dark comedy pilot)

A 29-year-old woman struggling to no longer settle for the toxic abuse piled on by work, family, and relationships decides to hold herself accountable by making a pact: she will be a successful writer by age 30, or kill herself.

Featuring Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Andrew Elvis Miller, Nono Osuji, Gita Reddy, Erron Jay, Jennifer Apple, Christopher James Stevens, Rashawn Nadine Scott, and Chanell Bell

Sarah Jayne Brown specializes in the dark arts. Born and raised in Oakland CA, she is a Black & Jewish, Queer Feminist writer with a punk rock sensibility. Through horror and dark comedy, she exposes uncomfortable aspects of the human condition. Her stories are a blend of everyday modern life and the surreal. Born to a schizophrenic mother and raised by her grandparents, she grew up in a household where film and TV served as an escape. First, it was The Wizard of Oz at age five. Then it was The Exorcist at age eight. Then she discovered Paul Thomas Anderson, Stanley Kubrick, and Danny Boyle at age twelve and she knew she wanted a career in film and television. Sarah received her Bachelors in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University in 2015. In 2022, she placed in the Outstanding Screenplays Feature Competition for FLESH & BONE, a body horror-comedy about a witch who conjures her dream boy, only to discover his body is rapidly decaying. Her TV pilot UNSETTLING recently placed in Launch Pad’s TV pilot competition and is being developed into a web series. Her latest script is a dark erotic drama titled UNICORN’S DILEMMA about a young woman navigating the ecstasy and horrors of polyamory culture.


SENIOR HIGH written by Tamika Simpkins  (comedy pilot)

When Miss Teacher, a 25 year long high school teacher, who has always had a passion to educate and empower students, gets fired due to her old school and unorthodox-ed methods, she gets a rare opportunity to empower another generation of students, who all happen to be in the senior citizen club. 

Featuring Kimberly Hébert, Lee Sherman, Christopher James Stevens, Amy Scribner, Leah Bass-Baylis, Laura Jacobson, Alberto Isaac, Kim Estes, Shirley Jordan, Conni Marie Brazelton, and Rashawn Nadine Scott

Philadelphia-native Tamika Simpkins has shared her acting talents on stage, film, TV, and behind the mic. She holds a double major Bachelor of Science degree in Computer and Information Science, and African-American Studies. Now LA based after losing a bet to a friend, she is driven to tell stories to make you laugh, think, reflect, and inspire.

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First Fifteen

February 25, 2024

Feedback from Lee Edward Colston II and Jonterri Gadson

THE BASEMENT written by J.D. Elliby (crime drama pilot)

A resilient 12-year-old African-American girl goes on the run from a corrupt cop and his henchmen after he murders her mother.

Featuring Lee Sherman, Candace Thomas, Jernard Burks, Alexandra Ryan, Daniel Lynch, Alexander Crow, Brensten Lindsey, Jasmine Ashanti, Gilbert Chayrez-Chavarria, Isabella Riley, and James Tang

Over the past twenty-five years, J.D. Elliby has been stalked by aggressive parents, chased down back roads in West Virginia, and even pulled over by the Federales in Cartel Country. All of these adventures occurred during his relentless pursuit of the next MLB star. He’s a Major League Baseball scout with a knack for storytelling.

UNDERCOVER STARDOM by Michael Flood (period crime drama pilot)

During the height of the 90s NY hip-hop/R&B scene, and following the tragic murder of her fiancé, a smart, adaptable, and messy Vice detective goes undercover as an R&B singer to take down a shady CEO and his infamous gangster record label.

Featuring Lakisha May, Philip Smithey, Gilbert Glenn Brown, Alexandra Ryan, Leonard A. Thomas, Peter Pasco, Alexander Crow, Phil Idrissi, and Tamika Simpkins

Michael Flood is an actor and writer based in Los Angeles and hails from New York.

Although Michael is a classically trained actor who worked in various theatrical and television productions throughout his career, he reunited with his love for writing during the COVID pandemic, where he wrote and produced a three-part sketch comedy series involving mask-wearing, Russian spies, and Black Republicans in the 2020 presidential election.

In addition to earning his MFA in acting from Case Western/Cleveland Play House and studying at The Groundlings Improv Theatre, Michael has taken writing classes at the New Federal Theatre, Groundlings, Gotham Writers Workshop and Script Anatomy.

His aim is to tell stories that will make you laugh, cry and not fall asleep.

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First Fifteen

February 4, 2024

Feedback from Rochée Jeffrey and Ben Smith

SWITCH written and directed by Jonterri Gadson (comedy pilot)

A half-hour, dark comedy about a wealthy Black woman who fulfills her revenge fantasies by using a mysterious switch in her house to control her ignorant neighbor’s luck.

Featuring Toccarra Cash, LaNisa Frederick, Jonathan Grey, Kimberly Hollkamp-Dinon, Janson Lalich, Amy Scribner, Tamika Simpkins, Tyee Tilghman, and Jamila Webb    

Jonterri Gadson is a former creative writing professor who chose TV over tenure. She is currently a writer on Viacom’s EVERYBODY STILL HATES CHRIS and before that was a writer on Netflix’s THE UPSHAWS. She has been a staff writer on HBO’S A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW, NBC’s MAKING IT with Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman, THE KELLY CLARKSON SHOW and Adult Swim’s half-hour comedy BIRDGIRL. Additionally, she was a Comedy Consulting Producer on 12 DATES OF CHRISTMAS (Max) writing comedic host copy for Natasha Rothwell and a writer for NBC’s ULTIMATE SLIP ‘N SLIDE, writing comedic host copy for Bobby Moynihan and Ron Funches. She won Kevin Hart’s LOL Film Fellowship for a short she wrote and directed which premiered at the American Black Film Festival.

Rochée Jeffrey is a graduate of Howard University and a writer/director who hails from Jamaica and lives in Los Angeles. As a television writer, her credits include Golden Globe-nominated comedy series SMILF (Showtime), Woke (Hulu), Bigger (BET+), and co-executive producer of grown-ish (freeform). As a Film Independent Project Involve Fellow, she wrote the award-winning and Oscar-qualifying short film Suitable, which was a finalist in the American Black Film Festival HBO Competition and premiered on HBO in February 2019. Rochée also wrote and directed Mr. Talented, a short film which screened at the Austin Film Festival and competed for the HBO Award at the Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival. She recently directed an independent television pilot starring David Arquette. In 2018, she was selected for the Viacom Emerging Directors Program.

Her feature directorial debut Not Your Average Queen was selected for the 2021 Film Independent Screenwriting Lab and the 2021 WIF/Sundance Financing Intensive. The film is executive produced by legendary feminist author and icon Roxane Gay, Killer Films, and Valerie Steinberg. She has an adult animated series executive produced by Lizzo set up at Tomorrow Studios. She’s also the creator/executive producer of a half-hour series for Netflix executive produced by Megan Thee Stallion, Jay-Z, and Imagine. She also co-created, co-wrote, and directed an upcoming narrative podcast series for Audible that is produced by Broadway Video and stars Sam Richardson, Method Man, Rachel Dratch, Tichina Arnold, and Richard Kind. Rochée is a graduate of the 2022 WGA Showrunner Training Program. She’s represented by APA and Tantrum Management.

Ben Smith grew up in a small Massachusetts town, where he lived with his parents, his sister, his grandfather, and their barn-full of farm animals. Evenings were spent watching Boston sports, not scripted television. Hollywood wasn’t on anyone’s mind. He wanted to be a professional basketball player or a Supreme Court Justice. Maybe it’s not so surprising he ended up a writer — he clearly had quite the imagination. Since moving to LA, Ben has written for a handful of shows, most recently Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building, where he serves as a Co-Executive Producer.

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First Fifteen

January 28, 2024

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Jonterri Gadson

SUPERMOMS, BLESSINGS…AND RABBIT HOLES by Shaniqua.the.artist (drama short)

A young woman’s battle trying to love her child while chasing her dream.

Featuring sola bamis, Darryl Dunning II, Tamika Simpkins, Shirley Jordan, LaNora Terraé Hayden, Shaila Tyler, Alyse Moné, Natasha LaGrone, and Bonnie-Rae Sunshine

Shaniqua spent her childhood staying in almost all 5 of the New York City boroughs, but her heart lies in the place where she was born and made her most memorable memories — BROOKLYN, NY. It was in Brooklyn where, as a child, she began performing as characters she saw on TV and in films because she wanted to “continue the story” after the credits ended. Her street smarts and grit allowed her to avoid the common pits and downfalls of her surroundings and pursue the uncommon path of going to college. Shaniqua earned a BA in theatre from the University of Buffalo, MSW from Adelphi University, completed a two-year conservatory-based acting program at Maggie Flanigan Studio, and studied at NYC-based, Kimball Studio for on-camera classes.

During a performance at Columbia University, Shaniqua had the opportunity to share, through acting, the story of African-Americans who lived in the 1800s. The performance encouraged her to resume her project of starting YC Productions — a production company with the mission of telling the stories of social issues with the goal of increasing awareness within communities.

In between writing short films, being a writer/actor for the Amazon series, Hood Deals, knocking out auditions, and attending acting classes — Shaniqua prides herself in being a mother to an amazing son. Her tenacity, passion, and confident belief in her purpose continues to fuel her efforts in chasing her dreams. She sends her love and gratitude as you take a peek into her life as an artist.

The Black Wall Street Giant by Sabah Muhammad (drama feature)

In April of 1921 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, when a young piano phenom discovers that her inspiration and best invisible friend, THE Jesus Christ, is an emaciated white guy and not the black giant she trusts and reveres, she must fight to feel the love and hope that once colored her racist poverty-stricken world.

Featuring Isabella Riley, Karan Kendrick, Oneké Cummings, Josiah Ekari, Antonio David Lyons, Krystal Farris, LaNora Terraé Hayden, Shirley Jordan, Philip Smithey, and Tamika Simpkins

Sabah Muhammad is a writer, disguised as an attorney dedicated to criminal justice and mental illness reform. Her one true love is powerful storytelling based on growing up Black, weird, Muslim and poor in the bible belt South. As a kid in the Nation of Islam, she was the plucky eldest of seven whose spirited intelligence usually earned her a timeout for not being righteous; alone in a room thinking about what she’d done, usually something feminist, proved to be an excellent place to develop characters. Art, as an escape, prepared her for a ten-year acting career that included countless exciting projects like The Brooke Ellison Story directed by Christopher Reeve, starring Jon Slattery and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio; The Skeleton Key, starring Peter Sarsgaard and Kate Hudson; and a 12-city arena tour, sponsored by Coca-Cola: the Go for It! Roadshow.

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First Fifteen

November 12, 2023

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Jonterri Gadson

PANCAKES & WAFFLES written by Monet Mike (comedy pilot)

Fresh out of high school, Gillian Scott accepts a job at a local diner not knowing its colorful staff would start as wild strangers but morph into a unique family she didn’t know she needed.

Featuring Iliana Rivera, Brooks Brantly, Conni Marie Brazelton, Candace Thomas, Oneké Cummings, Elena Campbell Martínez, Jernard Burks, Rod McLachlan, Jerome Beck, Peter Pasco, and Courtney Gabrielle Williams

Monet Mike is a writer, producer, and director from Decatur, Georgia. As a screenwriter, Monet’s mission is to carefully craft stories through a multi-perspective lens that humanizes people and concepts society often avoids in conversation and lifestyle. As an independent filmmaker, Monet began Glory James Productions to produce original series and features that invigorate minds and cultivate conversations with the goal of positively impacting our local and global community through art with purpose.

THE NO DAY written by Gita Reddy & Jessica Jiji (comedic short film)

It’s show — or rather, international conference — time! and a fed-up assistant mistaken for several of the eccentric attendees plays along at the risk of missing the chance to connect with the one person who actually gets her.

Featuring Ellen D. Williams, Napoleon Tavale, Jamila Webb, Peter Pasco, Ser Anzoategui, Elena Campbell Martínez,  Tamika Simpkins, Newton Kaneshiro, Alberto Isaac, and Karen Huie

As a writer and director, Gita Reddy is drawn to the charismatic complexities and intrinsic humor of large ensembles. Plus, they’re never boring! She started out on the opposite end, in solo-ish writing and performing, and has been published in Tokens?: The NYC Asian American Experience On Stage (Temple University Press) also receiving a fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. As an actor, you may know her from I Think You Should LeaveAll Rise, and recurrings on Never Have I EverOrange Is the New BlackThe Mindy Project, Marvel’s Iron Fist, and Adam Ruins Everything. Voiceover includes the Indie Spirit award-winning 7 Days and the Oscar-winning Zootopia. Theatre acting credits include: Sundance Lab, Getty Villa, Old Globe, City Theatre (Pittsburgh), Mixed Blood (Minneapolis) and in NYC: Cherry Lane, Target Margin and Clubbed Thumb. Training includes the Public’s Shakespeare Lab; improv at iO West, Magnet and UCB; and a fellowship with New York Theatre Workshop in Casting and Artistic Management. She was born in Canada, grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, has an M.A. in Cinema Studies from New York University, and loves watching the hummingbirds get all territorial in her tiny garden.

Jessica Jiji grew up in New York City roaming the streets to the shock and fury of her Arab father, who came from a time and place where women never left the house without a veil and a man. But he also passed along a deep appreciation for the wondrous aspects of Arab culture that she now cherishes. She eventually honored her refugee father by returning to his lost homeland — Iraq — as a speechwriter for the UN Secretary-General. Working at the United Nations has convinced her entertainment contributes as much to peace as diplomacy. The author of three published novels (two translated into Italian), she studied screenwriting with Roadmap Writers and Jill Chamberlain, earning the Page Gold Prize and other accolades. Skateboarding with her three sons is totally worth the nine-inch metal plate holding her arm together.

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First Fifteen

October 29, 2023

Feedback from Pilar Alessandra and Jonterri Gadson

DON’T FORGET DOROTHY written by Jana Smith (sci-fi feature)

A veteran actress and her daughter are both dealing with an identity crisis, body dysmorphia, and the pressure to meet society’s expectations of them when they are offered an opportunity to participate in a neurological experiment that would erase every racist, sexist, and hurtful memory that formed their insecurities; giving them the chance to restart their lives as free Black women.​

Featuring Shirley Jordan, Tehana Weeks, Conni Marie Brazelton, Bonnie-Rae Sunshine, Trip Langley, Caro Guzmán, Ashley J. Hobbs, Tamara McMillian, Janessa St. Pierre, and Inger Tudor

Jana Smith (she/her) is a Gary, Indiana-bred, interdisciplinary writer, filmmaker, and cultural worker passionate about intergenerational stories about women and femmes. Her prose has been published in Essence magazine! Jana was awarded the Inaugural Ida B. Wells Disrupting the Master Narrative Award for her film script, Baptême. She also participated in Ryan Murphy’s “Half Initiative” for rising writers, directors, and creatives. Jana wrote Built to Last a podcast by American Express hosted by Elaine Welteroth. She has worked for the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, The Good WifeMadam Secretary, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, America ReFramed, and POV. In 2018, her pilot was a finalist in the MACRO Episodic Story Lab. She studied filmmaking at Sarah Lawrence College. Her work examines the intersection of Black womanhood, erased historiographies, and intergenerational healing (basically, whatever she’s having an existential crisis about). The stories she tells often interrogate shame––illuminate the interior lives of women––and imagine a more human-dwelling future. Through her work, she strives to reflect the truth of our time while encouraging audiences to re-imagine our collective power for radical love and compassion. She is currently directing and producing a narrative audio drama centering Black women, love, and liberation, which she wrote titled Red for Revolution.

FARE by Karan Kendrick (suspense short)

A 50-something black woman, tired of losing, creates a deadly game that only she can win.

Featuring Tamika Simpkins, Shirley Jordan, Bonnie-Rae Sunshine, Chinai Routté, Gita Reddy, Kenajuan Bentley, Rod McLachlan, Leonard A. Thomas, and Toccarra Cash

Hailed for her powerfully nuanced portrayal of “Minnie McMillian” in the blockbuster Just MercyKaran Kendrick is among the artistic elite.

Additional credits range from The Hunger Games (Lionsgate), and The Hate U Give (20th Century Fox); to television favorites like Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Greenleaf (OWN), and most recently, “Candace” on All American: Homecoming(CW).

In addition to her work as an actor, Karan is a philanthropist, speaker, and Honorary Astronaut (NASA Ames). Her long-standing passion, however, is the work she does through her arts organization, The Kendrick Academy (TKA), where she has served tirelessly to provide students with the opportunity to build character, discipline, and an eternal passion for the arts for over a decade.  Based in her hometown of Fort Valley, GA, TKA offers weekly acting and dance classes to students ages 3 to 85. In 2020, her Academy expanded to virtual acting and screenwriting classes and continues those offerings today allowing her to serve students in 7 states and counting.

As she expands her role as storyteller to include writer, Karan states: “I want to tell stories that center Black Women in the middle of their own discourse. I want to position us in the luxury of being human, vulnerable, weird, weak, warrior, and loved, all at the same time. I want to remind us to burn the cape, and keep the flame.”

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First Fifteen

April 16, 2023

Feedback with Sylvia L. Jones and Aadip Desai

FOXTOWN by Evan Manning (drama/fantasy pilot)

When the demolition of a reviled piece of urban blight triggers the formation of a dangerous fissure, the residents of a gentrifying Baltimore neighborhood must find a way to survive, navigating ideological battles and shifting power dynamics that threaten to put everyone at risk – all as an even greater threat brews beneath their feet.

Featuring Rickey Junior, Shirley Jordan, Jerome Beck, Christopher Mychael Watson, Katrina Nelson, Alyse Moné, Chris Trovador, Dennis Pearson, Alex Ubokudom, Lee Sherman,  Maurice Demus, and Tamika Simpkins

Originally from the (too) quiet streets of Bowie, Maryland, Evan Manning is the son of a thirty-year CIA veteran father and a Maryland public school system teacher mother. He grew up in a household where creativity was fostered and buoyed. While majoring in film editing at Morgan State University, he landed the first of several editing internships with the CIA’s video division where, two years later, he realized that his passion for storytelling lay not in editing, but in writing for the screen. This led Evan to leave Maryland for Los Angeles where he earned his MFA in Television, Film & Theatre from Cal State Los Angeles, and started his professional career as a writer’s PA on season two of Greenleaf and was a 2016 Associate Artist with the New York Television Festival. Other credits include Brat TV’s Youtube series The Four Of Them and Junior’s. Currently working under writer Niceole Levy, Evan now has one feature under his belt as well as several drama specs and original pilots. He’s a tennis junkie as well as an avid gamer, finding creative inspiration both on the court and in virtual reality, proving time and again that ideas can often come from just about anywhere.

STRIP TEASE by E.J. Tanner (dramedy pilot)

You don’t choose the thug life, the thug life chooses you. That’s what happens to Vaughntrey Tillman, a 25-year-old misfit whose thirsty ways get him thrown into the deep end of a drug ring run out of a local gentlemen’s club in Long Beach. Can this young man escape the trap of the streets, or will his new life swallow him up along with everyone he loves?

Featuring Leonard A. Thomas, Lakisha May, Torie Tyson, Tamika Simpkins, LaNora Terraé Hayden, Alex Ubokudom, Phil Idrissi, Chris Trovador, Andrew Elvis Miller, and James Tang

Early on, E. J. became very aware that he… stands out. Born and raised in the non-fictional city of Kalamazoo, with a Black father and White mother, his racial ambiguity puzzled most, even himself. Mix in a healthy diet of nerdy comic book, sci-fi, fantasy, video game, and anime subcultures, and you have the recipe for one perfectly confused young man. Struggling to find belonging, E.J. grew to embrace his place at the intersection of his many worlds. He writes coming-of-age stories about outcasts and in-betweeners fighting to define themselves. His previous experiences include world building for Dreamscape Immersive. Currently, he is writing a comic, The Natural, for Noir Caesar.

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First Fifteen

March 19, 2023

Feedback from Kerry Coddett and Kemiyondo Coutinho

ME, MYSELF, AND US by Keisha Bissram (dramedy feature)

An independent, on-the-road traveler returns to her hometown after fifteen years to learn about the life she left behind and the friends whose lives have been altered during her absence.

Featuring Krishna Smitha, Apoorva Gundeti, Samantha Cutaran, Lexi Graboski, Rafiq Batcha, Gita Reddy, Nikki Chawla, Napoleon Tavale, Alex Crow, and Hanjie Chow

Keisha Bissram, an actress and writer, is also known for producing her own stories highlighting unconventional day-to-day conflicts with a blend of relatable discomfort and comedic fashion. Born and raised in New York, Keisha relocated her life and career to Los Angeles, CA. After graduating with a degree in advertising and marketing (a business degree was promised to her family) she immediately pursued her love for acting at the Barrow Group Theater in New York City.

After several years, she landed at the William Esper Studio to learn the Meisner technique in a two-year program. While attending classes, she performed in several commercials, theater, and short films, one notably known as The Woman in the Movie.

Keisha is a self-taught producer-writer with the success of completing and starring in her first seven-episode comedic web series, Conversations in Apartment 3A. She continues to produce short skits such as Simple Life with Tammy and The Note to cultivate her craft as a creative.

I CLASS by Mildred Inez Lewis (dramedy pilot)

When former Vine star Savannah Jackson Velez loses her last influencer gig, she’s forced to substitute teach in an alternative high school with a bunch of earnest oddballs she would never be caught dead with in real life.

Featuring Candice Ramirez, Leonard A. Thomas, Lee Sherman, Georgina Navarro, Susan Louise O’Connor, Joi Elise Little, Phil Idrissi, Torie Tyson, Nicola Rinow, and   Rashawn Nadine Scott

MIDLRED INEZ LEWIS writes and directs for theater, film, and the digital space. Her script UNBOWED played at the Palm Springs, Pan African, American Indian, and Jamerican film festivals, and then ran on ENCORE/Starz. She wrote and directed LEFT which played at the San Francisco and Santa Barbara Black film festivals. She also wrote and directed CAN ALSO PLAY! which appeared at Outfest and Outfest Fusion. A hybrid digital piece GHOSTS OF BLACKNESS was commissioned by the National Black Theatre/Harlem9 and Lucille Lortel Foundation. She is in pre-production for MIRROR, a horror short featuring Ephraim Lopez.

Mildred earned a producing MFA from UCLA’s film school where she won a Samuel Goldwyn Creative Writing Award for an original screenplay. She continued her education with the Producers Guild of America Power of Diversity Workshop. She put that training to use as co-founder of The Fox Lewis Project which produced digital corporate content and the ETIQUETTE comedy web series which was invited to HollyFest.

Mildred has written two fiction podcasts: MEETS PRINCE, LOVES FROG for Feminist Fairytales’ first season and $10 AND A TAMBOURINE for Antaeus Theatre’s Zip Code series. That series was nominated for a 2021 Ambie Award.

Her work for theater includes the 2022 comedy THE MUSEUM ANNEX at Central Works (Berkeley, CA). Her short play WE JUMP BROOM was a finalist for the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway festival and Best of PlayGround-LA. In 2018, she was part of Humanitas’ PLAY LA.

Publications include THE GIFT and /KOM’PLISIT/ with Broadway Play Publishing. WE JUMP BROOM is in Smith & Kraus’ 2023 Best Ten-Minute play collection.

THE BLACK GIRLS’ GUIDE TO CORP AMERICA by Keisha Wright and Amber Wynn (dramedy pilot)

Marketing executive Gabrielle Wynn and her mentees navigate corporate America with the help of her Black Girl’s guide to success.

Featuring Kimberly Hébert, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Brittany Bellizeare, Nicola Rinow, Susan Louise O’Connor, Rod McLachlan, and Courtney Gabrielle Williams

Keisha Wright is a marketing exec by day and a passionate writer by night. She is SVP of Partnerships & Purpose at THINK450, the partnership and innovation engine of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), the union for all current NBA players. In her 15+ years as a marketing executive, expert brand strategist, and former youth trend analyst, she has contributed to trade publications, presented at industry conferences on the topic of youth culture, and generated millions of dollars in revenue for sports and entertainment properties through strategic partnerships with consumer brands. Before THINK450, Keisha held positions at Vox Media, InStyle, the Brooklyn Nets, Macy’s, MTV Networks, and the NBA, creating integrated marketing campaigns comprised of branded content, cause marketing, and experiential activations. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and a master’s degree from Pepperdine University.

Amber Wynn is the author of several books, from fiction titles such as A Soft Place to FallThe Waiting Place, and For Such a Time As This; to the nonfiction how-to, The Rules of Engagement: A Sistah’s Guide to Navigating Corporate America, on which her pilot The Black Girls’ Guide is based. The Black Girls’ Guide is one of Amber’s two book-to-screen adaptations, the other being The Waiting Place, both co-written with her ride-or-die, Keisha Wright. A philanthrepreneur by day, Amber supports the most amazing people on the planet (Black nonprofit leaders), but her happy place is in a quiet space (Miguel crooning in the background) crafting unputdownable novels with sexy plot twists and complex Black characters. Amber received a bachelor’s degree in English from Loyola Marymount University and a master’s degree in public administration from CSU Los Angeles.

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First Fifteen

February 26, 2023

Feedback with Jonterri Gadson and Mika Frank

IN THE VILLAGE by Monet Mike (drama pilot)

A community fights to navigate the ever-changing waters of its district. Five educators and a self-conscious middle schooler must keep their sanity and strength to make it through each unpredictable day.

Featuring Marqita Delgado, Adam Brudnicki, Julianna Ojeda, Kaitlyn Foley, Darryl Dunning, Amy Scribner, Altamese Rogers, Keisha Bissram, Janay D. Henry, Leonard A. Thomas, Georgina Navarro, Alex Morris, and Gita Reddy

Growing up in Decatur, Georgia, Monet entered the film industry by investing in herself. She wrote, produced, and co-directed her first pilot presentation in an effort to shine a light on a community she believed was misrepresented or absent often in the media. In finding safe spaces to learn and grow, Monet partners with other independent filmmakers to further develop her voice as a writer and skills as a producer. Monet’s mission is to carefully craft stories with a multi-perspective lens that humanizes people and “taboo” concepts. She is dedicated to creating art that positively impacts and challenges her local and global community.

VILLAINESQUE by Katherine Street (dramedy action pilot)

In a world where heroes and villains are simply rich jerks in fancy outfits, a bitter, struggling novelist takes a job writing for one of them and gets more than she bargained for. 

Featuring Rashawn Nadine Scott, Henry Alexander Kelly, Akilah Walker, Trip Langley, Andrew Elvis Miller, James Tang, Natasha LaGrone, Gita Reddy, Alexandra Ryan, Janay D. Henry, and Elena Campbell-Martínez

Katherine Street is an LA-based award-winning screenwriter and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging. She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. As a filmmaker, she wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” and created her flagship web series “The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV. She earned her degree from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in cinematography. She has literary representation with Culture Creative Entertainment.

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First Fifteen

December 11, 2022

Holiday reading of 3rd Rock Realty written by Alex Ubokudom and directed by Tyee Tilghman

3RD ROCK REALTY by Alex Ubokudom

An animated situation comedy that centers on a Black female real estate agent, Patrice Ewing, who is trying to sell apartments in Harlem during an alien invasion so she can keep up her expensive lifestyle.

Featuring Brooks Brantly, Blair Busbee, June Carryl, Toccarra Cash, Gilbert Chayrez-Chavarria, David Jacobs, Elena Campbell-Martínez, Lakisha May, Rod McLachlan, Andrew Elvis Miller, and Alex Morris.

Alex Ubokudom is an actor, writer, producer, and teacher. He just recently moved to LA from New York City where he performed in many Off-Broadway productions. He also trained and performed improv and sketch comedy at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade and the People’s Improv Theater. His online satirical comedy series BOK TV has been featured on Huff Post and Blavity. Catch him on the newly released Audible graphic novel WAKE with DeWanda Wise, Chante Adams, and Jerri Johnson. He’s also a professor of acting at Chapman University.

Tyee Tilghman is an actor, filmmaker, and teaching artist. He is a storyteller and a lover of language. Voices ranging from the classical brilliance of Shakespeare, the earthy undertones of Zora Neale Hurston, the quick wit of Aaron Sorkin, and the strength of street knowledge demonstrated in the lyrical calculus of Black Thought, are the fuel that feeds his passion to create. Mr. Tilghman holds an MFA in acting from the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and a BFA in drama from West Virginia University. His film & TV credits include Blindspotting (Starz), Baskets (FX), Reacher (Amazon Prime), Party of Five (FreeFormTV), A Deadly Lullaby(Lifetime), Criminal Minds (CBS), I’m Dying Up Here(Showtime), and American Nightmares. Tyee has been a stage actor for 18 years, and was most recently seen as George Page in Merry Wives of Windsor (Folger Library). Other select theatre credits include Our Very Own Carlin McCullough(Geffen Playhouse), Skeleton Crew (Studio Theatre), Gem of the Ocean and Fences (Marin Theatre Company), Spunk! and The Winter’s Tale (California Shakespeare Theatre), A Raisin in the Sun (DCPA), and Three Sisters (Chautauqua Theatre Company).

He recently designed a Shakespeare workshop focused on teaching empathy to non-actors, and created Demystifying Shakespeare, for professional actors in Los Angeles, to “take the fear out of Shakespeare.” Tyee also has taught at Identity School of Acting: Los Angeles, Denver Center Theatre Academy, Living History & Neighborhood Bridges (also through DCTA), A Noise Within, P.S. Arts, B.R.I.D.G.E. Theater Project, City Hearts: Kids Say Yes to the Arts, and InterAct Story Theatre.

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First Fifteen

November 20, 2022

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Jonterri Gadson

AMERICAN DEBT by Jeta Stephens (dramedy pilot)

Two pre-rich bankers learn that their employer is plotting to bankrupt their neighborhood and take matters into their own hands.

Featuring Akilah Walker, Selina Scott-Bennin, Andrew Elvis Miller, Gita Reddy, and Cassandra Hunter

Jeta Stephens shares her birthday with Dr. Angela Davis and Ms. Anita Baker. She considers herself a hybrid of both women, sent here to serenade with her storytelling while radically advocating for Black people. Hailing from Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Jeta studied public relations and Spanish at Temple University. She entered the filmmaking world with her travel documentary series, Global Lipstick, which she wrote, co-produced and co-hosted. In this series, she managed productions and crews in the United States, Spain, and United Arab Emirates. Her perspective on art, America, and money shifted while working as a banker. It’s there that she decided to merge the world of art and finance and became a financial storyteller. Jeta resides in LosAngeles. She spends her time writing dramedies, creating music, and providing financial education. Her wildest dream is for Black people to be financially free.

COLORISM: A VERY DARK COMEDY by Nono Osuji (comedic short film)

Zora must fight for her place, professionally and personally, in a world judging her by the shade of her skin. In a hidden prejudice of colorism, she must maintain her self-worth.

Featuring Jessica Obilom, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Gita Reddy, Asia Lynn Pitts, Cassandra Hunter, Lawnyae Marie, Hank Chen, Jasmine Shanise, Alex Ubokudom, Jarric Tucker, Jennifer Stoneking, and Kenneisha Thompson

Nono Osuji is an actor turned filmmaker and writer. She is a first-generation American born to Nigerian, Igbo parents who have recently forgiven her for not going to medical school. She studied communication science disorders and minored in performing arts at Saint Louis University. While living in NYC, she attained her Master of Arts from the New School University in media and film. She has worked for ABC and PBS on award-winning documentaries, and in the multi-media space with fortune 500 companies such as Tiffany and Co., Estee Lauder, and L’Oreal USA, as well as with smaller companies and individual artists. She was also a writer for the second season of the series WASHED streaming on Amazon, and now works for corporate entities such as AT&T and Warner Media as a creative producer and writer for podcasts, conferences, videos, and other media content. As an actor, she is currently studying with Lesly Kahn and Associates and taking improv at The Stomping Ground Theater located in Dallas, TX. She is rewriting a pilot for a series she created and will be writing a real-life-inspired fiction book in 2023 She has never written a book so pray for her. Her free time is spent learning Spanish, cooking new cuisines, napping, and spending time with her friends and family with her karaoke mic in hand.

MERDE by Victoria Dunn (comedy pilot)

When former child star, Rachelle Stallings, hires a reality TV show crew to follow her failing theater company she puts the company and staff under a spotlight they weren’t prepared for. 

Featuring Kelly McCreary, Joy Brunson, Kimberly Hébert, Jon Gentry, Lexi Graboski, Alex Ubokudom, Alexander Crow, and Courtney Gabrielle Williams

Victoria Dunn is an actress and writer originally from Atlanta and currently based in Los Angeles. Dunn has worked and trained as an actress from a young age and can be seen in various commercials, web series, and heard in scripted podcasts and voiceover commercials. Weekly you can hear her as a co-host of the reality television recap podcast Fame Adjacent. Dunn worked behind the scenes in a myriad of jobs at a non-profit theater company in Atlanta and currently works on the production side for Disney-ABC Signature. She is currently in pre-production on her comedic web series Smiling Faces.

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First Fifteen

October 30, 2022

Feedback with LaToya Morgan and Christina Martin

The Monitor by Reynaldo Dumas (sci-fi pilot)

In a futuristic society not far removed from our own, crime and racism have purportedly been eliminated by an authority which requires all members of society to wear monitors that track their every movement. However, when a wealthy mother goes missing following a harrowing car accident, the balance of power will soon shift when she becomes a slave to a pair of nomads living off the grid.

Featuring Jody Flader, Carolina Hoyos, Alexandria Delgado, Satya Vanii, Kaypri, Leonard A. Thomas, Phil Idrissi, Trip Langley, Kimberly Hollkamp-Dinon, and Rashawn Nadine Scott

Reynaldo Dumas is an up-and-coming writer with ambitions to direct feature films. His favorite genre is sci-fi, and he wants to create stories that center around the African-American experience using science fiction elements. Based out of Chicago, Reynaldo enjoys playing guitar, drawing, and reading in his spare time.

Moonchild by Chris Courtney Martin (horror feature)

After a visit from her estranged mother, a Millennial werewolf is forced to choose between a successful life in the human world and the survival of her pack.

Featuring Kimberly Hébert, Toccarra Cash, J.R. Gomez, Daniel Mills, Will Slanger-Grant, and Dani Woodson

Chris Courtney Martin is a Black Non-Binary/Queer writer-producer-psychic originally from Philadelphia, PA. In 2014, they graduated from Drexel University with a degree in screenwriting and playwriting, with dual minors in film &video and art history. Their time at Drexel, yielded publication in The Triangle (student newspaper) and the school’s annual anthology, The 33rd. Martin’s screenwriting credits include Pale Horse-the upcoming feature directorial debut of Gabourey Sidibe, along with smaller projects starring legendary talent such as Sheryl Lee Ralph and Niecy Nash. With their spec screenplays having garnered several accolades, including wins at Urbanworld and Emerging Screenwriters as well as mentions on the Young & Hungry and Bitch Lists, Martin sees a return to poetry and other literature to be the next test of their writing skills. Their hybrid chapbook of poems and essays titled The Book Of I.P. (Idle Poems) is available in paperback on Amazon. Their other poetic works not included in this collection have been published via Erato Magazine, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, and The Incognito Press.

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First Fifteen

October 2, 2022

Full in-person reading and party!

Triggered written and directed by Kemiyondo Coutinho (industry sample pilot)

When Namara attempts to take her first BART ride since a traumatic event, she finds that she must make several emotional stops to get to her destination.

Featuring sola bamis, Alex Crow, Hillary Jones, Nekia Renee Martin, Kalea McNeill, Susan Louise O’Connor, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Thomas Silcott, Leonard A. Thomas, and Tobie Windham

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First Fifteen

September 25, 2022

Feedback with Tanya Barfield and Kemiyondo Coutinho

American Steele by Will Loper Jr. (drama pilot)

A PTSD-stricken student body president fights to expose the secrets behind a recent shooting at his Southern university.

Featuring Jared Corbin, Jamal Douglas, Summer Brown, Brooke Johnson, James Kenna, David Meyers, Tamika Simpkins, Inger Tudor, Rama Vallury, and Kaiy Watts

Will Loper Jr. is a well-traveled military brat and theater kid born and raised in Alaska’s whimsical wilderness who’s been accused of being the Abominable Snowman which has done wonders for his character development. Rejected by his beloved theater teacher for the lead role in his senior year musical, he addressed the lack of Black queer stories and characters by creating his own. As a drama writer that leans light, he focuses on characters whose shortcomings give them a chance to embrace their potential and, with the right community and support, thrive in their authenticity. Will’s purpose as a writer is to leave audiences having found joy in their own circumstances and arming them with a few remedies along the way. By providing a safe space to explore tabooed themes, he strives to empower and encourage his audience to let go of their self-imposed limitations in order to achieve their highest potential. As a founding member of the A-Story Collaborative – a group of emerging BIPOCwriters – his synergetic spirit, BFG (Big Friendly Giant) energy, and bomb snack/food suggestions are surefire assets that will enable him to flourish in any community. His latest project is the short film son•shine, which is inspired by the life of Nigel Shelby–a gay, Black, 14-year-old who committed suicide because of bullying and neglect at his high school as he struggled with his mental health.

Nefertiti by LaDarrion Williams (period drama pilot)

An epic exploration of Kemet’s most formidable Queen, Nefertiti, as she navigates betrayal, forbidden love, and a secret that will threaten her ascension to the throne.

Featuring Eric B. Anthony, Gilbert Glenn Brown, Summer Brown, Marcuis Harris, Mildred Marie Langford, Tamika Simpkins, and Inger Tudor

LaDarrion Williams is a Los Angeles based-playwright, filmmaker, author, and screenwriter whose goal is to cultivate a new era of Black fantasy, providing space and agency for Black characters and stories in a new, fresh and fantastical way. His first play, Katrina, won first place at the Alabama State Thespian Conference. It was also a part of A Noise Within Theatre for their Noise Now Reading Series. In September 2019, his play, Coco Queens, was a part of the Sundance Institute’s Playwriting Intensive. The play was also a semi-finalist for the 2020 Eugene O’Neill National Playwriting Conference. In 2021, his play Boulevard of Bold Dreams (a story about Hattie McDaniel’s historic Oscar win) was a part of the NewWorks Festival at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre in Santa Monica, California. Currently, it will be a part of the Orlando Shakes PlayFest 2022, and it will be making its world premiere at TimeLineTheatre in Chicago in January 2023 and Greater Boston Stage Company in March 2023. LaDarrion is currently a resident playwright/co-creator of The Black Creators Collective, where his play UMOJA made its WestCoast premiere in January 2022 and produced North Hollywood’s first Black playwrights festival at the Waco Theater Center. His viral and award-winning short film Blood at the Root is currently on YouTube and Amazon Prime and is anticipated to become a Young Adult fantasy novel.

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First Fifteen

May 15, 2022

Feedback with chandra thomas and Sylvia L. Jones

The Flags Need Soil by Ezra Lerner (one-hour dramedy pilot)

A depressed gamer yearning for change must decide whether or not to enlist in the army at the behest of a recruiter desperate to avoid losing his job and being redeployed.

Featuring Leonard A. Thomas, James Tang, Cassandra Hunter, Breezy Leigh, Satya Vanii, Phil Idrissi, Roni Banerjee, and Jaz Wright

Red for Revolution by Jana Smith (period drama short film)

When a Black female revolutionary is assassinated, the two women left in her stead, a famous apolitical jazz singer and a radical activist, happen upon an unlikely romance that they must protect during one of the most tumultuous periods in American history.

Featuring sola bamis, Shinelle Azoroh, Leonard A. Thomas, and Kila Kitu

Truck My Life by Sharona D’Ornellas (dramedy pilot)

Truck My Life follows Vaughn, an African American man in his mid thirties, as he converts an old food truck into a functional home to save money for his future real estate dreams. Comedy ensues as he simultaneously tries to find love in fickle Los Angeles, while essentially being homeless.

Featuring Philip Smithey, Shinelle Azoroh, Joshua R. Lamont, Rafiq Batcha, Gita Reddy, Jordan Williams, Jerome Beck, Kiayla Ryann, and Breezy Leigh

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First Fifteen

April 10, 2022

Feedback with Jonterri Gadson and Kemiyondo Coutinho

Viral by Andrew St Juste (comedy pilot)

After a failed movie career, an ex-influencer returns to the listicle company that made her famous, but instead of the corner office she’s stuck mentoring the next generation of content creators. 

Featuring Rashawn Nadine Scott, Leonard A. Thomas, David Meyers, Kaiy Watts, Alex Crow, Tiffany Oglesby, Kimberly Hollkamp-Dinon, Kaitlyn Foley, and Nekia Renee

Pulaski Avenue by Dani Woodson and Sumayya Ayoub (children’s animation pilot)

Pulaski Ave. is the tale of Danielle and Sumayya, two besties, from different backgrounds who expolored their Philadelphia neighborhood while encountering bullies, oddball neighbors, and learning lessons about friendship and life. 

Featuring Georgina Captan, Nekia Renee, Lee Sherman, Gita Reddy, Rafiq Batcha, James Tang, Rashawn Nadine Scott, and Kaiy Watts

the 1 & only MJ Girls by Mars Wolfe (comedy pilot)

The Windy City gets a makeover when two drag queens dip Chicago’s nightlife into the pasty watercolors of America’s Fine Arts Administration. 

Featuring Linda La, Jerome Beck, LaNora Terraé Hayden, Londen Shannon, Tryphena Wade, and Rashawn Nadine Scott

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First Fifteen

March 13, 2022

Feedback with Tash Gray

Pedigree: 1981 by Chanell Bell (dark comedy pilot)

Laurie is determined to make the Best Entertainment Television Network the best entertainment network of all time, but first, she must cover a few sex scandals, a few lies, and espionage in the process.

Featuring Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Alex Morris, B. Alexander, Elayn Taylor, Eric B. Anthony, James WDL Mercer II, Kaiy Watts, Tarina Bradshaw, and Tamika Simpkins

The Voice of Saya by Stephanie M. Mosley (drama pilot)

Silenced by sexual trauma, Faith Saya Clarke haphazardly embarks on an enlightening journey to discover her own resilience, humor, and power as she becomes a voice for the voiceless.

Featuring Breezy Leigh, Tory Devon Smith, Leonard A. Thomas, Alex Morris, Elayn Taylor, June Jones, Kaiy Watts, and Courtney Gabrielle Williams

The Expatriates by Katherine Street (period drama feature)

In the spring of 1929, a young Black couple visits Paris to find a sense of meaning, belonging, and a more promising future – but they cannot quite shake everything they left behind.

Featuring Akilah Walker, Maurice Demus, Eric B. Anthony, Amberlin Morse, Evangeline Edwards, Morgan Gunter, and Tamika Simpkins

Categories
First Fifteen

February 12, 2022

Feedback with Kemiyondo Coutinho and chandra thomas

My Addiction by Shanae Sharon (comedic short film)

Kat goes through a cycle of love addiction after meeting yet another man who she thinks is her soulmate. 

Featuring D’Kia Anderson, Millie Langford, Terrence Terrell, and Patrice Lakey

Me vs. You by Apoorva Gundeti (comedy pilot)

Corporate lawyer Sahana and artist Ben struggle to make their inter-racial relationship work. Sahana’s parents love Ben like their own son…so, what’s the problem? Well, Sahana’s company is responsible for the gentrification of the L.A. Arts District, which is now putting Ben out of work.

Featuring Anu Bhatt, Connor Sullivan, Yemie Sonuga, Huse Madhavji, Gita Reddy, Steve Han, Rami Khan, Desiree Staples, and Deepa Patel

Just a Friend by Kaypri (rom-com feature)

Despite their immediate connection on a hip-hop dance floor in the ’90s, a heartbroken undergraduate and a firefighter with a heart of gold, agree to just be friends out of respect for his promiscuous lifestyle and her celibacy.

Featuring Kendra Christel, Lanett Tachel, Vivia Armstrong, Darian Dauchan, Joshua R. Lamont, Abraham Ntonya, Leonard A. Thomas, and Rashawn Nadine Scott

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First Fifteen

December 12, 2021

A full reading of Christina Martin’s tech comedy A HUMAN PROBLEM with direction from Brittany Scott Smith

A Human Problem by Christina Martin

When a tech company’s problem-solving android starts eliminating white people, it’s up to two underappreciated black programmers to (maybe) save the day.

Featuring Jerrika Hinton, Brooks Brantly, Alex Morris, Danielle Frimer, Jody Flader, Andrew Elvis Miller, Rafiq Batcha, Alex Crow, and Rashawn Nadine Scott

Categories
First Fifteen

November 21, 2021

Feedback with Kemiyondo Coutinho and Jamila Daniel

MAGIC DADDY by Justin Casselle (drama-comedy pilot)

A world-renowned magician’s disappearance forces his two adult children to connect with a brother they never knew they had in order to track down their father and save the family.

Featuring Brooks Brantly, Leonard A. Thomas, Inger Tudor, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Alex Morris, Marcuis Harris, Alexandria Delgado, Courtney Gabrielle Williams, LaNora Terraè Hayden, Anwar Ali, and Yemie Sonuga

HAYS COUNTRY by Sabah Muhammad (drama pilot)

When family rivalries tear notorious bank robbers apart, their slipping stronghold on the West makes them a target for the enemies they made on the way to the top.

Featuring Krystal Farris, Marcuis Harris, CJ Dickinson, O’Neil Cespedes, Jason Michael Miller, Andrew Elvis Miller, Daniel Will-Harris, Anwar Ali, Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Jonah Wharton, André Sogliuzzo, Alexandria Delgado, and Gita Reddy

THE DOOR OF NO RETURN by EJ Tanner (horror feature)

While on spring break, five Black college students get trapped in a cursed slave castle off the coast of Senegal. Their search for a deeper connection to their roots brings them face-to-face with friends who want to ensnare them in eternal bondage. Can this group of friends come together and escape this level of hell, or will they suffer the same fate as the wretched souls trapped in this forsaken mausoleum?

Featuring LaNora Terraè Hayden, Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Leonard A. Thomas, Maurice Demus, Brooks Brantly, André Sogliuzzo, Alex Morris, and Inger Tudor

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First Fifteen

October 24, 2021

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho

Antisense by Rimi B. Chatterjee (sci-fi pilot)

The survivors of climate change gather in Climate Town, a UN-mandated refuge in Southeast Asia, and fight to save their future against the powers of exploiting their homelands and destroying their lives.

Featuring Gita Reddy, Michael Flood, Rafiq Batcha, Deepa Patel, Soma Mitra, Nikhaar Kishnani, Leilani Marie Smith, Mo Rodvanich, Brandon English, and Apoorva Gundeti

Black Flame by Myah Daniels (suspenseful drama pilot)

After a fire occurs at Vale Valley Prep, bookworm Sloan Sanders and the rest of the Black student body begin receiving mysterious text messages, leading them on a dangerous hunt to find the mysterious messenger.

Featuring Jairis Carter, Marie Dupree, Dakota Kruz, Caryn Ruby, Alex Crow, Moselle Davis-Kaufman, Bryan Keith, Lee Sherman, Phil Idrissi, Tamika Simpkins, and Nekia Renee

Facsimile by Shana L. Darabie (sci-fi/horror feature)

A woman obsessed with following the rules finds herself in a terrifying situation where the rules no longer apply after she’s assigned to work on a frozen planet populated by colonists hiding their own dreadful secret.

Featuring Puja Mohindra, Mari Weiss, Alex Crow, James Tang, Nikhaar Kishnani, Marcuis Harris, Leilani Marie Smith, Phil Idrissi, Gita Reddy, Mo Rodvanich, and Tamika Simpkins

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First Fifteen

September 26, 2021

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Rachelle R. Williams

Baptême by Jana Smith (surreal mockumentary short film)

The petty ass, messy ass ladies of a hit reality series have resumed production. And when one of the stars experiences a traumatic event, she seeks support from her closest friends and fellow castmates, only to be betrayed by them. She then must find healing in a place she never thought to look.

Featuring Tryphena Wade, Chanell Bell, Lakisha May, Toccarra Cash, Lorene Chesley, Alma Schofield, Kila Kitu, Ananiah Hogan, Kamal Bolden, and Inger Tudor 

Brute by Nathan James (drama pilot)

A broke college student joins a peculiar escort service—which caters to the taboo desires of wealthy couples—to help pay tuition. Rising racial tensions in the city of Pittsburgh cause him to question whether he is contributing to a problematic belief about his existence.

Featuring Ronald Emile, Allison Winn, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Paul McKinney, Leonard A. Thomas, Kaiy Watts, Toccarra Cash, Will Slanger-Grant, Justyn Williams, Jonah Wharton, and Courtney Gabrielle Williams

Remembering Charmaine by Katherine Street (dramedy pilot)

After the media erroneously reports the death of former child star-turned social pariah Charmaine Fox, she’s compelled to redeem herself in order to leave behind a more positive legacy.

Featuring Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Leonard A. Thomas, Lorene Chesley, Trip Langley, Antonio David Lyons, Kaitlyn Foley, Ethan Michael Hernández, and Rashawn Nadine Scott 

Categories
First Fifteen

June 13, 2021

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Felicia Pride

Essence of Rome by Will Loper Jr. (comedy pilot)

As a successful TV chef that seems to have it all, Rome Knight learns the hard way that not every way to a person’s heart is through their stomach when they must find a way to be vulnerable as they search for their better half.

Featuring Jamal Douglas, Tryphena Wade, Leonard A. Thomas, Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Dinah Berkeley, Tory Devon Smith, Breezy Leigh, Chanell Bell, Thomas Silcott, Philip Smithey, Trip Langley, Allison Youngberg, and Rashawn Nadine Scott

As a big, friendly giant military brat born and raised in Anchorage, Alaska, Will Loper Jr has had the pleasure of enjoying many experiences that came along with the life. As a Black man of the LGBTQIA community, he grew up with scarce influences to truly represent who he was which influenced him to write stories about his own experiences. Currently working for Apple, it has helped broaden his horizon of how he wants to leave his mark on the world; through storytelling. He went to the University of Alabama where he studied theater and music performance and is now working on his master’s in project management from LSU.

Sheltered by Henry Alexander Kelly (coming-of-age comedy pilot)

Follow a group of awkward high schoolers as they grow through the nerdy and dirty suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area!

Featuring Bryan Peralta, Taylor Vaughan, Regina Famatigan, Chris Trovador, Elena Campbell Martínez, Jesus Martinez, Julianna Ojeda, Mateo Mpinduzi-Mott, and Courtney Gabrielle Williams

Henry Alexander Kelly is a proud Nicaraguan-American venti-caramel comedic writer and actor. His works have been produced at Ensemble Studio Theatre LA, MeetCute LA, Skylight Theatre, Company of Angeles, and Q Youth Foundation. He is a company member of Ensemble Studio Theater LA, Nosotros, Hero Theater, and the swashbuckling children’s improv group The Story Pirates. He just made his feature film debut as kind-hearted Barrett in the dark-comedic thriller Murder Bury Win. Recently he was a semi-finalist in the Screencraft Film Fund, a graduate of the 2020 National Hispanic Media Coalition’s Series Script Writers Program sponsored by ABC and NBC, and a Sundance Institute alum. Henry serves zany, larger than life genre-blending worlds exploring the intersection of cultural identity, interpersonal struggles, and the absurdity of society. A proud member of the LGBTQIA+ community, he is deeply involved in championing and uplifting narratives of queer individuals through his storytelling! He is literary managed by ATN Entertainment.

American Rebel by York Walker (period drama)

When his lover is murdered, a newly ordained pastor embarks on a search for answers that threatens to shatter the foundation of his faith and change his world forever.

Featuring Jon Gentry, Tory Devon Smith, Courtney Gabrielle Williams, Thomas Silcott, Brian Ashton Smith, Dinah Berkeley, Trip Langley, Kila Kitu, and Tamika Simpkins

YORK WALKER is an award-winning writer based in Harlem, New York. He is the inaugural recipient of the Vineyard Theatre’s Colman Domingo Award where he is currently an artist in residence. He is also the winner of the John Singleton Short Film Competition. His work has been developed with the Fire This Time Festival, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, and the American Conservatory Theater. He is also a member of Marcus Gardley’s New Wave Writer’s Workshop and is currently in development writing the book for a new Broadway musical.

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First Fifteen

May 16, 2021

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and J. Holtham

Swamp Boys by Yayabell Debay (fantasy/science fiction feature)

An introverted teenage girl visits her estranged aunt in the Swampy town of Castor, Louisiana and is turned into the creature that has tormented her nightmares, forcing her into the sinister side of a world filled with folk magic and Biblical monsters.

Featuring Haley Powell, Kimberly Hébert, Garrett Schroeder, Elayn J. Taylor, Inger Tudor, Antonio David Lyons, and Tamika Simpkins

Yayabell Debay is a junior at Pepperdine University where she studies acting with a double minor in creative writing and French. Originally, raised in Ethiopia, where she performed in local theatrical productions and served as a district and educational volunteer for disadvantaged communities, Yayabell moved to California in 2018 to attend college. She has worked on stage and off in several theatrical productions including Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley and Shakespeare’s As You Like It. She is a creative assistant at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts and copy editor for Kadd Kena Publishing. She is currently working on her feature screenplay Swamp Boys and is in the process of adapting her short story, The Summertime Motel, into a short film.

Sugar’s Paradise by Lauren Marissa Smith (period drama pilot)

Sugar’s Paradise is a lush one-hour period drama centering the story of Ebony Exotica’s rise from burlesque dancer to criminal mastermind amongst Harlem’s 1940s Black social elite. It is one woman’s journey of success, sexual reclamation and self-actualization.

Featuring Lakisha May, Leonard A. Thomas, Antonio David Lyons, Freddie Fulton, Andrew Elvis Miller, Rob Nagle, Eboni Flowers, and Inger Tudor

Lauren Marissa Smith is an artist, writer, actor and producer who uses the intersection of language and imagery to celebrate Black womanhood. She creates worlds in which her characters take their sovereignty, hone their power and fulfill the highest, truest expression of themselves. She is the writer and creator of the digital series, Maybe it’s Me, which is set for release in 2022. The show focuses on seven unknowingly connected people as their lives and relationships shift over the course of one night in New York City. As an actor, her favorite roles include Sarah in Funnyhouse of a Negro, Charlie in the award-winning film Charlie and Daniel, and Tillie Petunia in the AUDELCO recognized production of On Striver’s Row. Lauren is also currently the Soul Producer in Resident at the National Black Theatre in Harlem for the 2020-21 season. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Spelman College.

Lady Parts by Christina Martin (comedy pilot)

An impulsive medical resident attempts to escape her overbearing parent’s influence by dropping out of her program and joining the staff of a soapy hospital drama.

Featuring chandra thomas, Tristan Laurence Perez, Elayn J. Taylor, Alex Morris, Andrew Elvis Miller, Hank Chen, Lexi Graboski, Anna Sun, and Rashawn Nadine Scott

A native Houstonian, Christina Martin was practically born into storytelling. Growing up at The Ensemble, the oldest and largest professional African American theatre in the Southwest, she rarely missed an opening night and, even as a child, was always called upon to give feedback on their productions.

She later went on to study drama at her beloved Spelman College where she had the honor of learning from a number of dynamic, working artists, including noted playwright and author, Pearl Cleage.

Upon her graduation, Christina moved to Los Angeles and, though she’d always loved writing, it took many changes – going from casting to talent management to film sales to ad sales – for her to finally realize that telling stories was the only thing she wanted to do.

Today she is a Daytime Emmy-nominated writer best known for her work on the Emmy Award-winning digital series Giants, now streaming on BET+. A writer of many genres, Christina can’t help but inject at least a little humor into everything she does.

Categories
First Fifteen

April 11, 2021

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Kevin Avery

Past Life by Tish Arana (comedy pilot)

After trying ayuasca tea at a spiritual retreat, a young woman discovers she now has the ability to see strangers’ past lives.

Featuring Rashawn Nadine Scott, Vipul Munshi, Aisha Lomax, Kaycee Campbell, Susan Louise O’Connor, and Skye Shepard

Tish Arana is an actor and writer living in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from The University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Science in strategic communications from the William Allen White School of Journalism. While working full time as a vendor manager for The Man, she’s pursued an acting career, booking a slew of national commercials. She was in two award-winning short films. Sirens, which was written and directed by Jo Rochelle and Avery Road, had a long run on Amazon Prime. Aside from acting, she’s worked as a contributing writer for the fitness blog, Fit Bottomed Girls and got to meet and work out with Venus Williams. She has one child; a maniacal cherub who she’s managed to keep alive and gangsta for almost six whole years. Last year she brought her first ever piece (a short film script) to First Fifteen. Past Lives is her first pilot script adventure.

3rd Rock Realty by Alex Ubokudom (animation pilot)

An animated situation comedy that centers on a Black female real-estate agent, Patrice Ewing, who is trying to sell apartments in Harlem during an alien invasion so she can keep up her expensive lifestyle.

Featuring Toccarra Cash, Brooks Brantly, David Jacobs, Blair Busbee, Lakisha May, Kyle Schaefer, and Leonard A. Thomas

Alex Ubokudom is a creator, actor, writer and satirist who is based in NYC. He attended the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor for undergrad and the American Conservatory Theater for his MFA in acting. He’s performed in multiple Off-Broadway productions as well as in sketch comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade and the People’s Improv Theater. His satirical video sketches have been showcased by the Huffington Post and The Root. His creations seek to fantastically disrupt realities while bringing people joy, inviting them to imagine and making them feel SEEN!

Vet Centered by Ariel Bell (workplace comedy pilot)

Recently retired from the Army, Renée just wants to be normal again, but everything about civilian life scares her. But in the constant chaos and ridiculousness of the VA she finds comfort and flourishes. Why? Because these are her people.

Featuring Pamela Shaddock, Yvette Cason, Dee Baldus, Alexandra Ryan, Alexis Suarez, Paul McKinney, Susan Louise O’Connor, Newton Kaneshiro, and Gita Reddy

Ariel Bell, a native of Medford, Massachusetts, has always had a love of the arts. After serving in the U.S. Army, Ariel ventured west to Los Angeles where she worked as an audio engineer in recording studios and live sound production. Unfulfilled by the music industry, Ariel went back to school where she earned a BA in cinema & TV arts and an MFA in screenwriting from Cal State University, Northridge. While on that path she discovered theatre. She was asked to work with the Shakespeare Center of LA in their Veterans in Arts program. This experience opened a new journey of storytelling. She currently works in theatre production where, along with her many technical skills in almost every part of theatre production, after all she is a Black woman, Ariel is also honing her skills as a playwright.

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First Fifteen

March 28, 2021

The Education of Ebony Stone written by Crystal P. Garland and directed by Bianca LaVerne Jones.

A single mother, desperate for cash, is recruited to aid an underground radical network in 1980s South Carolina.

Featuring Brittany Bellizeare, sola bamis, Nathan James, Alex Morris, Rob Nagle, Susan Louise O’Connor, Elayn J. Taylor, Alexander Crow, Michael Flood, Abie Irabor, Natasha LaGrone, and Yemie Sonuga.

Crystal Garland is a writer from South Carolina. Born on a military base, but raised in public housing, she discovered her love of writing in New York City’s independent film theaters. Crystal began her TV career writing for Netflix’s OUTER BANKS. She’s written for the 2016 CBS Diversity Showcase, was selected for the 2019 Athena Film Festival TV Lab and the 2020 WeForShe WriterHer List, and was a 2020 Final Draft Big Break semifinalist. Prior to entertainment, she worked for the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency, before transitioning to a career in criminal justice policy. She has surveyed inmates and prison staff, and developed policy briefs to support community-based treatment for people with substance abuse and mental health issues. Crystal is an alumnus of Stanford University.

Bianca Laverne Jones’s credits and training includes the following:

REGIONAL: GLORIOUS WORLD OF CROWNS, KINKS AND CURLS (Baltimore Center Stage); THE GIFT OF THE MAD GUYS (Pittsburgh Public Theater); OTHELLO (Opera): 5 Aspects for Bass and Chamber Orchestra (Newark Veterans Park). OFF BROADWAY: FEAST: A Yoruba Tale (HERE Arts, Dream Center Harlem), ARMED (Amoralist Theater Company Teatro LATEA), London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts showcase (Playwrights Horizon). NEW MEDIA: FOR WHICH IT STANDS (NYTW); PROCLAMATION (FLUGELMAN/Australia); DARE TO DREAM (FLUGELMAN); COVERED (NYCSEEING2020); OH, THIS IS RICH (Miles Square Theater); SPUNK (Hedgepig and Classical Theater of Harlem); CHOICES (BOLD/NYC), SERMON I WISH I’D HEARD (BOLD), OLDEST TOWN IN TEXAS (BOLD); TAKE YO SHIT (WHILE WE BREATHE); DO YOU REALLY WANNA KNOW (WHILE WE BREATHE); UHURU (AYE DEFY); DON’T CALL ME BROTHER (Hill Productions).

ASSOCIATE/ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN (Syracuse Stages; Baltimore Center Stage); A SMALL OAK TREE RUNS RED (Billie Holiday Theater); BLKS (MCC/NYC); THE FIRST NOEL (Classical Theater of Harlem, Apollo Theater). FILM: THE GAZE (a film quilt) Episodes 108 & 109 (Tell Me a Story Productions); MOTHER’S MILK (Tell Me a Story Productions); UNDERCOVER SIDECHICK (Afro Goddess Productions), STORKERS (Script Supervisor) LONDON: PARTNERS (Carne Theater), LAMDA showcase (Ambassador Theater/West End).

TRAINING: NCSA (diploma), SUNY Purchase (BFA-Acting), Yale, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (MA-Directing). Awards: DC Black Theater Festival for Best One Act Play 2013, 2019 Best Actress Broadway World, AUDELCO for Best Ensemble 2018. Unions: SDC, AEA, SAG-AFTRA.

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First Fifteen

March 21, 2021

WOC Writers Panel with Lauren Glover, Mika Frank, Elizabeth Kim, Dionn Richardson, and chandra thomas

Lauren Glover is a Los Angeles based drama and dramedy writer originally from Columbia, Maryland. A former registered nurse with experience working in the psychiatric, intensive care, and hospice fields, Lauren writes darkly comedic stories with a humanistic and nuanced approach. Lauren is a Sundance Episodic Lab Fellow (2020) and was a writers’ assistant on a new CBS show, The Second Wave, created by Robert and Michelle King (THE GOOD WIFE, EVIL). Previously, Lauren was a writers’ assistant on a new adult animated Amazon series (FAIRFAX) and a showrunner’s assistant to Pam Veasey on LA’S Finest. Lauren is currently a staff writer on the new HBO Max series DUSTER.

A native of Cleveland, Mika Frank began her storytelling career as a songwriter. But after her mom pressured her to pursue a conventional career, Mika went on to become a pharmacist. Mika later rekindled her love for writing after starting a relationship blog. When Mika discovered the world of film and television writing, she refocused her talents and moved to Los Angeles. Mika has since placed in the 2018 AFI Directing Workshop for Women, the 2019 WeScreenplay Contest, and 2020 Warner Brothers Television Workshop. Mika has written and directed the web series, My Girlfriend is Black, and four short films. Mika pens flawed strong character driven stories.

When Elizabeth Kim was eight years old, her family moved to Louisiana. Feeling out of place, she spent a large part of her child being bookish and painfully shy. She escaped through reading books, where she could be someone else for a few blissful hours. She also competed nationally in piano competitions, though never quite becoming a child prodigy. much to her parent’s disappointment. Elizabeth attended Rice University, where she studied biochemistry & cell biology and visual arts. During college, she worked in a neurophysiology lab where her research was published in a scientific journal. After moving to Los Angeles, she used her neurology background to work in a polysomnographic sleep lab, which gave her the inspiration to write her feature script, THE BRAIN MIRROR, which won an Alfred P. Sloan Award. Elizabeth Kim studied screenwriting at the American Film Institute Conservatory. She has written for ARROW (CW) and the animated series FREEDOM FIGHTERS: THE RAY (CW SEED). Much of her work features identity issues, underdog stories with heart, and flawed protagonists. In her spare time, she enjoys French patisserie, interior design, and pretending to be on a diet while eating dessert.

Dionn Richardson hails from Atlanta, Georgia. After graduating with a theatre degree from Georgia Southern University, she took a giant leap of faith and moved to Harlem, USA. While working as a personal assistant for Black Thought of The Legendary Roots Crew, she decided to follow her dreams of working in television. She freelanced as a talent/casting coordinator, but now her goal is to produce and develop TV shows for underrepresented groups of people. Dionn currently works as a showrunners’ assistant.

chandra thomas is a writer-actor-producer originally from New York. She’s currently a writer on the hit multi-cam comedy, MOM. chandra was the sole comedy writer in the 2020 CBS Writers’ Program. Also a playwright, chandra’s play THE BUZZER was just named a Featured Finalist in the Blue Ink Playwriting Award; she’s currently an Echo Theatre Young Playwrights fellow. As an actor, chandra’s credits include LABOR DAY, 9-1-1, LAW & ORDER: SVU, BLUE BLOODS, among others. She earned BA degrees in theatre and sociology from Vanderbilt University, and holds an MFA from Columbia University. chandra’s the proud daughter of immigrants, has gleefully lived all over the country and around the world, and absolutely loves baseball.

Categories
First Fifteen

March 14, 2021

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Anil K. Foreman.

Babygirl by Kaypri (dramedy one-hour pilot)

Set in the mid-80s hip hop era, Summer, a bi-racial 11 year old from Northern New Jersey, is the only child of older activist parents who escapes to her TV when she is forced to navigate middle school, her racial identity, and the inevitable death of her father.

Featuring Lee Sherman, Zariyah Johnson, Suzan Mikiel, Alex Morris, Alena Cameron, Justice Freedom Jones, and Inger Tudor.

Breakout by Gita Reddy (comedy pilot)

Two women struggle to keep their dysfunctional diversity training company afloat, performing ridiculously stilted sketches for corporate clients while trying to hang onto their ideals.

Featuring Joy Regullano, chandra thomas, Huse Madhavji, Alexander Crow, Jackie Chung, Amy Scribner, and Yemie Sonuga.

Confessions of a Rock-Mom by Joi Adams, Toccarra Cash, and Janette Ellis (comedy pilot)

A Black, Xennial non-profit mogul on the cusp of having it all struggles with finding out she’s pregnant with baby number 2, but with the support of her eclectic sister tribe and doting husband, she navigates her new normal.

Featuring Madia Hill Scott, Nathan James, Brittany Bellizeare, Dina Thomas, Diana Sanchez, Pamela Shaddock, James Tang, and Rashawn Nadine Scott.

Categories
First Fifteen

February 28, 2021

Feedback from Kemiyondo Coutinho and Ester Lou Weithers

Strange Fruit by Deborah Jane Burke (musical short film)

Lashelle Robinson, a Wall Street executive travels back to the 1800s to rescue her ancestor, Inka, from a murderous lynching – all to lift the curse off her interracial marriage.  Told through rap, song, and dance.

Featuring Zakiya Young, Yemie Sonuga, McKenzie Mack, Phil Idrissi, Connor Sullivan, Leonard A. Thomas, Kevin Rindfleisch, and Kike Ayodeji.

Gordon Hill Uprising by Chance Parker and Casey J. Adler (drama pilot)

A compact humane drama, which shines a light on school reform and social disempowerment.

Featuring NayNay Kirby, Jahi Bogard, Lee Sherman, Christian Rayce, Eric B. Anthony, Leonard A. Thomas, Adam Cox, DonJuan Futrell, Suzan Mikiel, Chet Anekwe, Andrew Truong, and Inger Tudor.

Solomon’s Mood by Tryphena Wade (dramatic short film)

Two lovers chronicle their desire and quest for one another. Their close encounters and his boldness put them in close proximity to one another. Will they each recognize that the other is “the one”?

Featuring Edward Young III, sola bamis, Shinelle Azoroh, and Yemie Sonuga.

Categories
First Fifteen

February 21, 2021

The Cost of Living written by Alma Schofield and directed by Kimberly Hébert. Feedback from Loy A. Webb.

In the year 1891, Ida B. Wells, a free black business owner from Memphis, TN, has embarked on an anti-lynching crusade after a traumatic event inspires the young journalist to take action. As she uses her voice and her resources to expose the atrocities of the south in the days following emancipation, she learns that speaking out in the name of justice can have dire and unexpected consequences, not only for herself, but also for the people that matter most to her. 

Featuring Kelly Jenrette, Bechir Sylvain, Yvette Cason, Maurice Demus, Leonard A. Thomas, Jonah Wharton, Rod McLachlan, Aliyah Muhammad, and Nekia Renee.

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First Fifteen

January 31, 2021

Full Reading of Lauren Glover’s The Dirty Spoon under the direction of Star Victoria

The Dirty Spoon by Lauren Glover (southern gothic drama pilot)

In 1930s Savannah, Georgia, blues, jazz, and supernatural forces prevail at rural juke joint The Dirty Spoon. The Spoon’s proud owner, SADIE MACK (30s), fights to save her beloved business—and later her life—after a powerful white man is found murdered on the premises. But in order to do so, she must overcome her hatred of the dead man’s wife—her own white passing sister, Anna.

Featuring Keyla McNeely, Rob Nagle, Kalea McNeill, Alex Morris, Asia Lynn Pitts, Leonard A. Thomas (@leonard), Amy Scribner, Lexi Graboski (@lexig), Jonah Wharton, Alex Crow, and Eric B. Anthony

Categories
First Fifteen

January 24, 2021

Feedback with Stephanie Coggins and Kemiyondo Coutinho

One Blood by Omar Luqmaan-Harris and Sameerah Luqmaan-Harris (supernatural thriller pilot)

In supernatural thriller, One Blood, a lifer at the Louisiana State Penitentiary gets a second chance at freedom — all he has to do is assassinate the sitting Governor of Louisiana.

Featuring Gerard Joseph, Kimberly Alexander, Josh Wingate, Thomas Silcott, Kamal Bolden, Hudson Oznowicz, and Alex Morris.

ZomBFFs by Amelia Rico (horror comedy feature)

A group of women accidentally bring their dead friend back to life. Lucky for them, true friendship never dies.

Featuring Reyna Janelle, Karina Pal-Montaño, Lainnie Felán, Lindsay Ehrhardt, Leonard A. Thomas, and Elena Campbell Martínez.

Peki House Haunting by Emma Van Lare (supernatural feature)

After the death of her grandfather, Lily, a first-generation Ghanaian-American and the last living member of the Peki family, travels, for the first time, to her ancestral homeland to settle his estate. She realizes it is not just her with a claim to the land. The land has a claim to her too…a spiritual one.

Featuring Afua Busia, Christopher Mychael Watson, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, Selina Scott-Bennin, Amy Scribner, Josh Wingate, and Antonio David Lyons.

Categories
First Fifteen

December 13, 2020

BOY-Friends by Devere Rogers and Vladimir Versailles

On Sunday, December 13th, we laughed and listened to the full script of Devere and Vladimir’s comedic pilot, BOY-Friends, which followed Derek Duplesis and his three best friends.

Derek Duplesis is a cocky up-and-coming comedian who is winning – until his girlfriend publicly rejects his marriage proposal and he has an embarrassing drunken meltdown that goes viral. There to catch him are his three gay best friends. To save money and figure out his life, he moves in with JoJo, Tyrone, and George, reuniting their squad, Da BOYS. The four roommates navigate life in this new – slightly awkward arrangement – and learn what it means to be a real man, secure in your masculinity and sexuality, and the true meaning of love, shade, and all things fabulous.

Featuring Larry Powell, Cornelius Smith Jr., Roger Q. Mason, Tracie Thoms, Steven Strobel, and Michael Rishawn

Categories
First Fifteen

December 6, 2020

Feedback with Alesia Etinoff and Kemiyondo Coutinho

Grief Is Normal by Tiffany Yvonne Cox & Mildred Marie Langford (dramedy pilot)

Two driven, African American women in 1958 Los Angeles, find an unlikely friendship after meeting at The Center for Unfortunate People.

Featuring Joy Brunson, Tiffany Oglesby, CJ Lindsey, Deanna Reed Foster, Tryphena Wade, LaNora Terraé Hayden (@lanorahayden), Rashawn Nadine Scott, Gail Rastorfer, and LaNisa Frederick

Nut City by Tamika Simpkins (dramedy pilot)

In the vein of the classic whodunit, in the small town of Walnut City, two odd-couple-esque detectives, with a complexly layered partnership, investigate a murder/kidnapping, interrogate the quirky residents and uncover a town secret more eerie than the blood left on the carpet.

Featuring Dana L. Wilson, Brooks Brantly, Lee Sherman, Rashawn Nadine Scott, LaNora Terraé Hayden (@lanorahayden), Jully Lee, Trip Langley, and Kila Kitu (@kilakitu)

Red Planet One by Lainnie Contreras Felán (sci-fi pilot)

A troubled, smart ass, space cop leads an investigation to solve a shocking disappearance, partnering with a mysterious ally, while Red Planet Colonists confront the threat of space sickness.

Featuring Alondra Lara, Tim Chiou (@timmchiou), Jeff Thompson, Alejandro Patiño, Selina Scott-Bennin, Elena Campbell-Martinez, and Amelia Rico

Categories
First Fifteen

November 22, 2020

La Femme Nakia by Christina Martin and directed by Pete Chatmon

On Sunday, November 22nd, we heard Christina Martin’s action pilot La Femme Nakia. A disgraced FBI agent fighting to be reinstated finds herself working on the wrong side of the law…for the right reasons. This full reading featured @jerrika, Christina Elmore, Tryphena Wade, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Brooks Brantly, Gilbert Chayrez-Chavarria, Amy Scribner, James Tang, Alex Crow, Erik Heger, Greg Allan Martin, @leonard, and Alex Morris

With feedback from Erika L. Johnson and Niya Palmer