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.