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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

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.

Categories
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

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

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

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.