New Kingston Films in association with the LAB and the Jamaica Film Commission, JAMPRO, is gearing up for the production of For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak: August’s Town. The urban crime drama series is delighted to announce that Jamaican stars Sheldon Shepherd (Yardie, Betta Mus’ Come), Marcos James (Game of Thrones, Goals, Escape the Night), Luke Forbes (Atlanta, SWAT, House of Cards, Blacklist: Redemption), and Allison McLean (Dope Fiend) will lead the cast. Charles Hayes IV (Clockwork, God Friended Me, Luke Cage, Scott Rudin- Fences) and Kenneth O’Toole (Belle, A United Kingdom, Two) comprise the core producing team. Award winning Jamaican playwright and performer Ano Okera (A Necessary Inconvenience, NYC Confessions, 30 Rock, RENT) has written the tantalizing script and will make his directorial debut.
An official selection for best screenplay at HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles and Sacramento International Film Festival and a semi-finalist in Screencraft Short Screenplay competition, For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak: August’s Town utilizes the rich traditions and dramatic nuances of the vibrant Jamaican culture to bring a familiar story of so many women and daughters to life. Inspired by true events, August’s Town sets the tone for Lily’s heartbreaking and poetic worldview, with a striking degree of relatability and universality, and with great specificity of time and place. “We want to create a new standard for the future of Jamaican stories on a global scale because it will be hard for churches, schools, hospitals, politicians and judicial systems alike to ignore the implications.” Says producer/co-creator, Charles Hayes IV. “If the measure of any society is how it treats its women and girls, we need to ask ourselves, how can we better serve the women and girls in our lives?”
Casting director, Nadean Rawlins, has struck gold with Roginea Dixon as August and Shernet Swearine, as the teenage lead, Lily. Even more, Sakina Deer (Dope Fiend, Sprinter), Naté Bova (Da Sweet Blood of Jesus), and Sharee McDonald Russell (Sugar) will round out the cast with celebrated Jamaican recording artists Tifa and Aisha Davis, making their film debut. Noted fashion stylist, Anatolli Smith, legendary production designer, Paul Hamilton, will hone the most authentic look, style, and feel of past and present Jamaica with filmmakers Darren Scott (Director of Photography) and Twain Richardson (editor), along with Trisha Knott-Francis (Production Manager, the LAB) and Tashara Lee Johnson (Line Producer, LAB), and locations manager, Eka Patterson, and more.
For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak: August’s Town proudly invites viewers to become change partners. Follow us, get updates, and support our movement @forlittlegirlswhoareafraid. All film merchandise benefit UNWomen Caribbean and UNESCO’s commitment to youth and female survivors.
For more details visit: https://forlittlegirlswhoareafraidtospeak.com/
FOR LITTLE GIRLS WHO ARE AFRAID TO SPEAK: AUGUST TOWN
An Urban Jamaican Drama
Genre/Logline: For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak: August’s Town is a high-concept crime drama about a family fighting to survive the harsh realities of Jamaican life.
Runtime: 15-20 minutes
Plot: As Lily (Searine) struggles for life in 2016, the unconscious teenager is suddenly facing the murder of her great great grandmother, August (Dixon), in 1716. At the same time, her mother, Rose (McLean), meets Lily’s American teacher (Bova) for the first time in the emergency room and uncovers that Lily’s journal is a smoking gun far more lethal than the violence and murders in August Town. While her father, Garrett (Shepherd), unable to shake his past demons arrives at the hospital when it is too late. Both Rose and Garrett must confront how their plan to protect Lily backfires.
Comparables: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Spotlight, Room, The Accused, Precious, The Color Purple, If Beale Street Could Talk, Handmaid’s Tale, Big Little Lies, 13 Reasons Why, Sex Education.
Starring: Luke Forbes (Atlanta, Crown Heights, SWAT, House of Cards, Blacklist: Redemption), Sheldon Shepherd (Yardie, Betta Mus’ Come, Battledream Chronicles: A New Beginning), Marcos James (Game of Thrones, Goals, Escape the Night), Allison McLean (Dope Fiend), Sakina Deer (Dope Fiend, Sprinter), Naté Bova (Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, Sharee McDonald Russell (Sugar), and introducing Tifa, Aisha Davis, Roginea Dixon and Shernet Swearine as Lily…
Creative/Producing Team: Creator, Writer, Director— Ano Okera (For Little Girls Who Are Afraid to Speak, NYC Confessions, 30 Rock, RENT); Producers— Charles Hayes IV (ABC, Netflix, Marvel, Scott Rudin- Fences) and Kenneth O’Toole (Belle, A United Kingdom, Two); Producing Partner— Valerie Wilson (ValInc PR); Producing Partner— Anatolli Smith (Wardrobe); Art Director/Graphics— Jedaiah Cuffy (NK Films); Producing Associate— Tia Lewis (NK Films); First Assistant Director— Lee Rose (NK Films); Production Management, Jamaica— Trisha Knott Francis (Production Manager, The Lab), Kimala Bennett (Producing Partner, The LAB), Tashara-Lee Johnson (Line Producer, The LAB), Darren Scott (Director of Photography), Twain Richardson (Editor), Eka Patterson (Locations Manager); Casting— Nadean Rawlings (Raw Management); Film Sales & Promotion— Stefan Chang (JAMPRO).
Production Notes: An official selection for best screenplay at the HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles and Sacramento International Film Festival, and a semi-finalist in Screencraft Shorts Screenplay competition, New Kingston Films, NYC, in association with the LAB and the Jamaican Film Commission, JAMPRO, is currently in pre-production for the 15-20min short-film version of the pilot, and gearing up for the January production.
PR, Website & Social Media: The website and social media engagement will launch to the public on December 18th via our NYC media partners! Additionally, a more robust fundraising drive and film merchandise launch online for our initial viewers and “Change Partners” will follow on December 19, 2019, with part of the proceeds from our merchandising lines and holiday gift packages to benefit crime and rape survivors via UNWomen and UNESCO.
ABOUT ANO OKERA (Creator. Writer. Director)
Ano Okera is an award-winning Jamaican playwright, performer, director, producer, and storyteller with a unique Afro-Caribbean perspective. Founder of New Kingston Films, a socially conscious film production and film fund company for diverse filmmakers, Okera’s stories explore how the effects of corrupt colonial, religious, and political systems, rich with a legacy of the plantocracy, struggle, violence, identity, social & sexual conflict, all conspire against contemporary progression. Some of his film/TV credits include appearances in the NBC series 30 Rock, and films Where Truth Lies and the Breeding. Other credits include playing ‘Angel’ in the hit Broadway show RENT, a brief Singer/songwriter Recording Deal with Columbia Records and multiple performances across the world. Winner of the HB Studios Christina Kukucka Playwriting Scholarship Award, his inaugural film project, For Little Girls Who Are Afraid To Speak, is an official selection for best screenplay at HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles and Sacramento International Film Festival and a semi-finalist in Screencraft Short Screenplay competition.
ABOUT CHARLES HAYES IV (Co-creator. Producer)
Charles Hayes IV is an emerging NYC-based Producer and co-founder of New Kingston Films. TV & Film credits include CBS, Warner Bros., ABC, Marvel, Netflix, Scott Rudin Productions (Fences), Showtime, HBO, the Food Network, GQ, and Fisher-Price. Theater credits: Corkscrew Theater Festival, Frigid Festival, and the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival. With this range of production experience, and a B.S. in Biology [from Morehouse College], Charles’ unshakeable faith commands an unrelenting focus. “Knowing the power of loving oneself” is the paramount principle to this rising-juggernaut filmmaker.
NEW KINGSTON FILMS
NK Films invests in, develops, and producers scripted film/television originals, with varying degrees of fiscal participation, on budgets ranging from $50,000 to $ 25 million, all of which involve topics that benefit from social action campaigns. Little gap on bridge financing. A modern, more practical approach. https://www.newkingstonfilm.com/
THE LAB JAMAICA
100% Jamaican born and bred advertising agency and production management company with global reach and an island swagger. A strategic, creative, passionate solutions oriented and no nonsense group with a heavy emphasis on getting stuff done!
https://www.thelabjamaica.com/
THE FILM COMMISSION
The Jamaica Film Commission was established in 1984, and operates alongside the Creative Industries Unit within the Jamaica Promotion Corporation (JAMPRO/Jamaica Trade & Invest). The Jamaica Film Commission is mandated to promote the Jamaican film industry through facilitation of activities that increase investment, export, and employment in the sector. The Creative Industries Unit is a key policy advocate and advisor to the Government in matters pertaining to the improvement of Jamaica’s business environment and the development of new industries.
http://www.filmjamaica.com/
