Agbe(wt) is a dramedy series about a stressed out Ghanaian mother and her children who must deal with the challenges and tribulations living in a low income Bronx neighborhood. Modeled after the narrative structure of Charles Burnett’s breakthrough film, Killer of Sheep(1978), this web-series will follow the lives of the four main characters showing their lives as they endure live and learn from their experiences and actions. Taking care of her two young kids while her eldest boy is in prison stresses out 52-year-old Eureka Adu. Even though Eureka has been in America for almost 25 years, she still retains a lot of her African heritage and tries to pass it onto her younger kids Kwame and Kwajo. Nii, her eldest son is almost done serving his 3rd year of a 5-year sentence at Rikers for a felony “Possession of a hand gun” charges. Viewers become part of the family and lives through their tragedies as they move forward through life.

 

Growing up in a Ghanaian family and environment for 18 years, I think of this as a passion project because it will incorporate many aspects of my multiple cultures. Growing up I often found myself trapped between two lives; one influenced by American culture and the other by Ghanaian culture. For that reason, the social commentary in the series is present to help audiences think critically about the ways that certain people in the United States live. In preparation for this screenplay, I’ve spent the last two years talking to many people about their experiences growing up in the New York City, taken classes about the Black and African Family structures at Lafaytte as well as doing my own outside research on different communities and their interactions. When written and filmed I would like this project to work as a good reference for people of all ages and backgrounds to understand one potential life experience of a New York City first generation Ghanaian family.

 

5 ways to help classmates

-Technical work as cameraman or lighting on film shoots

-Be a table reader or stand in actor

-Talk about documentary techniques or styles

-Organizing and setting up Art Direction

-Provide my Watson court as a room to shoot in

 

TimeLine for project

 

Writing

Sept. 5,7 – Finish part 2 of 3 Script.

Sept. 12,14 – Start part 3 of 3

Sept. 19, 24 – Finish Part Spec script

Sept. 26,28 – Convert script to Full Script

 

Editing

Oct 3,5 – Send script for review (10 people outside of class)

Oct 10 — Grammar and Punctuation check, turn in

 

Revising

October – November