Bring African Twist Season 2 to Production
My wife-Hellene-is from Nigeria. There she was an actress before coming to America. I was an author with self-published novels. I had hoped to one day turn those novels into movies somehow. When we met we fell in love pretty quickly and married within just weeks of getting to know each other. Together, we created a faith-based independent production company owned and operated by us. Our company name Eleven Twenty-One Entertainment is derived from our wedding anniversary November 21st. We both share a passion for storytelling, and we share the same message— God wins. Whether its comedy, drama, romance, or suspense we want to be the light amid the darkness that goes on in the world. We have started our journey in 2016 and continued to pursue our passion of storytelling ever since.
Hellene started working in America as a freelance hair braider. I would take her to her clients or they would come to us. It was in these odd jobs were we would have the craziest experiences with clients. We discussed how with all that we have experienced there should be a series about hair braiders and their experience with clients and their personal drama. It was there that the idea for African Twist was created.
Logline
Four Las Vegas hair braiders' lives are turned upside down when Sade-a Nigerian immigrant stumbles into the salon hiding from I.C.E. It's soon learned Sade isn't the only one there with secrets and drama outside of the salon.
Synopsis
An undocumented Nigerian is within minutes of getting picked up by I.C.E but escapes into hiding only to find herself as an accidental new hire at an African hair braiding salon. She navigates the sister-hood in this new group of first and second generation immigrants; each one silently managing their own secrets including; domestic violence, prostitution, single motherhood and more
Funding
With the funding provided we will be able to obtain the needed equipment upgrades to ensure an even better quality visually and in sound for season 2. We plan to use professional production studios as well as private rental locations for filming. With our cast members traveling from across the nation and internationally, the funds will help as we want to ensure they're not only paid properly but the logistics of getting them to set are handled as well as feeding. Post production plays a big part in the quality of the end result and we will be working with a broader team of professionals. And of course marketing is a big part of the overall success of the series and we want to ensure we have adequate funds to publicise properly whether on our own or with a PR firm.
Additional Information
African Twist is a dramedy with real-world issues addressed mixed with humour. Many have compared our series to classics such as Desperate Housewives and Devious Maids.
Season 1 has been quite a journey in getting created. We had a lot of doors closed in our faces and hurdles to jump through to get here. But we kept our faith and held strong and we're grateful to be blessed with having the first season released on Tubi. We also have plans to have African Twist expanded to more platforms such as Netflix or Hulu etc. This would be including the first and second season.
The Nitty-Gritty
Since the release of season 1 last year African Twist has gathered much attention from the media and our viewers.
African Twist Season 1 was selected in the 2024 Las Vegas Black Film Festival, has been featured in an article in Essence Magazine
African Twist has also been nominated for 7 Indie Series Awards including; Best Drama Series, Best Directing by Hellene Alabi-Williams, Best Screenplay by myself, Best Lead Actor in a drama by Wendell Kinnney (BET's The Black Hamptons, Netflix's Bloodline etc) and Best Lead Actress in a drama by Nollywood star Iretiola Doyle (Netflix's Fifty, The Origin: Madam Qoi Madam Qoi. Amazon Prime's The Power etc)
Iretiola Doyle was also nominated for Best Lead Actress in the AMVCA 2024 (African Magic Viewer's Choice Award) for her role in Netflix's The Origin: Madam Qoi Madam Qoi.
Thank You
We appreciate you each and every one of you for taking the time to see our journey and story and we thank you so much for your contribution.
Hellene Alabi-Williams is an award-winning producer, actress, author, and director. Hellene has featured in the Nigeria based television series Tinsel on MNET as well as Road to Redemption (directed by Jeta Amada) and Don’t Cry for Me (now on Iroko) and starred in and directed the award-winning Stay.
Hellene is the creator of African Twist as well as director and executive producer of the series. She stars on the show as Sade.
Neils "Antonio" Williams is an award-winning screenplay writer, actor and novelist currently known for the acclaimed film Stay (directed by Hellene Alabi-Williams) . Antonio has self-published 4 novels to date and has several screenplays in development. Antonio has written the script for African Twist Season 1 and African Twist Season 2
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