#crowdfunding - Us: The Web Series
Us follows the sexual, political, and personal lives of five young women living in Savannah, GA as they navigate the modern world.
Writer/Producer Olivia Bynum
Congratulations! Why are you making your web series?
We (Joyce, Ayaka, and I) started making this series because as women (and as queer/POC women) we weren't seeing anything we could relate to on TV. Our stories, as a community, were not being told. We wanted to take all of the incredible stories and moments in our lives and turn it into something we could share.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this series?
Because it is telling the stories that have never been heard before. These are the experiences of young women from all backgrounds in today's world. These stories are unfiltered and true; this is the reality of women today.
How do personal and universal themes work in your series?
Our show is deeply personal in that every one of our stories comes from someone we know. Honestly, most of our universal themes are about self discovery (almost like character studies of individuals).
How have the script and series evolved over the course of their development and production?
We started by sitting around in a tiny dorm room just brainstorming, now we have almost 45 people working day and night on this project. The stories are more raw; we've stopped censoring ourselves so much. We've had a lot of ups and downs and even had to part ways with some people. But at the end of the day this is a passion project and everyone on this show is beyond excited.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
Really good actually! A lot of people have come to us saying that they saw themselves or they saw someone they knew through one of our characters. It makes us really happy to know that this is capturing people's attention and that they're responding to it!
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
Not yet, but we always welcome ideas about what we could change! We want the input of fans and our audience.
What are you looking to achieve by having your series more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
Honestly? Funding. We think that if we can just get one season of this show out there, in the world, people will really love it and want more.
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this series’s message?
Journalists, investors, producers, anyone that can help us make this a reality, keep it going, and make it even better.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this series to have?
We want to change the standard of television by reinforcing diversity in media. So many stories are rejected because of contents like gender, sexuality, or race. They get deemed "unmarketable". I was actually told in my first film class that a movie wouldn't be a blockbuster unless it was marketed towards teenage boys! There is an entire world out there that isn't being looked at. We want to help change the way that media presents minority communities of all kind (POC, LGBTQA, and women).
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this series?
How would you describe today's modern woman? What do you think her life is like?
Would you like to add anything else?
Just that we are beyond excited about this project and hope everyone else will be too.
What are the key creatives developing or working on now?
We are almost in filming season, so we are prepping our art departments and ad teams to build up some excitement. The creators (Joyce, Ayaka and Olivia) are also brainstorming season two and thinking of how we can continue the story lines we've built up for the girls in the show.
Interview: November 2016
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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
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Us: The Web Series
Us follows the sexual, political, and personal lives of five young women living in Savannah, GA as they navigate the modern world.
Length: 10-11 min. per episode.
Director: (Executive Director) Ayaka Furukawa. We also have guest directors for each episode.
Producer: Olivia Bynum and Joyce Louis-Jean.
Writer: Olivia Bynum
About the writer, director and producer:
Director: Ayaka Furukawa is from Tokyo, Japan. She is committed, hard working, and never takes no for an answer. She is our daily motivation.
Writer: Olivia Bynum is also one of the Executive Producers for the show. She is attentive, ambitious, and very passionate about her work.
Producer: Joyce Louis-Jean is from South Carolina (although her family is Haitian). She is charismatic, creative, and always has a solution to any problem.
Key cast: Cecilia Eligio, Kharlybia Roane, Nobue Chen, Nijal Pandya, Micah Bush, Grace Keller Scotch, and Ebony Lasha.
Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):
Producers, journalists, distributors.
Funders: Self funded by the cast, crew and family of the cast and crew.
Release date: June/July 2017