James Bland and Vanessa Baden, in a scene from the series “Giants,” executive produced by Issa Rae and Jussie Smollet.
Issa Rae landed a Golden Globe nomination for her hit HBO show Insecure, but she built her name with the YouTube series Awkward Black Girl. In the coming weeks, she’s using her YouTube channel to put on another young black creator.
Giants is an upcoming drama series created, written and directed by James Bland and starring Vanessa Baden, William Catlett and Bland himself. The brief synopsis, as described in a caption: “Three millennials determined to live life on their own terms, no matter the cost, quickly learn that when life starts to kick your ass, you either lie down, or fight back.” Issa Rae and Jussie Smollett, of the hit FOX show “Empire,” are listed as the show’s executive producers.
The two-minute trailer introduces viewers to the three characters. Journee’s job and life are at risk as she struggles with manic depression; Malachi takes on apparent prostitution as modeling seems to be a dead end; Ade is pursuing his passion of dancing, despite his father disowning him since he didn’t become an engineer, and a woman believes that he is gay. Journee and Malachi hide from a landlord as they struggle to pay rent, and Malachi finds himself with a gun to his face as the victim of an armed robbery. All three characters clearly have huge demons that they will have to face.
With mental health, sexuality and poverty all showing up as central themes, this looks heavy. Giants premieres on Wednesday, Jan. 25 on Issa Rae’s YouTube channel. According to the page of a successful IndieGogo crowdfunding campaign, the series has six 20-minute episodes.
Source: Okayplayer.com
Take a look at the trailer below.
