EXCLUSIVE: Frank Adkinson Jr. (Smile, My Online Valentine) and Candice Vernon (Warner Media/HBO, Hulu) announce their time-bending comedy film, 117 Years of Movie Bullsh*t.
Written by Adkinson Jr. and Vernon (who also serves a director), this dark indie comedy production follows the journey of two aspiring stars as they navigate the industry’s problematic past. Alongside Adkinson Jr., 117 Years of Movie Bullsh*t stars the film’s executive producer Blue Kimble (P-Valley, Ruthless), Jesse C. Boyd (The Walking Dead, Netflix’s Outer Banks), and Karen Obilom (Doom Patrol, HBO’s Insecure).
117 Years of Movie Bullsh*t marks the first project under the newly formed Viral Productions LLC. The film has been two years in the making, born out of the creator’s frustration with the industry’s lack of opportunities at the time, inspiring the two to delve deep and use their voice to create their own story.
The plot follows two aspiring Hollywood stars who are unexpectedly sent back in time to the Gone With the Wind era by the nefarious Dick Whitman, an old-school studio executive. As they desperately try to return to the present, the duo find themselves repeatedly trapped in the roles of token Black characters in movies from years ago, forced to confront the eyebrow raising of Hollywood’s past.
“There is so much to us that I feel like we don’t get to show audiences. We can tell amazing stories ,we can show unique perspectives,” said Frank Adkinson Jr. “My mantra is to never let your budget dictate your imagination. You never know how things will turn out.”
Vernon adds, “I wanted to create this film because I’m obsessed with old movies, time travel, technology, and advancing the black narrative through storytelling. So it felt only right to do it all at once. While writing, I kept thinking of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ novel Between The World and Me, and how in America, Black bodies and our images don’t seem to belong to us. This is a reminder and a love letter to our people that we can and must craft our own narratives, both on and off screen.”
“We made this movie to show that we are more than what our stereotypes portray us to be in films,” Kimble states. “We are more than thugs, drug dealers and basketball players.”
Post-production for 117 Years of Movie Bullsh*t is currently underway.
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