WILL SUMMER & FATIMA'S FRIENDSHIP SURVIVE 7TH GRADE?

A NOTE FROM KAYPRI:

True Colors is the short film version of my coming-of-age TV series, THE BABYGIRL SHOW based on my first autobiographical solo play. It takes place in a New Jersey suburb just outside of New York City in 1985 when hip hop dominated the New York tri-state area while pop music ruled MTV airwaves nationwide. Rap music was talked about as if was a fad. 50+ years later this is clearly not the case!

This was also when rap music (which KRS-ONE coined, "The Black CNN"), ruled and my peers were obsessed with walking, dancing, and dressing "F-R-E-S-H". All of this took place while Reaganomics and the crack epidemic were rampant along with apartheid in South Africa, police brutality, and women working outside the home became a big deal. My mother Dorothy was a rare exception having worked up until the age of 40 when she got married and had me.

True Colors introduces SUMMER and her abrasive two-faced bestie, FATIMA, and their shared quest for popularity, which revolves around getting accepted into the popular New York girl DEE's clique. The unexpected outcome of their plan goes awry when Fatima receives the coveted invite, and Summer does not putting their long-time friendship in jeopardy.

The open-ended last scene questions where Fatima's loyalty lies and if they will truly be BFFs forever -- or not.

TRUE COLORS offers a smidgen of the entire TV series, my hip hop Wonder Years meets This Is Us with a unique twist. Unlike most coming-of-age stories this one features a lead with older parents, as she navigates her adolescence. She is also being bullied and living with the inevitable death of her old, retired father and his unpredictable mood swings. So while her peers live care free, she is faced with the idea of mortality everyday -- in her own household.

Once completed, True Colors will give me a strong visual tool to pitch the show to TV executives. In addition to bullying, themes include: addiction, mortality, abandonment, colorism in the Black community, and the journey to loving oneself unconditionally.

Telling this story is bigger than me. The solo play resonated with all ages, especially adolescents who face more obstacles than my generation ever did, with the proliferation of social media and its negative effects that far too often has led to suicide.

When I was growing up, the media's influence was limited to magazines that could be put down and limited TV channels. Today, social media is 24/7 and hard to escape, even for mature and responsible adults. Due to my work with young people one-on-one, I've witnessed firsthand the damage of the mainstream media. These experiences have fueled me to get this story to a larger audience than the stage allows. Until the show airs with a multiple-season order, True Colors will serve as a conversation starter in classrooms and campuses nationwide.

Summer must learn how important it is to: TUNE INTO YOURSELF FIRST!

THE TEAM - (so far...)

KAYPRI - (writer/director) The only child of an interracial couple, older world-saving civil rights activists who raised her in Northern New Jersey. She is an 80s-obsessed child of Gen X's hip hop generation who defines herself as a creative missionary who proudly carries her late parents' legacy by creating socially conscious stories that illuminate history with an old school point of view. She is a graduate of Howard University's Department of Drama and has worked as a creative multi-hyphenate in front of and behind the screen. An established playwright she created two crowd-pleasing autobiographical solo plays, the first of which is THE BABYGIRL SHOW which True Colors is adapted from. The TV pilot itself topped Coverfly's Red List and a Blcklist reviewer proclaimed that once the show is on the air, "its sense of nostalgia is sure to delight its audience every time!"

Her first narrative short, WHITE TEARS was created to inspire conversations around racial justice and is dedicated to her late mother, who used her white privilege for good. Before her passing eight years ago, Kaypri completed her autobiography, created the AARP award winning PSA about caregiving, THE BATON, and created Babygirl's sequel, THE GOOD DAUGHTER & THE DO GOODER, a New Humanitas New Voices finalist. Currently she is working on her MFA in Dramatic Writing at Antioch University. When not birthing stories, or nodding her head to a hip hop beat, you will find Kaypri thrifting, doing yoga, or walking in nature to escape this crazy world. www.kaypri.com

Cast and Crew (so far)
CAST: 3 Unknown Preteens
MONIQUE YOUNGER - Line Producer
CHRIS BEAL - Producer
CARLA SERRANO - First AC
TIANA ROLAND - Head Makeup
SOLAIRE J HOBBS - Head Costume