From Executive Producers Riley S. Wilson (“Orange Bright”) and Lisa Cortés (“Precious”) comes a live-action sci-fi/drama web series about a claircognizant (all-knowing) little Black girl living and growing up in a rapidly changing Harlem. A finalist for the 2016 Sundance Institute YouTube New Voices Lab, “Little Apple” is a modern-day coming of age story about a rapidly developing little girl finding her voice and fighting against complicity.
Starring 10-year-old actress, Milan Williams, “Little Apple” is a live-action sci-fi web series and comic book as well as a behind-the-scenes podcast where Milan and EP Riley S. Wilson discuss and breakdown each episode’s content and themes. The series follows Apple, a little Black girl, born and raised in Harlem, as she and her family deal with her new abilities, growing consciousness and sheer impatience for a new school year. The series tells the moving and witty story of a young magical Black girl’s transcendence into consciousness—in a society that, for all intents and purposes, is anti-Black and anti-female. Themes explored in the series, comic and podcast include: Gentrification, The Erasure of Native Peoples, Black Feminism, Microaggressions, Black Girl Magic and more.
The cast and crew of Little Apple are currently campaigning on Kickstarter for $15,000 for the production of the first five episodes; that includes the cost of equipment, locations, wardrobe and set design. Some of the rewards include exclusive access to the first episodes, a signed copy of Volume I of the limited edition comic book or your own personalized cartoon sketch.
“What’s great about the show is that it’s from the perspective of a little girl. And people often forget that kids have direct access to content and media just as much as adults. They know what’s going on in the country and many times the world. People just don’t engage with them,” says Wilson. “I think more than anything, this project–between the series, podcast and comic–helps to open the conversation up and provide useful communication tools to aid in the discussion about the fight for racial justice with young people.”
“The first time I read the papers, I was like gentrifi-what? I didn’t know what it meant. I was like, mom what does gentrification mean? And I said it wrong. I pronounced it really wrong,” Williams says. “It probably sounded like gentr-ti-ta-tion. I don’t even know. At first I didn’t know what it was and then I started looking into it and now I’m like ohhhh. Now I can’t get it out of my mind.”
Lisa Cortés added, “The marriage of entertainment for young people coupled with discourse around social justice is especially timely. Little Apple’s production team and story speaks to my commitment in empowering expansive representation in front of and behind the camera while giving light to visionary stories. I’m excited to see this series come to fruition.”
Follow the project on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Watch a pitch video for the series below and click within the widget underneath to contribute to the campaign.
