Web Series "Lenox Avenue" & "How to Make It In Harlem" Use My Hood As Their Backdrop
I don't have cable so I watch 95% of my TV on the Internet, which means I am more apt to get hooked on a web series if it is done right and entertaining. When the series is based in My Hood - Harlem, USA- that makes it even more likely that I'll pay attention.
Lenox Avenue is a dramatic web series about three friends - Owen (Al Thompson-'The Royal Tenenbaums'), Sellars (Dorian Missick-'Lucky Number Slevin'), and Vaughn (Ryan Vigilant, Gossip Girl) - navigating through the rough terrain of love and relationships while living in Harlem, NYC. They learn that in relationships there’s no playbook. What I love about this is that is it an example of an actor creating his own vehicle. Al Thompson (who I remember from this short film 'Cred') is one of the leads and also the series creator. With Missick the show has a bit of star power, it's already premiered at the Big Apple Film festival and is showing at the LA Web Festival this week so there are a lot of things working in it's favor. I hope it lives up to the hype.
Before seeing this next video I'd never heard of Smoke DZA. He describes himself as a "Hussler extraordinaire/ Harlem representative". Some googling and quick listens to some of his music it appears that he is of the weed genre of hip hop. The job of a trailer is to make you interested in seeing the full product. With Samuel Rogers behind the shutter showing off Harlem and playing on the photo montage style of HBO's 'How To Make It In America' I would say mission accomplished. Visually Inklined, who is also beind Hip Hop Confessions, is behind this video. Hope this web series is better than 'How To Make It In America' because 6 episodes in the best things about that show are the opening and the appearance of Martha Plimpton from 'The Goonies'
I hope both of these series do Harlem justice.
I really believe that the web is the future development pipeline for the next generation of TV talent both in front of and behind the camera. Like the music industry if you can build an audience on-line and devoted following, a deal will come. My favorite by far is Anacostia: The Web Series (on my to do list is a blog post devoted to how much I love this show)
Harlem is for big dreamers. To make it here you have to have a plan. What's yours?
