Casting for "Village Keeper". Synopsis; with gun violence sweeping the city, a Black mother finds herself in the center of it. After her husband is killed and the family is evicted, Beverly-Jean makes the difficult choice to move in with her mother (Grandma Brenda) who lives in an apartment in The Village, a community housing project that has its own issues and challenges. It’s not ideal but like many 'temporary' situations it finds its own normality. Beverly-Jean is an unremarkable Black woman, invisible to society and barely visible to her community, her family, her neighbors, and herself. She tries her best for her family, but most days it feels like a Herculean task. Tamika, Beverly-Jean's eldest, is 18 years old but wise beyond her years and coming into her own despite youthful indulgences and her family's circumstances. Tristin, Beverly-Jean's youngest, is an imaginative 12-year-old dreamer who’s uncomfortable in the world around him so he’s often lost in a book or his drawings. Beverly-Jean is fearfully overprotective of her growing children blind to the fact that they’re quite responsible and independent. Her narrow focus is on her children’s safety, work, and saving enough money to move the family out of poverty and restore her pride in a higher social class. She neglects herself and we meet her on the cusp of spiraling downwards. But in the end, it is her inner strength and an unlikely challenge that allows her to finally confront generational wounds and abuse and find joy.
This is a tight, gritty script that doesn't pull any punches.