KNOW THE STORY 

For many girlfriends, a night in can be special in many ways. It can serve as a night of support, beauty regimens, self-care or plain ole mischief and debauchery...including LOTS and LOTS of wine. 

For main characters Naomi and Charli, it becomes a night of soul and heart searching as they participate in their weekly book club. After sharing passages from books, including All About Love by bell hooks and Pleasure Activism by adrienne marie brown, and some tingly ASMR, the two women realize their lives are lacking the love, intimacy and emotional support they truly long for.

Most people can relate to feelings of unfulfillment. The cravings for real connection, intimacy, and deep yearnings for love, support and to be understood are basic human desires. The challenge is are we brave enough to leave the comforts of our current lives and pursue these wants wholeheartedly. Both Naomi and Charli are forced to confront these fears. 

I was inspired to write and make this film after a few reflective conversations with several friends. During quarantine all we had was time on our hands to take stock of our lives thus far, and during these discussions I realized there aren't many self-actualization films centering Black women. The type of stories where we are allowed to be soft, reflective, intimate and a little unsure. Ultimately, this film is about love, fulfillment and self-growth. 

KNOW THE CAST 

Naomi played by Courtney Thomas

Sweet, alluring, curious and very much a go with the flow type of girl as she doesn’t like to ruffle feathers or hurt people’s feelings. Super flirt; she was the girl in school that every guy wanted to be with because of her smile and personality, both warm and encouraging like the sun. It’s difficult not to like her, equally as hard not to fall for her. She’s in a committed long-term relationship with her boyfriend Chris. Although she loves him and is committed to her life with him, she can’t help but feel she’s missing something within the relationship that causes her to look elsewhere for it. 

Charli played by Olivia Harris

Not one to mince words, play games or tease, Charli is a straight shooter who knows what she wants and goes after it. No matter the context or consequence. Often overlooked by her parents and even friends who were all enamored with her brother's charm, she couldn’t help but be an assertive go-getter when it came to getting her needs met and feelings heard. After a recent breakup with her boyfriend, she wants to throw the rulebook away, release expectations to pursue something she wouldn't have dared considered before and could potentially end badly for all parties involved.

KNOW THE FILMMAKERS

Krystina, Rahne and I met in 2016 on the set of the feature film production Traffik for Lionsgate. We all had varying levels of experience, but were dedicated to establishing ourselves in the industry. After the film wrapped, we kept in touch with one another. Krystina being on the only one who lived in Los Angeles, both Rahne and I took turns crashing on her couch while looking for work or taking on gigs until the two of us permanently relocated to LA. 

As we all navigated Hollywood, we became a support system for each other often offering advice and lending an ear during our frequent vent sessions about trying to make it in the industry as Black women. The road for us has definitely been challenging, but we have all come so far and I'm happy to see our crew still standing. 

When it was time to find partners for this project it was a no-brainer for me to reach out to this talented group of women.

Morgan Grain (Writer/Director)

Is an LA based writer and producer with southern Atlanta roots whose published work can be found in Essence magazine, and on PAPER.com, Harlem World Magazine, Huffington Post Black Voices and Okayplayer. Her journalistic work focuses on the cultural contributions black women make in the arts, entertainment and media. She has worked at Berlin and Cannes Film Festivals for XYZ Films, as a producer’s assistant on the feature film Traffik for Lionsgate, in scripted development at MTV/VH1, as a film assistant at Warner Bros., as a technology writer for Disney, and currently works as an events and content producer for Disney.

Krystina Christiansen (Producer)

Is an LA based filmmaker with a background in branded documentary, short form scripted, and commercial content. Currently she is developing her TV series selected as a finalist for Sony Pictures Television’s first annual “Rising Storytellers” search.

Rahnesha “Rahne” Keith (Executive Producer)

Is an LA based writer and producer from Northern California. As an assistant she’s worked on Traffik for Lionsgate, Somewhere Between for ABC, and New Girl for Fox before moving to production secretary for The Orville at Fox/Disney/Hulu. She is currently on the development team at Fuzzy Door Entertainment. Her production company Little Peach Productions is currently developing a docu-series with Jigsaw Productions.

WHAT WE NEED

We love being able to pay people for their creativity and hard work, and have already raised $5k to start, but we need your help to raise another $5k to ensure we have all the resources needed to create the best film for Naomi and Charli's story! Every dollar that YOU contribute as a Girls Night In supporter will help us with production and post-production costs including cast and crew, food, equipment, PPE supplies, marketing materials and festival fees. 

COVID-19 Compliance

The effects of COVID are still impacting our world, so to make sure we maintain a safe and healthy set for this project we are requiring masks for all of our cast and crew while on set, limiting set to 10 individuals, having a PPE station and scheduling COVID tests prior to production.