Lead by a black female director, The Come Up features a predominantly black cast and crew. The stories being told are based off of slam poems written by people of color that bring light to underprivileged communities and topics that society deems them "too young" to discuss.

 

The Story

THE COME UP follows three Chicago high schoolers who use slam poetry to navigate their increasingly complicated lives. The pilot centers on Jazzy, a southside Chicago high schooler who is struggling to fully discover her voice as a slam poet. Within this search, we are intoduced to her friend's L and Tori, both of which are mentored by Jazzy's older brother Dre. Dre is a high school senior and up-and-coming rapper in Chicago who is currently preparing for the biggest show of his career. After a tragic event forces them to come together, they will express their thoughts and emotions the only way they know how: poetically.

 

Louder Than A Bomb

Louder Than A Bomb (LTAB) is the world's largest youth poetry festival. LTAB is an annual event hosting over 1,000 youth poets for a month of Olympic-style poetry bouts, workshops, and special events. Students representing schools and community groups in the Chicago area perform original solo and group poems in a tournament-style competition. 

LTAB is special to us because the cast competed in LTAB during high school. Ireon Roach, who plays Jazzy, won the individual finals in 2016. The team, which Lawren Carter (Eleanor 'L' Barrett), Tevion Lanier (Tori) and Ireon were a part of, made it to the finals and performed for over 4,000 people. This pilot is the beginning of our characters' journey into a LTAB style competition. We hope to include current Chicago high school poets in our production and future episodes to continue to give a voice to rising artists.

Why Now?

This story is important to tell right now because we are at a point when people are not feeling heard. Teenagers today are growing up in arguably the most devisive climate in recent history. We feel that we can inspire the teens of today the same way young adults inspired us. Teenagers today need a voice that accurately speaks for them. They need a voice that will speak about injustice, social class, education, sexuality and politics in a way that makes people not only listen, but understand. With your contribution, we are one step closer to making that happen.

 

What's Next?

Once we complete production and post-production, we will be submitting the pilot to festivals such as SXSW, Sundance, New York Television Festival, among others. We have had some bites from people in California about wanting to see the finished pilot, so hopefully you'll see us on a network before you know it!

 

Where does the money go?

First, we would love to thank you for donating! Truly, no donation is too small when it comes to this project. Your money will go towards covering all of our costs for production. Here's a brief breakdown:

 

Actors: This is a SAG-AFTRA project, which means we are able to cast some of the best actors around. It also means that we need to pay agent fees, contribute to the actors' pension and health plans, and have worker's comp insurance. 

 

Crew: Did you know that crew positions are the most overlooked and underpaid positions when it comes to independent projects? We're trying to change that. Aside from daily meals, we are going to give as many crew members as possible a stipend for their work. FUN FACT: If we are lucky enough to raise more than our goal, all additional funding will go towards parying more crew members!

 

Locations: Considering we're telling a story about high schoolers, it's fairly important we have a high school! The main cost of our location budget goes toward securing a high school for 3 days and paying any employees and security the school requires.

 

For me details, check out our WishList page!

 

THANK YOU!

We just want to say thank you one more time. Whether you've donated money or your social media by sharing this project with your followers, you are making our dream one step closer to becoming reality. If you haven't already done so, please follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @TheComeUpChi and be sure to stay updated!