By Kayona Ebony Brown
Last July, I won the Roadmap Writers Diversity Initiative, after which I met a bunch of execs who requested to read the pilot script I was pitching throughout the program. One of those people was a junior exec at Showtime. We hit it off, talked several times, and then this January, she randomly emailed me asking if I like sports. “I love sports more than anyone not working in the field!” I said. So she told me that a friend of hers at CBS was looking for a writer…
I sent them some sample material, I interviewed with the execs and producers, and was hired, all within the course of one weekend! That piece they needed a writer for was the BEFORE JACKIE a short film starring Viola Davis, which aired during the Super Bowl pre-game show. It tells the story of the NFL’s “Jackie Robinson moment”–how football was integrated. Watch it here.
That piece was extremely well-
Meanwhile, Joey, CEO of Roadmap, continued to push my screenplays. With great writing samples in both TV and film, along with the Super Bowl film, I met with a lot of managers and agents. In March, I chose manager Ryan Cunningham at Anonymous Content to help grow my career as a multi-hyphenate.
Being such a big sports fan, this is a dream come true to be able to take part in this rather unexpected capacity. I’m looking forward to doing more with CBS, as well as other opportunities to make sports-related narrative films, like my WNBA-centered feature film–a film with necessary themes that takes place alongside a brand where the attention is well overdue. You can learn more about Kayona at her website.
