#ShandaDidWHAT!?
What Is This Film?
Logline:
Shanda, a young spiritually penniless accountant, is tired of her boss, her neighborhood injustices, and her world. But she’s also a Gemini, which naturally means she’s a social media enthusiast. When a climatic event makes her go viral, in true Gemini fashion, she commits the only logical next step, which sends significant waves throughout the social media world. #TheRevolutionWillBeViralized
Why This Film?
As a four-member team coming from the same film program at Governors State University, our filmmaker collective is developing this three-story film series. Each film will have a different leading protagonist, a different genre, and a different focal social message pertaining strictly to the African-American community and the urban cities in which many in this demographic reside told through a lens of current pop culture and social media trend references and major events. This film project triptych (which consists of three different stories of three starkly different genres from three different characters whose stories converge) will be centralized around a fictitious town called Noxville that is meant to resemble Chicago, IL and each story will have its own protagonist who is an inhabitant in this town. #ShandaDidWHAT!? is the short film opener to the tentative first full-length film story in the triptych (a full-length script entitled #ABFF, the hashtag acronym for #AngryBlackFemaleForever). Both this story and #ABFF are comedies following the life of the first main character Shanda and they set the tone and background story for the remaining two short films (and consequentially, the remaining two long-length films of the film series). Keela Buford developed the initial idea of this film and with the help of the rest of the team, we have since fleshed out what we believe is a strong cohesive social critique in a visual art form to educate and invigorate the masses as it relates to current public issues and events impacting not just fellow Black Americans, but also Americans as a whole in the social media age.
These such maladies include losing morals and self-respect for a piece of the ‘social media fad’ pie, the wave of information and movements caused by social media which is now being threatened by Net Neutrality, and the more insular study of racial identity that Shanda and her fellow inhabitants within this world of Noxville face in their day-to-day. Particularly, in the city of Chicago, the less-than-favorable media attention that has been placed on the city and its dwellers in the past few years has changed the faces of these dwellers into scary ones. These people are menaces to society, villains to the wider community of civility without the cloak being pulled back to see all the shades of gray that has created this present ‘villain’ in Chicago. Thus, the three main protagonists stretching across the three films in the AF.FORD Films™ triptych are all called not Noxvilleans, but ‘Noxvillains.’ Essentially, these three films are the Chicagoans’ stories told through many lenses beginning with a satirical one touching on cultural appropriation as played out in this first film (#ShandaDidWHAT!?). Then there’s a look into inner city education as is discussed in the second film. Finally, where a group of people can go from this point on with all of those things considered, faced, and surmounted is summed up in the third film.
Who are the Actors?
Special Thanks to Casting Director Zachary Bradley.
MEET SHANDA
Gemini. All things recording (unfortunately, payroll records included), reporting, and revolutionizing. One event at a time. And if she has any say, she’ll be at every single one. Every single time. Unless Tom diverts her plans (again!).
- Real Name: Meka Butler
- She’s Appeared in Everything: Commercials, feature films, short films, you name it
- Most Notable Distinctions: ELLE Magazine’s 2017 “We Nominate” online video ad, feature film debut as the lead role in ‘Careful Not to Cry’ that premiered at TIFF 2017, and starred in “Tougher Than You” directed by Kelly Tran which won “Best Film” in the Pittsburgh Film Fest
- When She’s Not Acting: She’s being awesomely bilingual (English and Spanish), an equally awesome advocate for people with severe disabilities, and an educator
- Where to Find Her: On Instagram @bfm_doc
MEET CHAD
Shanda’s “favorite” totally not culture appropriating, new to the job only because his dad works there, ultimate frat boy, Chad
- Real Name: Oscar Mansky
- Born in The Mitten, Now Lives in The Windy City
- Michigan State Grad
- Bartender and Podcast Owner (The What Happenedish)
- Lover of ice cream, books, and beer
- Where to Find Him: @oscarmansky (Instagram and Facebook)
- What He Wants You to Know: He despises people like Chad
MEET CHRIS
Shanda’s fun-loving, athletic pre-teen son who she dedicates her time to (or tries to) while also juggling her social media activism/obsession and persistently nagging boss Tom
- Real Name: Amir Lanfair
- From the South (Menphis, Tennessee to be exact), Now in the Windy City North
- How He Arrived at Where He Is Now: Started acting in the Premiere Disney Program in 2016 and realized his love for the trade
- Just as Active as Chris: He’s an active 7th grader in his school’s choir, media, and drama clubs
- Recently signed to the Dream Team Talent Agency
MEET TOM
Shanda’s offbeat and completely inconsiderate boss who is the absolute bane of her existence
- Real Name: Danny Glenn
- From Chicago, IL
- Highly experienced stage and film actor: Over 60 independent films and several stage productions
- When He Isn’t Acting on Stage or in Film: He’s acting at drama schools Black Box Acting Studio and The Acting Studio
- Where to Find Him: www.dannyglenn.com