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"Anthony's writing is masterful; making you soar with joy, and weep in empathy for her poignantly authentic characters.
Serafin
Xtra! Journalist
Kink in My Hair TV Special
Kink in My Hair is second of Vision TV's Cultural Diversity
Drama Competition winners to begin production.
May 27, 2004 – Toronto – VisionTV, in association with Wilbo Entertainment, Defiant Entertainment, Ngozika Productions, and Plaitform Entertainment announced today that the made-for-television comedy drama Kink in My Hair begins production in Toronto on May 29, 2004. Starring Sheryl Lee Ralph (Moesha, Distinguished Gentlemen), directed by Tonya Lee Williams (Young and the Restless), Kink in My Hair, written by Annmarie Morais, is based on Trey Anthony's hit play 'Da Kink in my Hair creators are Trey Anthony and Ngozi Paul.
The cultural diversity drama competition is an extension of VisionTV's longstanding support for independent production, and reflects its mandate to celebrate Canadian diversity. The finished programs are slated for delivery in the fall of 2004.
This comedic drama offers an intimate look into the lives of the stylists and patrons at Novelette's, a hair salon in Toronto's Eglinton Ave. W. Caribbean neighbourhood. The small salon is a community meeting place – and at the centre of it all is owner Novelette (Sheryl Lee Ralph), a brash, no-nonsense woman who lives above the shop with her flighty young sister (Trey Anthony) and her ambitious teenage daughter (Shakira Harper). Loyal clients flock to Novelette not just for her hairstyling talents, but also for her distinctive brand of unconventional wisdom.
Women everywhere identify with the subject of their hair. Kink in My Hair takes us, it's audience, on a journey that not only encompasses our beauty but our social convictions. We can all identify with these characters. The story crosses racial boundaries with its universal appeal.
VisionTV's Executive Producers in Charge of Production are Joan Jenkinson, Director of Programming and Chris Johnson, Senior Vice President of Programming. Executive Producer and Director of Kink in My Hair is Tonya Lee Williams of Wilbo Entertainment. Producers are Damion Nurse of Defiant Entertainment and Ngozi Paul of Ngozika Productions, who is also a Co-Creator. Trey Anthony of Plaitform Entertainment is a Co-Producer and Co-Creator. Kink in My Hair is written by acclaimed screenwriter Annmarie Morais.
Tonya Lee Williams, Executive Producer and Director: Making her directorial debut, Williams is best known as one of the stars on the daytime drama The Young and The Restless and has received numerous honours for her work including: NAACP Image Awards for Best Actress on Daytime Television in 2000 and 2002; nominated twice for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in Daytime Television. She is also a recent recipient of a Harry Jerome Award, for her body of work in the Canadian entertainment industry. Since launching her production company, Wilbo Entertainment, in 2000, Williams was Executive Producer, contributing writer and star of Tonya Lee Williams: Gospel Jubilee, which aired on CBC-TV in March 2004. She also co-produced the short film MAPLE, which won the Black Film & Video Network's Best Short Film Award in 2001. In addition, Tonya is the founder and president of ReelWorld Film Festival, and ReelWorld Foundation, a non-profit initiative that supports the work of Canadian filmmakers of colour.
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Damion Nurse, Producer: Damion Nurse is President of Toronto-based Defiant Entertainment. In 1996 he joined Alliance Communications, working in the marketing department for Alliance Independent Films. Nurse went to work in acquisitions and development for Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Production before leaving in 2002 to launch a career in producing. He has produced videos for Sony Music, and has just completed the feature film Sugar, which recently won the best Canadian feature length narrative or documentary at the 2004 Inside Out Film Festival, distributed by THINKFilm in 2004. Damion also produced the short film Minor Adjustments, which was picked up by CBC, Showcase and W Network. Nurse also sat on the Board of Directors for the Black Film and Video Network from 2000 to 2002.
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Ngozi Paul, Producer/Creator: Ngozi Paul is a producer and artist dedicated to telling universal stories from an Afrocentric perspective. In addition to spending two years with the Stratford Festival, where she received the prestigious Tyrone Guthrie Award, Ngozi was an original cast member of 'Da Kink in my Hair and recently played Young Nelson in the acclaimed Toronto production of In the Freedom of Dreams: The Story of Nelson Mandela. Paul also earned a Best Actress nomination at the International Black Film Festival in the UK for her performance in the film Banyan. She is also starred in Charles Officer's award winning and Genie nominated film, Short Hymn Silent War, which was featured at the Sundance Film Festival. She is also the founder of Ngozika Productions, and served as Creative Developer, Associate Producer and Story Editor on the Gemini Award-nominated series Lord Have Mercy! She also is the Co-Producer of the Tonya Lee Williams Gospel Jubilee. Ngozi was also named one of the Now magazine's top ten actors of 2003.
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Trey Anthony, Co-Producer/Creator: Trey Anthony is the playwright of 'Da Kink in my Hair, which the one hour television comedy/drama, Kink in My Hair is based on. 'Da Kink in my Hair, is Dora nominated and has received critical acclaim and broken box office records. The play will be a part of Mirvish Productions upcoming 2004/2005-theatre season. 'Da Kink in my Hair has been published in Testifyin, edited by 'Djanet Sears. Trey is a former television producer for The Women's Television Network, WTN, and a writer for the Comedy Network and CTV. She is also the producer of Canada's first Urban Womyn's Comedy Festival, 'dat girl sho is funny!, produced by Plaitform Entertainment. She is a 2002 Canadian Comedy nominee. She is busy working on producing her documentary film, Kinky Womyn, which documents the theatrical journey of 'Da Kink in my Hair.
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Annmarie Morais, Scriptwriter: Born in the West Indies, this Canadian writer's beginnings took shape in the form of short story and playwriting. A graduate of Toronto's York University Film and Video Production program, she wrote and directed several short films while learning the craft of screenwriting under some of Canada's finest instructors. In 1999, screenwriting's most prestigious competition, The Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship (sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences) made Ms. Morais the first Canadian ever to receive a fellowship with her dramatic script BLEEDING. Ms. Morais continues to garner accolades for her work, and presently has four feature film and television projects slated for development through 2005. Ms. Morais currently divides her time between Los Angeles and Toronto and is presented by the Gersh Agency of Los Angeles.
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