Official Selections
Below is the list of 2021 ABFF Comedy Festival Official Selections in the Shorts, Web Series and Podcasts categories, with audience award winners highlighted.
SHORTS
180 Seconds
USA | 4 min
Writer: Perry Strong
Director: Perry Strong
Producer: Perry Strong
Cast: Perry Strong
Logline: A man travels six months into the past to warn himself not to get fat during the pandemic shutdown.
A Lebron Solution for Confederate Monuments
USA | 1:40 min
Writer: Mark Kendall
Director: Bill Worley
Producers: Mark Kendall, Bill Worley
Cast: Mark Kendall
Logline: A high-energy salesman tries to sell his bronze LeBron James statues and address the controversy surrounding Confederate monuments at the same time.
Allan
USA | 29:36 min
Writers: Allan Cunningham, Joseph Guidry
Directors: Joseph Guidry, Renato Moore
Producers: Joseph Guidry, Renato Moore, Allan Cunningham
Cast: Allan Cunningham, Audra Kinkead, Otha Irving, D’Kia Anderson
Logline: Allan is in the fight of his life for a beautiful love story that’s never going to happen.
Cary In Retrograde
USA | 27:39 min
Writers: The Domfehs
Directors: The Domfehs
Producers: The Domfehs, Taylor Rae
Cast: Philipp Yaw, Candice Reneé, Josh Kaye, Dustin Baker, Lauren Albo, Sophie Nobler, Paul Doyle, Bishop Wendell Pearson, Emily Anne Browning, Shanelle Doughlin, Matthew Brooks, Kim V, Veronica Bianqui, Mackenzie Palmer
Logline: A tale about ALMOST never giving up, “Cary in Retrograde” follows a failed musician as he traverses a surrealist Los Angeles in hopes of a second chance.
Catch A Girl
USA | 14:45 min
Writer: LeRon E. Lee
Director: LeRon E. Lee
Producers: Ladun Thompson, Derrick Williams
Cast: Daniel G. Cunningham, Kayciblu Wright, Zakai Lassiter
Logline: With his elementary understanding of courtship, 11-year old Darius, meets up with friends that conspire to play a popular “predator vs. prey” childhood game targeted to take advantage of girls.
Club Beige
USA | 3:59 min
Writer: Alysha Menakaya, Hannah Menakaya
Director: Alysha Menakaya
Producers: Alysha Menakaya, Missy Pawneshing
Cast: Hannah Menakaya, Shane Campayne, Dina Elshinnawi, Brandon Morgan, Ju’Marcus Mason, Alysha Menakaya
Logline: A new member joins an exclusive club without realizing there’s a racial requirement.
December 21st
USA | 13:48 min
Writer: Benjamin Abiola
Directors: Benjamin Abiola, Travis Blackwell
Producers: Benjamin Abiola, Travis Blackwell
Cast: Benjamin Abiola, Travis Blackwell, Doniyah Johnson, Marquise Smith, Monty Archie, Paul Jairus, Ngozi Kim, Urian Sin’cere, CJ Leblanc, Bradford Ferguson, Konstantin Podrugin
Logline: On December 21st, 2020 Black people get superpowers.
Discovering Brooklynn
USA | 20 min
Writer: Aliya Brooks
Director: Aliya Brooks
Producers: Aliya Brooks, Liz Holland, Chelsea Fenton
Cast: Jessica Obilom, Jonica Booth, Dionne Audain, Khalif Boyd, Destiny Renee, Parthenia Marshall, Robert Younis
Logline: An unexpected reencounter drastically alters Brooklynn’s perfect world, pushing her closeted sexuality to the forefront
D**K For A Day
USA | 15:36 min
Writer: Kirby Wilkins
Director: Kirby Wilkins
Producer: Kirby Wilkins
Cast: Chelsea Wagner, Shylah Soares, Alex Bernadotte
Logline: A young woman smokes some magical weed that causes her to grow a penis.
First
USA | 25:29 min
Writer: Keema Mingo
Director: Keema Mingo
Producer: Keema Mingo
Cast: Micah Oliver-Vaughn, Danielle Thorsen-Callie
Logline: First is about those awkward moments a couple endures right before they have their first sexual encounter with each other.
Green Eggs and the N Word
USA | 4:06 min
Writer: Mark Kendall
Director: Bill Worley
Producers: Mark Kendall, Bill Worley
Cast: Mark Kendall
Logline: LeVar Burton (not the real one) reads a Dr. Seuss classic with a dark twist.
If Marta Came to Cobb County
USA | 4 min
Writer: Mark Kendall
Director: Bill Worley
Producers: Mark Kendall, Bill Worley
Cast: Mark Kendall, Rickey Boynton, André Jarboe II, Anthony Jeremiah Nash, Josiah Edwards
Logline: A hardened criminal gathers his crew to rob the suburbs using an underutilized form of transportation.
Maybe It’s Melanin
USA | 55 min
Writer: Kaili Y. Turner
Director: Kaili Y. Turner
Producer: To Karen with Love
Cast: Alexis Braxton, Myriam Moss, Ronnetta Renay, Kaili Y. Turner, Richard Bird, Cameron Mason, Devon Burch, and Pedro Balaguer
Logline: Who needs Maybelline when you have melanin!
Playground
USA 19:30 min
Writer: Chase Parker
Director: Chase Parker
Producers: Chase Parker, Jamel Thronton, Keisa Carroll, Jennifer Ford, Rich Morris
Cast: Ana Semedo, Wilson Christopher, Alan Sewell, Mattie Joe Cowsert, Jackson Stewart
Logline: A married couple on the brink of divorce, decide to spice up their marriage by joining a swingers club.
Short Cuts
USA | 13 min
Writer: Spencer Paysinger
Directors: Spencer Paysinger, Dane Morck
Producer: Spencer Paysinger, Dane Morck
Cast: Michael Harding, Demetrius Shipp Jr., Lance Gross, Myles Cranford
Logline: A young black man must find a new barber after his barber goes missing.
Sixteen Thousand Dollars
USA | 17 min
Writers: Brodie Reed, Ellington Wells
Director: Symone Baptiste
Producers: Symone Baptiste, Caron Clancey, Michelle Zei
Cast: Brodie Reed, Ellington Wells, David Gborie, Punkie Johnson, Alice Wetterlund
Logline: A struggling Black college grad wakes up to find that reparations have been paid to descendants of slaves in America.
Such A Deal
USA | 9:04 min
Writer: Jeanine Barone
Director: Dionna McMillian
Producers: Dionna McMillian, Kenzie Ross
Cast: Ebony Obsidian, Damian Muziani, and Natalie Whittle. Additional Cast: Kelly McLaughlin, Clifton Samuels
Logline: On Grace’s first day of moving to New York she discovers that her charming tiny sublet is not at all what it seems.
Uplift The Race
USA | 2:17 min
Writer: Mark Kendall
Director: Bill Worley
Producers: Mark Kendall, Bill Worley
Cast: Mark Kendall, Lonnie Johnson, Jenny Wentling, Elizabeth Grofic Smith, Mark Smith, Curtis Luxton, Bill Worley, Annalise Kaylor Worley
Logline: A man contemplates a decision that he believes could impact the whole race.
WEB SERIES
Basic Lee
USA | 22:19 min
Writer: Dane C. Collier
Director: Dane C. Collier
Producers: Dane C. Collier, Ashley N. Johnson
Cast: Etienne Maurice, Erika Bowman, Kristen Hurt, Elohim Nycalove, Malia Dawkins-Jennings, Ebony Alexis Cole, Elizabeth “Manders” Thompson, Melanie Brooks, Chris Stathis, Veronica Brown, Alfredo Rivera, Khaliel Abdelrahim
Logline: After a drunken, narcotic-infused night of fun, elite-socialite, Lee Prince Jr., is ex-communicated forcing him to trade his lavish lifestyle of the rich and famous for that of the poor and basic.
ArtBroken
USA | 30 min
Writer: Bianca Cristovao
Director: Erin Wesley
Producer: Bianca Cristovao
Cast: Bianca Cristovao, Niles Abston, Jessica Mulder, Hermela Kebede
Logline: Mockumentary following Los Angeles based Visual Artist, Sabina, on her journey of self-discovery during the global pandemic.
Khaki Is Not Leather – Ep. 1 “Tilda”
USA | 6:28 min
Writers: Konyin Ayuba, Ray Smiling
Director: Ray Smiling
Producer: Chris Dodds
Cast: Yaya Williams, Damien Lemon
Logline: A cam girl and her client experience an unexpected connection.
Plugz
USA | 4:46 min
Writer: Brandon James
Director: Brandon James
Producers: Brandon James, Ciera McGrew
Cast: Brandon James, Christian Elam, Connor Haddad, Debbie Deltorro
Logline: What happens when two amateur drug dealers become the most popular psychedelic distributors of LA?
Sidetracked – Ep. 10
USA | 10:38 min
Writer: E.D.Brown
Director: Miles Crawford
Producers: E.D.Brown, Marc Chenail
Cast: E.D.Brown, Tracie Thoms, Adrienne Wilkson, Jim holdridge, Damu Malik, Jamal Henderson, Jee-Young Kim, Jason Kelley
Logline: Sidetracked follows the tribulations of a group of late thirtysomethings, whose lives are NOT going to plan.
The Corps
USA | 6:49 min
Writers: Tijuana Ricks, Tony Manna
Director: Tijuana Ricks
Producers: Tijuana Ricks, Tony Manna
Cast: Tony Manna, Tijuana Ricks, Nancy Kim, Erin Pineda, Chiara Motley, Rafael Silva, Carlos Tesoro, Hyojin Park, Brian Hastert, LeRoy McClain
Logline: When the White House press corps gets kicked off The White House grounds by the President, veteran reporter Helen Mitchell documents the behind-the-scenes action, uncovering that the new Press Secretary, Royce Digby McCallister, may not be who he seems.
The Ticket
USA | 21:47 min
Writer: Benjamin Abiola
Directors: Richard Cannon, Benjamin Abiola
Producers: Benjamin Abiola, Richard Cannon, Travis Blackwell
Cast: Richard Nevels, Benjamin Abiola, Richard Cannon, Atika Greene, Elhadj Diallo, Julian DeVincenzo, Phil Flock, Jabril Bailey.
Logline: One man has become the target of a secret underground world of parking ticket officers.
Trashterpiece Theater
USA | 8:15 min
Writer: Perry DiVirgilio
Director: Perry DiVirgilio
Producer: Perry DiVirgilio
Cast: Perry DiVirgilio (voiceovers)
Logline: An animated UNBECOMING of age animated comedy set in the late 90s centered around a group of friends unlearning, the hard way, all the things they thought would make them men.
PODCASTS
And Then We Had Sex
USA | 125 min
Producer: Jarrod “J-Rod” Tanner
Cast: Kristen Sivills, J-Rod
Logline: A show about relationships and the bullsh*t that comes with them!
Black Nerd Power
USA | 60 min
Producer: Kudzukian
Logline: A weekly podcast hosted by Comic, Richard Douglas Jones; Markus Seaberry; and Kimber, where they discuss the worlds of Sci Fi and Fantasy from a black POV.
The AA Podcast – Ep. 2 “Single Again?!”
USA | 27 min
Writers: Aliya Herndon, Ayana Herndon
Directors: Aliya Herndon, Ayana Herndon
Producer: Aliya Herndon
Cast: Aliya Herndon, Ayana Herndon
Logline: Two black sisters Aliya and Ayana discuss life, love, and living while black in NYC.
The Broke Stops Here Podcast
USA | 15:54 min
Writer: Dame Grant
Director: Dame Grant
Producer: Dame Grant
Cast: Dame Grant and guests
Logline: Podcast host Dame Grant uses his own experiences with being broke to seek out and collect other broke stories.
The Funny and Weird Thoughts of Phylicia Freeman – Spiritless Airlines
USA | 20:39 min
Writer: Phylicia Freeman
Director: Phylicia Freeman
Producers: Phylicia Freeman, Michael Herlihy
Cast: Phylicia Freeman
Logline: Need a quick getaway? Go ahead and get your travel dreams on with Spiritless Airlines, they have special perks for ELITE members, and don’t forget to pack your running shoes…
The MRA Podcast with Kyle and Kamal – Ep. 144 “Wrong Flame”
USA | 61 min
Writers: Kyle Erby, Kamal Abdul-Jabbaar
Director: Kyle Erby
Producers: Kyle Erby, Kamal Abdul-Jabbaar
Cast: Kyle Erby; Kamal Abdul-Jabbaar
Logline: Where men come to talk and women come to eavesdrop. A couple of comedians who have been friends since high school let you know how men really think about relationships, sports, and pop culture.
Tough Choice with Kazeem Rahman Podcast
USA | 44:39 min
Writer: Kazeem Rahman
Director: Kazeem Rahman
Producer: Kazeem Rahman
Cast: Kazeem Rahman, Rob Smallwood
Logline: Comedians discuss extremely challenging and ignorant moral dilemmas.
