Project Description:
LAPD Detective Linda Tyler prepares a murder case when she gets news from her hometown announcing the death of her best friend. Once in Philly, a can of worms opens up revealing the death as suspicious. Linda, now an outsider, gets whiff that childhood buddies from her old neighborhood are involved. She discovers their ties to a Pill Mill amongst other sordid secrets. Moreover, there's a plot brewing by a former predatory boyfriend, imprisoned by a past pact the friends made, to have them pay for turning against him. Linda’s sense of justice compels her to relocate and take on crimes and deceit so close to home. A fractured Linda must also face family trauma that forced her to run away as a teen leaving behind her young son. It seems she’s bitten off more than she can chew but her dogged pursuit of justice strengthens Linda to power through even at risk of losing everything. With a backdrop of crime-ridden Philadelphia, the city becomes a character to win over. Wynnefield is a postmodern day Cosby show with a fractured Black community in need of piecing together. We show how we're broken historically with family against family, neighborhoods against neighborhoods with awareness of who fractured us and how we as Black people play a part, and will be the ones to lead cleaning it all up. Good cop, Linda Tyler, unifies us leading the way to restoring good values believing that as we strengthen the inner cities so we strengthen America.
Bios:
Yvette Ganier is an Obie award-winning actor widely acclaimed for her work with August Wilson originating the roles of Rena in Jitney and Black Mary in Gem of the Ocean, and also featured as Tonya in King Hedley II at the Goodman Theatre followed by the Kennedy Center and then onto Broadway. Some of Yvette's other acting credits include Broadway - The Miracle Worker; London - Jitney (Olivier for Best New Play) Off-Broadway/NY - The Slow Room, The Block, Pitbulls, Breath Boom, Jitney, For Colored Girls. Regional: Hartford Stage, The Goodman and Steppenwolf theaters in Chicago; The Mark Taper Forum in LA; The Curran Theater in San Francisco; Baltimore CenterStage; Philadelphia Theatre Company, The Wilma Theatre and Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia; Cleveland Playhouse; Actors Theatre of Louisville; Seattle Rep and The Intiman in Seattle. Film/TV credits include roles on Netflix, Showtime, NBC, CBS, ABC, Lifetime. Yvette is currently recurring in New Amsterdam on NBC as Nurse Linda Weber and stars as LaDonna Gooden in the digital series, Ms/Manage on Black Oak TV. As a writer, Yvette is a member of the 2021 Orchard Project’s Greenhouse Lab in development of her TV series, Wynnefield. Other awards: NAACP Image Award, the AUDELCO Award and an LA Ovations Award.
A Little Extra
My creative process begins with...
The creative process for this project began when a writer friend responded with, "We should make something together, like make a short film" upon reading several of my Facebook posts circa early Covid days. A time when we were all going through a lot and I wanted so badly to "make something." My writer friend is a pretty big deal so I was hyped! We all try to put on a good face for our FB posts but often the reality is not so good. During our first phone meeting I felt dry and not inspired at all, but my writer friend was able to gently coax a story out of me, a real life one. I told him of my childhood friend who had suddenly died a few months earlier. I described our relationship from adolescence and some of the antics we survived growing up to which he responded, "You should write about that." So from that support I began to write this project. I became inspired by my personal stories about childhood friends, enemies, their families, my family and the place that shaped it all. Story and plot and character "came" to me. Leaving behind the idea of a short film, the scope of the content grew and felt worthy and epic enough to tackle as a series. In the spirit of August Wilson, with whom I spent a lot of time in rehearsal rooms and whom I consider a master teacher, I allowed the "voices" to come to me, through me, from me trusting myself that I could make a series. But, of course, I had to test out if what I had was any good at all. I am fortunate to be connected to many talented writers, actors, directors of all media - who agreed to read my stuff and who I continuously learn from. Collaboration is a huge part of my creative process. Deeply rooted in my theatrical experience the process included a reading with actors to hear and see how my words fit in their mouths. Inspiration is integral for my creative process. And for me, inspiration comes from the act of doing. Moreover, I must include that access is important to my creative process. Access to other creatives, feedback, opportunity and support that allows for the doing.