WILLOW: House of Griots
"Willow: House of Griots" is a groundbreaking series that explores the concept of Liberation, the socio-political influence of the past through racially conscious speculative history, and the inherent violence of capitalism. It's set in an alternative reality where the 1811 German Coast Slave Revolt leads to an America led entirely by Black and Indigenous people.
Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party
UPDATE: We have a new Date and Venue for our Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party!
We’re now hosting the Afrofuturist Vampire Dance Party on Saturday, December 8th, 8:30PM - 1:00AM at FIRST LIVE | 219 Central Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11221.
Come dressed as your most dazzling Afrofuturist vampiric self! Whether you come as Drolta from "Castlevania: Nocturne," Akasha from Queen of the Damned, or Blade - we wanna see it! Best Costume wins a prize at the end of the night!
Groove to the beats of DJ ZEKE & JAY CASS, as they play Afrobeats, House, Hip Hop, and Dancehall all night long!
All proceeds will go to funding “Willow: House of Griots.”
Reserve you tickets in the link below:
09.21.23 BronxNet Interview w/ Paul A. Notice II
08.01.23 Pilot Episode Fundraiser Campaign
We’re currently in pre-production to shoot the “Willow: House of Griots” pilot in the Fall. It’s a 1-hour Scifi drama that further delves into the world of “Willow.” Support our production, by making a tax-deductible contribution here.
07.15.23 Short Film Screening | New York Lift-Off
Willow is screening at the 2023 New York Lift-Off Film Festival! Watch it online in the “Trendsetters Shorts” category (it’s #160) from July 1st to July 31st.
06.18.23 Short Film Screening | Stuart Cinema
WIllow | short film screening
Screening w/ Q & A Discussion
Sunday, June, 18th @ 6pm
Stuart Cinema & Cafe
79 West Street Brooklyn, NY 11222
Tickets: bit.ly/Willowscreening
Click here to see this event’s Digital Program.
06.02.23 Ep 1 - 4 Staged Reading
Willow (House of Griots)
Friday, June 2nd @ 8:30pm
Here Arts Center | 145 6th Ave, New York, NY
Doors open at 8:00pm.
Tickets: bit.ly/willowstagereading
Written & Directed by Paul A. Notice II
CAST
Ashley Noel Jones ........................…Willow K. Brown
David J. Cork …..............................…Chegge
Kelly Thomas ................................…Vanessa
Cameisha Cotton ..........................…Diane
*Suzanne Darrell ..........................….Janet Capri
*Kirrin Tubo ...................................…Taina
D. Malik Beckford ..........................…Kalief Diallo
*James Edward Becton III ...............HNIC
Glenn Quentin George .................... Cece
Paul A. Notice II ...............................Marc Aware
Asha John ………………………………………….Narrator
*These Actors are appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association
Take a look at our Digital Program
for the Stage Reading!
06.02.23 “Willow: House of Griots” Stage Reading
Ten years ago, when I was writing the original stage play, in which the series is based; I could only dream of the possibility of this moment. But here we are. Realizing the first stages of our TV show, “Willow: House of Griots.” And I’m so very thankful for the people who’ve joined me on this journey.
After the 1st rehearsal, I remember pacing back and forth in a basketball court at midnight, talking to my lil brother on the phone about how I knew this was a turning point for me and this project.
I had worked with casts before, I had written & directed plays (and films) before. Nevertheless, this was the culmination of years of experience - of triumphs and hard-taught lessons. My writing matured, evolved - and now with this cast’s insight and notes: it’s flourishing.
We have arrived.
By showtime, my eyes were already watering at merely saying the words out loud: “I DREAMT of being here over a decade ago…”
“Here” wasn’t just the name of the venue. It was how I arrived, and who I arrived with.
“Here” was smarter, with a more nuanced understanding on how the world works, and how to work with different people. “Here” was listening and humbling oneself, adapting and trying again. “Here” was working with friends and loved ones to make something truly meaningful and worth telling.
And we’re finally “here.”
I have plans for this series. Stories to tell, that I wished I’ve seen when I was young. And this is just the beginning.
Over the next two years, my goal is to turn what we performed that Friday night, into the first four episodes of “Willow: House of Griots,” to be self-released on Amazon. I have plans for this series. Stories to tell, that I wished I’ve seen when I was young. And this is just the beginning.
In this same stage reading, I got the privilege to finally present this pivotal scene to the public - it's the first fictionalized depiction I can think of that shows what an alternative to police can look like.
In the world of Moja One, I created something called the "Ubuntu Emergency Service." Instead of cops - there are violence interrupters called "Ubuntu Mediators" nicked-named "The Oomies." I use this concept to not only demonstrate how progressive community-led initiatives can work in real life, but also what issues we'll need to solve to get there.
It's all based on my past coverage of real-life Violence Interrupters and programs Cure Violence programs like Man Up! and the Cure Violence program, as a journalist.
I won't give spoilers, but what you see in this photo are two characters: Sterling & Kalief performed wonderfully by James Becton III and D. Malik Beckford.
05.24.23 “Willow: House of Griots” Table Read
Director’s Note
“Willow” is the culmination of evidence-based storytelling, visually-striking cinematography, and editing. Moreover, I’m tying emotional journeys to a larger understanding of policy, action, and politics. This is an alternate reality where the 1811 German Coast Slave Revolt leads to a multi-ethnic utopia that bans White Supremacy and most systemic instruments it uses.
However, in this world, consuming others grants one electrical power, regenerative healing, and the memories of their victim. It’s a direct metaphor for capitalism that illustrates its inherent violence. And much like Gold and Enslaved people, entire economies are built upon the consumption of the marginalized, who in this case, are the segregationists wishing to bring back the “old” pre-1811 America, to “make America Great Again.” However, once the population of White Supremacists dwindles, Americans must face the problem of Capitalism once more. “Peer Consumption” is legalized.
The approach of “Peer Consumption,” in the face of Willow’s warnings being ignored, mimics the issues of Climate Change denial, as well as political fatalism that’s gripped so many Millennials in the face of January 6th, Corporate Personhood, and the Supreme Court ending Roe v. Wade. I harness that frustration and conduct an experiment: What if we became ruthless? Uncompromising? Willow’s journey will excavate the answers to that, while the backdrop of her world will illustrate how progressive concepts such as Alternatives-to-Incarceration, Universal Basic Income, Free Higher Education, and Ending White Supremacy can work in today’s policies.
In fact, I placed particular care in the world-building of “Willow.” Her work ID shows the symbol for the US House of Griots, which is composed of four the Sankofa symbol facing in four different directions surrounding & a Dame Dame, the Adinkra symbol for intelligence and ingenuity. It represents the Griots’ job: looking back into not just our past, but every other alternate reality past, creates and fosters ingenuity and intelligence. They could be described as elected alt-world observers; a mixture between Journalists, Public advocates and U.S. Reprentatives.
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Artistic Vision:
As an artist, I want to lay further groundwork for Black expression and liberation through stories. This stems from the desire to give to the world what I, and many other Queer Black folx, didn’t have as a child: stories not told from the normative Eurocentric male gaze that inform and empower. More importantly, I need my work to imbue the audience with nuanced, evidence-based insight that deconstructs mythologies around the perception of the “Other” and public policy’s impact on our lives.
Specifically, through my current project, “Willow,” I’m creating a sci-fi anthology - not unlike Star Trek or the Marvel Universe - told from the perspective of the Marginalized to examine better ways to build society.
I’m trying to push the Overton Window further in terms of Black folks being in abstract, experimental spaces (aka White Spaces). My work engages stories and issues around deconstructing Eurocentric narratives of the "Other," while offering both philosophical and political solutions learned from my interviews with scholars & legal professionals like Alex Vitale and Marnie Lennox, activists like Josmar Trujillo, Bob Gangi, and Taylonn Murphy Sr., and community stakeholders like Sharon Richardson, Kraig Lewis, and Afrika Owes.
Aesthetically, I embrace the Black Space, both in the visual and philosophical approach. Using aesthetics rooted in Black Box Theater performance and frenetic montages of composites meant to historically or emotionally contextualize, I’ve found a particular way to pull the audience’s focus into what really matters: the people. You can see the Black Space aesthetic in the “Willow” work sample below, as well as my cinematography & directing work in Azure Osborne-Lee’s “Mirrors” and Cedric Leiba Jr.’s “Release.”
My unique editing style is evident in the “Shaw Boyz” and “The Immaculate Re-Conception of Kraig Lewis” work samples too.
From the October 2022 Premiere at Nuyorican Poets Cafe
Growing up as a closeted Queer Black kid in the Midwest taught me a lot about the impact of narratives and mythologies in our daily lives. Whether it was through deconstructing queerphobic and/or Anti-Black mythologies used to justify systemic oppression or examining healthier, more sustainable ways to govern through an amalgamation of stories from academics and activists alike - my direct experiences as the “Other” have been tantamount in my work to go further than what’s given. In fact, the motto of my nonprofit production company, The Notice Blog (est. 2017) reflects that: “Always Question. Always Explore.”
From June 2023 Screening at Stuart Cinema. Pictured from Left to Right: Amanda Uzo, Sultan Ali, Paul A. Notice II, Viktor Pacheco
For “Willow,” I want to explore the non-linear nature of time travel as a vehicle to examine the ways in which sociopolitical events of the past impact the present and future. I’ve leaned heavily upon my interviews with the Bronx Defenders, Policing and Social Justice Project, Coalition to End Broken Windows, Picture the Homeless, Man Up!, the CDF and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and far more others to build a world where Police don’t exist, higher education is free, universal employment programs thrive, and White Supremacy is outlawed. Though this isn’t the main plot of the film, it’s a means to illustrate how these leftist concepts can actually work in the real world.
PRESS
I wrote the first version of “Willow” seven years ago in 2013. After partnering with director Reg Douglas and producer Glenn Quentin George, we had it go up on its feet at New York Theatre Workshop in 2014, w/ an absolutely stellar cast:
Original Cast
Willow - Keona Welch
Chegge - Paul A. Notice II
Taina - Kristin Watson
Vanessa - Simone Leonora
Diane - Ashley Samona Baker
Janet - Bianca LaVerne Jones
And he told me that a few of the scenes in the original play might look better on screen. I agreed - and 6 years later, here we are!
I grew up spying on my mom, auntie and grandma's weekly movie nights w/ my cousin. Candyman, Star Trek Deep Space 9, Tales from the Hood, Vampire in Brooklyn - all became the building blocks of my nascent Blerdom.
Black women introduced me to Horror/SciFi, and yet were barely present on screen. I wasn't satisfied with one - or even two! Black folx surviving until the end.
I wanted to push the Overton window. Why not make an all-Black cast? Why not have 90% of the principal characters be Black women, and let the one male character talk about the women for a change? And... while we're at it: why not discuss some present issues about exploitation, capitalism and liberation in the subtext too. And thus, came "Willow."
That’s where you come in: our goal is $69,465 - which will get us through production. That means: actors, crew and location fees.
"Willow" is part of a larger project, sponsored by The Notice Foundation, Inc - a 501(c)(3) private foundation that develops and supports narratives from marginalized communities. The "Willow" project focuses on hiring BIPOC folx behind the camera, as well as in front of the camera.
And that’s not just through furthering representation of BIPOC in “White spaces,” but by continuing to encourage their employment in positions of power throughout the entire filmmaking process.
We’re also requiring that the production hire 90% BIPOC folx, hire locally, work safely (according to SAG-AFTRA safety guidelines), AND to host an ongoing series of panel discussions and workshops for BIPOC/Queer/Marginalized folx in media.
This project is meant to serve as a guide point, a Green New Deal for Hollywood’s problem with White Supremacy, Queerphobia and Misogyny.
Our Mission includes employing Black Women and BIPOC folx behind the camera. Not only will Willow employ an entirely Black principal cast, made up of mostly Black women, but all of our Department Heads will be Black Women as well.
From the June 2nd, 2023 Stage Reading of Episodes 1-4
Past Panel Events:
Calling all DJ’s, Musical Artists, Bands, Visual Artists, and Vendors! We’re hosting a HUGE end-of-the year party on Saturday, November 4th, 7pm - Midnight.
And we want YOU to be a part of it!
Contact Paul for details.
Screening w/ q & A Discussion
Nuyorican Poets Cafe
236 East 3rd St, New York, NY 10009
Saturday, October, 22nd
4pm - 6pm
To help foster a discussion on the topics prevalent in both Willow and our own lives, we're hosting an exclusive featurette screening + panel discussion, called:
"After the Revolution: Reimagining Black Utopia"
Wednesday (12/2/20) @ 7PM EST at: www.twitch.tv/willowhorror
Eventbrite Link to “The Pivot”
Friday, November 20, 2020 at 6PM EST
“The Pivot: Filmmaking & How to Run a Creative Non-Profit during COVID”
The dress and style of “Willow” is intricately intertwined with world-building. Pins/brooches evolved into a subtle nod to social standing, while signifiers of “eaters” like gold adorned talons and fangs - demonstrate wealth and prestige.
Gold + Dark Skin is a beautiful combination, and I want this film to pay homage to that. Furthermore, I wanted to play with the shadows and the dark.
During the early start of my career, I’ve encountered so much prejudice against darker skinned subjects in film - including having a fellow crew member “joke” that the worst thing to light for is a Jamaican wedding (dark skin w/ bright colors). I, for one, have a Jamaican father. But what bothered me more, was that bright colors bounce more light than darker tones. It’s actually a great lighting situation - if you’re accustomed to people with darker skin.
I want “Willow” to add to the canon of films that seek to deconstruct that - NOT through centering Whiteness or oppression - but simply showing a better world, and a better sort of film.
Paul A. Notice II | Director | Writer | Executive Producer
Paul is a Black Non-Binary Emmy Award-winning producer, with over 12 years of filmmaking and theater experience, and proud graduate of Georgetown University (SFS 09) and NYU (MFA 11). They’re also the founder of The Notice Foundation, which produces film and multimedia work from BIPOC, Queer, Immigrant, and Formerly-Incarnated narratives. They’ve directed, edited, and produced hundreds of projects for a wide scale of organizations including: MSNBC, OkayAfrica, Re-Entry Rocks, LYFT, The Policing & Social Justice Project, JLUSA, Elite Daily, The Legal Aid Society, FACE Africa, OkayPlayer, Fresco News, and 651 Arts. Additionally, they’ve also created work for a multitude of artists, including: Mykal Kilgore, NIC Kay, Holland Andrews, Cedric Leiba Jr., J. Read, Melanie Charles, Taja Lindley, David Whitwell, Kendra Foster, Von Middleton, and many more.
Recently, Paul co-directed and edited, “Release,” which recently won Best Experimental Film in the 13th Annual Fargo-Moorhead Film Festival and Best NYC Film in the 17th NYC Downtown Short Film Festival. Their Director of Photography work helped “Unbroken” win Best Performance in the 2021 Experimental, Dance & Music Film Festival, while their editing recently earned them the 2019 Spotlight Gold Award for their Louie Armstrong documentary, A Wonderful World. They’re also the 2022 Jury President of the AD and D Awards, a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi, and a cast member of 9+ years in the award-winning podcast The Once and Future Nerd.
Learn more about their latest directing & editing work in the Afrofuturist psychological thriller “Willow,” and feature film adaption of Azure Osborne-Lee’s “Mirrors” at thenoticeblog.com.
Suswana Chowdhury | Producer | Development
Suswana Chowdhury is a first-generation Bengali-American born and raised in Queens, New York. A multimedia artist and journalist, Suswana works full-time as a digital marketing video and audio producer where she manages high-budget productions. Most recently, Suswana acted as the executive producer of an independent short film titled "Dawat" which is currently running on the film festival circuit. She is committed to serving her communities through her work, dedicating her time to developing projects particularly narrative films and documentaries that are reflective of the diverse world she has grown up in. Passionate in her belief that education is a human right, Suswana also actively fundraises to build sustainable and accessible education for girls in India with WE Charity.
Pierre Jean Gonzalez | Producer | Actor
Pierre Jean Gonzalez is a New York based actor, singer, and producer hailing from the Bronx, NY. Since a very young age Pierre has worked in many theatrical productions. Currently Playing Alexander Hamilton in the National North American Tour of Hamilton. Some favorite credits that have influenced Pierre include In The Heights and The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity. He has also appeared in episodes of NCIS:NOLA, Gotham, and P.O.S.E. Pierre received his BFA Acting Conservatory from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
