LIFETIME PRESENTS ABDUCTED AT AN HBCU: A BLACK GIRL MISSING MOVIE PREMIERES TODAY JULY 20TH
Naturi Naughton and Queen Sugar actress Tanyell Quian have been tapped as the leads in Lifetime’s upcoming Black Girl Missing franchise movie, Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie.
Executive produced by Garcelle Beauvais, Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie stars Naughton as Ellen, a college counselor who is concerned about the disappearance of one of her students, Shannon (Quian). Her concern is met with disturbing dismissiveness. Ellen takes it upon herself to find Shannon, and stumbles upon the horrors of a human trafficking ring targeting students.
Garcelle Beauvais talks her collaboration with Screenwriter and Morehouse College Film Professor Avery Williams.
Executive Producer, Garcelle Beauvais (@garcelle) shares how the magic came to be in connecting with fellow HBCU alum, Avery O. Williams (@averyowilliams ) as a writer for this upcoming film. Avery attended and returned to teach at Morehouse College (@morehouse1867 ) and was integral in capturing the HBCU culture. Garcelle emphasizes the genuine care HBCUs have for their students and their well-being. Don’t miss out on this essential story in Abducted At An HBCU (@abductedatanhbcu)
-HBCU First Look
airing on @lifetimetv.
According to the synopsis, Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie follows the story of Shannon (Tanyell Quian), an ambitious college student who is struggling to pay her college tuition and eventually stops attending classes. The only person who notices Shannon’s sudden disappearance is her college counselor Ellen (Naturi Naughton). Ellen’s concerns are dismissed by Shannon’s professors, campus administration, students and even her own boyfriend. Instead of answers, Ellen is met with careless comments about how “girls like that” from underserved communities often drop out of school.
Determined to find Shannon, Ellen inadvertently uncovers a trafficking ring targeting students in need like Shannon. With time running out, Ellen must fight tirelessly to gain the support she needs to rescue Shannon and bring down the trafficking ring.
Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie comes to Lifetime today—July 20 as part of Lifetime’s ongoing commitment to highlight the epidemic of missing Black women and girls, especially those from disadvantaged communities.
The film is the second in the Black Girl Missing film series, with the first wowing audiences last year. Like with the first film, Beauvais executive produces Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie with Tim Johnson, Stacy Mandelberg, Gordon Gilbertson, Jason Egenberg, Richard Foster and Chet Fenster. Delmar Washington, the director of the first film, also directs this film, with Avery O Williams as screenwriter. Johnson Production Group produces in association with Motion Content Group.
Avery O Williams, an assistant professor at Morehouse College, wrote the screenplay for Abducted at an HBCU: A Black Girl Missing Movie.
The movie was partially filmed on the campus of Morehouse College with Cinema, Television and Emerging Media Studies (CTEMS) alumni and current Morehouse students serving as production assistants and background actors.
Cachet Digital spoke exclusively to Avery Williams to learn more about the film and his journey writing this narrative:
Williams says, “Lifetime had been looking for original stories to produce that were set in a different environment than their normal fare. After the success of last year’s “Black Girl Missing” movie one of their producers reached out to see if I had any ideas that might merge these two hopes. And yes I had an idea. In fact, I had plenty of ideas. (Still do!) I pitched my concept, they liked it, then hired me to write the script. A few months later it was on their schedule to produce.
The Lifetime and production company producers are a smart team and great to work with. They were also eager to shoot on our campus. The crew eagerly took any interested student under their wing, allowing them to shadow and participate as much as possible. It was a rich experience for our students and I was immensely proud of them and my campus colleagues who graciously helped to make this happen.”
Is this based on a true story?
Shannon’s story is an amalgamation of hundreds, if not thousands, of stories involving human trafficking. Many of these stories occur on campuses like the HBCU school portrayed in the movie. Documented accounts involve young women, often freshmen or sophomores in college, who meet a young man that takes an interest in them. These men, who are often older and very suave, get to know the ladies’ hopes and dreams and pretend to be their boyfriend only to finally reveal themselves as a trafficker. It happens in all fifty states and more often then you might imagine. Sad stuff. Hopefully this movie will bring more awareness to it.
You are a professor and a filmmaker. How did that work in the making of this movie?
Beautifully. Morehouse College is very supportive of all the work its faculty produces or is involved in. Several of my colleagues and school administrators lent their offices and time to help make this movie. But most importantly, the students were involved by being taken step by step through the development and pre-production process, and then serving as shadows, production assistants, or background actors. Additionally Naturi [Naughton] visited a class as well as lectures were given by one of the movie’s producers and the director.
What’s next? Will you work with Lifetime again?
Absolutely! From beginning to end it was a great experience working with the studio execs and all of the producers. They truly like movies and want to keep making them. And so do I! In fact, Lifetime has hired me to write another movie that will premiere in October 2024.
Is it a Black Girl Missing Movie?
Um, not quite. Meaning, it’s not in this series. I’m not sure I can talk about it until they start promoting it, but if you know Lifetime, you know it’s got the drama! I hope to write more for them and start directing some of them too. Teach, write and direct. That’s where I want to go.
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