BRIC is pleased to announce that Sole Kings, its new scripted series written and directed by Michael Pinckney (The 25th Hour, Precious, Inside Man) and Executive Produced by Aziz Isham, Kuye Youngblood and Kecia Élan Cole, will premiere Monday, October 2 on BRIC TV, the New York Emmy- and Ippies Award-winning Brooklyn-focused cable TV and digital network. Sole Kings follows the lives of five entrepreneurial sneaker enthusiasts as they hustle their way through Brooklyn's competitive sneaker culture, trying to define who they are in a world where kicks rule. The ensemble cast includes Julito McCullum from the hit HBO series The Wire, Nashawn Kearse, Steven Fernandez, Kayla Sutherland, Brianna Seagraves, William Lex Ham, Marissa Sarai, and Eric R. Williams.
Michael Pinckney, creator of Sole Kings, said of the show, "I always wanted to make the quintessential Brooklyn film like Do the Right Thing, The Lords of Flatbush, The Warriors, Requiem for a Dream and Good Fellas. Sole Kings is my ode to thehip-hop era and to Brooklyn, where I grew up during the 80s, when it was all about your style of dress and the kicks you rocked. With this new series rooted within sneakerhead culture, we hope to add a layer of humanity to a movement that transcends kicks. Sole Kings is about the people with a passion-their struggles, challenges, insecurities and triumphs-and their quest to be fresh, to be successful, to be 'sole kings.'"
Aziz Isham, Executive Producer of BRIC TV, said, "Sole Kings is exactly the kind of programming that we love to support, and the kind that, frankly, we all need much more of. It paints a complex, authentic, and ultimately uplifting portrait of a thriving scene that's really been at the heart of NYC culture for decades. Michael and his team did outstanding work - after watching you'll never be able to look at a fresh pair of sneakers the same way again."
In Sole Kings, Darren and his wife Cassandra move back into their old Brooklyn neighborhood to fulfill Darren's dream of opening a sneaker store. While things in Kings County have changed since they last left, characters and kicks still rule the block. Darren's younger brother Trey struggles to balance the demands of his girlfriend, Fancy, with his drive to become a true player in the collector's game. He and his friend Rosario hustle in the resale market, running into Franklin, a New York transplant with an idiosyncratic approach to making deals. Meanwhile, local celebrity and certified sneaker freak
HANNIBAL just might be the best rapper in the game, if only he could get over his own neuroses. At the store, Darren hires his childhood friend, Larceny, a recently released convict looking for a new start. He works with Sasha, a social media obsessed millennial, who just might be the sharpest entrepreneur of them all.
About the Sole Kings Creative Team
Michael A. Pinckney (creator, writer, director) is the founder and managing director of Black Noise Media, a full-service production house based in New York City. He got his start over twelve years ago under the tutelage of filmmaker
Spike Lee and soon after joined The Director's Guild of America. He has over 10 years' experience as an assistant director on films and television series such as The 25th Hour, "7th Heaven," The Best Man, "Law & Order," Inside Man and the Academy Award-nominated film Precious, for which he served as part of
Lee Daniels' directing team and was nominated for a DGA award along with director. Michael has directed short films, commercials, music videos and PSA's for clients like Goodwill Industries, The NY GIANTS, The Brooklyn Borough President, Def Jam and 4mm Games. He won an award for Excellence in Media from The Black Men's Film Conference for his HIV film The Candy Store and toured the film festival circuit with films from his short film collection. He made his feature film debut with You're Nobody Til Somebody Kills You, a gritty crime thriller Executive Produced by his mentor
Spike Lee and distributed by Lionsgate. His most recent television project, "The Trade," takes place in the dark world of human trafficking.
Nashawn Kearse (Darren) is a Brooklyn-born actor who has been in the business for over 15 years. Having started his acting career with the City Kids Repertory Company, he has performed on prestigious stages including Broadway and
Carnegie Hall. Kearse has been on TV shows including "Law and Order Criminal Intent," "The Sopranos" and "Mozart in the Jungle," to name a few. He also had a recurring role on "Entourage" and was a series regular on "Desperate Housewives." He was recently in the highly acclaimed
Netflix movie Barry, about the life of former
President Barack Obama.
Julito McCullum (Trey) was born in Brooklyn. Just six weeks into his acting career he booked his first TV mini-series, "Miracle's Boys," directed by
Spike Lee. He then landed the role as Jamal in the Emmy-nominated TV movie The Wool Cap, starring
William H. Macy and
Keke Palmer. Within a year and a half, McCullum excelled with guest starring roles on, "Hack," "Law and Order" and "Cold Case," as well as appearing in various commercials, including the Jordan 20th anniversary commercial directed
Spike Lee and the movie Akeelah and the Bee, starring his good friend
Keke Palmer,
Laurence Fishburne and
Angela Bassett.
Steven Fernandez (Cisco) was born on November 15, 1987, in Brooklyn. He is an actor, model, artist and designer. He started acting in small feature film roles such as the movie Cop Out and The Dark Knight Rises. In 2009, he landed a supporting role in a short film called Hello, My Name is Trouble which aired on ABFF ASPIRE TV along with another film in which he had a supporting, A Geek's Guide to Love and Romance.
Kayla Sutherland (Sasha) is a Brooklyn native and an alumna of the LaGuardia Arts
Drama Department. Sutherland has worked both in film and theater. One of her most notable roles was as Claire in a LaGuardia Arts remake of The Breakfast Club. She played Dyslexia in an Off-Broadway production of Death by Chocolate. Sutherland has trained with
Alice Nagel,
Lee Lobenhofer,
HARRY Shifman and Khalilah Webster. Most recently, she has trained with
Tracey Moore and Yolanda Hunt. Sutherland is an experienced dancer, formally trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop and African dancing.
Brianna Seagraves (Fancy) is an actress, singer and producer. Originally from Silver Spring, Maryland, she is a graduate of Temple University. In 2015, Seagraves created and co-starred in her own web series, "Domesticated," and is currently completing her first short film, All Things Considered, which is bound for the festival circuit. Seagraves has been featured on several television shows, including "Orange is the New Black," "Girls" and "Boardwalk Empire," and in the web series The Adventures of Akeem." Her theater credits include
Neil Simon's Rumors, The Vagina Monologues, The Shape of Things and Grease.
William Lex Ham (Franklin) is an American Asian actor born in Manhattan and raised in South Queens. Ham decided to fulfill his passion to act after working as a personal trainer, a day trader, an environmentalist, a marketer and more. He began his journey as an artist under the tutelage of legendary acting coach,
Susan Batson, and continues to hone his craft under the mentorship of renowned acting coach
Anthony Abeson. Ham's talent and determination has landed him in various productions alongside talented actors, including
Anthony Rapp. In 2012, he made his debut on primetime national television, co-starring in an episode of CBS' "Blue Bloods."
Melissa Sarai (Rosario), a New York native, has been a dancer for over 15 years. She has trained with various dance companies, such as Broadway Dance Center and
Alvin Ailey. Sarai started her dance career at the age of five, when she attended Lydia's School of Dance in Staten Island. There she learned various styles of dancing, such as hip hop, modern, ballet, pointe, jazz and tap. She currently teaches hip-hop. At the age of 13, Sarai ventured beyond dance and attended the
John Robert Powers School of Acting. Since then she has continued pursing and conditioning her tools for acting, while working one-on-one with trained colleagues and coaches.
Eric R. Williams (Hannibal) is a proud native of Atlanta, Georgia. Exposed to the arts at the age of six, Williams fell in love with performing and was heavily influenced by the likes of
Michael Jackson and
Whitney Houston. At 13, Williams began formally training in Drama & Musical Theatre in the Visual & Performing Arts Magnet Program at Tri-Cities High School in East Point, Georgia. A critically acclaimed public school rooted in the performing arts, Tri-Cities High School boasts notable alumni including OutKast's Big Boi & André 3000, Xscape, D. Woods of Danity Kane, SNL's Keenan Thompson, Broadway stars
Saycon Sengbloh,
Sahr Ngaujah,
Jahi Kearse and
Joaquina Kalukango, and many others.
About BRIC TV BRIC TV is
THE VOICE of Brooklyn on cable and digital television-reflecting the best that the borough has to offer and telling Brooklyn's story to itself and the world at large. With an audience of influential tastemakers and a reach of millions, the network delivers award-winning documentary series, hyper-local news, politics, music, comedy, original scripted series and more. BRIC TV's state-of-the-art media facilities are based in Downtown Brooklyn, NYC.
Programming airs live on Spectrum 1992, Cablevision Optimum 70, Verizon 46 and posts to Youtube daily at youtube.com/brictv.
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