Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Anubha Momin launch ‘Above the Palace’ Production Company
Rodney Diverlus, Sandy Hudson, and Anubha Momin today announced the formation of Above the Palace, a Toronto-based production company focused on developing and producing film, television, live performance, and digital media projects that challenge status quo thinking and address a global demand for BIPOC-centred content. The company plans to develop and produce original IP, both scripted and non-fiction, as well as coproduce acquired material with like-minded Canadian and international partners.
Above the Palace’s development slate currently includes the television series The Parallel and Queen City, and the feature-length rom-com Come By Seldom, among others.
“With the launch of Above the Palace, we’re combining our varied experience and story ideas with our ability to tap into the zeitgeist to understand what younger, more diverse audiences are craving,” said Rodney Diverlus, co-founder of Above the Palace. “What really interests us are projects that can move the needle on culture and have a global impact.”
The Parallel is a weekly TV series exploring important cultural and political issues with depth, care, critical insights, and a healthy dose of Canadian wit. Encompassing issues ranging from the Canadian identity to sexuality, the series is an extension of On Canada Project – the wildly popular and award-winning Instagram account for curious and questioning Gen Z and Millennial audiences.
In Queen City (8x30), a millennial daughter and her middle-aged Bangladeshi immigrant mother find themselves living together for the first time in a decade when the daughter returns to Toronto, newly divorced, unemployed, and with nowhere else to go. While they each face career and relationship challenges, the duo is stymied by old wounds. Forgiveness and family are at the forefront of this heartwarming, intergenerational comedic drama.
Come By Seldom is a feature-length modern rom-com that follows an aspiring Bangladeshi chef from his elite training in Paris to his placement at the magical Fogo Island Inn in Newfoundland and Labrador where he falls for a fisherwoman fighting to maintain her family’s traditional lifestyle. Produced in partnership with Jenna MacMillan’s Club Red Productions, Come By Seldom is expected to begin pre-production in 2024. The companies are currently seeking international partners for this trilingual (English, Bengali, and French) story that embraces the multiplicity of the Canadian immigrant experience.
Aftercare, the company’s first project, has its world premiere at TIFF on September 9 and a second public screening on September 13. Written and directed by Momin, Aftercare depicts an emotionally charged reunion between a woman and the now-grown person she used to babysit.
Rodney Diverlus is a Haitian-Canadian producer, artist, activist, and best-selling author. They have created and produced work extensively in film, theatre, and dance at preeminent institutions throughout North America including the Stratford Festival, Canadian Opera Company, Luminato, and the Art Gallery of Ontario. Diverlus is a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement in Canada, and the Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism, a Black-owned artist-run community centre for creativity and innovation in Toronto, and a co-author of Canadian bestseller Until We Are Free: Reflections on Black Lives Matter in Canada.
Sandy Hudson is a producer, best-selling author, activist, podcaster, public speaker, and most recently, a lawyer. She is a co-founder of Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism, a Black-owned and operated art-based community centre in Toronto, and Black Legal Action Centre, a specialty legal aid clinic. Hudson is also a co-executive producer on Leslie Norville’s Black Life: Untold Stories, an eight-part docuseries about Black history in Canada airing this October on CBC. Her second book, Defund: Black Lives, Policing, and Safety for All (working title), is due for release in 2025. Hudson is best known for her work bringing the Black Lives Matter movement to Canada.
Anubha Momin is a queer, Bangladeshi-born, Toronto-raised nomadic writer, director, and producer. She has degrees in neuroscience and public health, and worked as a sexual health counsellor and promoter before getting her start in the screen industry on Qanurli?, an Inuktut comedy series. Momin has worked on film and television sets in a variety of capacities from Toronto to Iqaluit, from Bhutan to the Kawarthas, writing, directing, and producing stories for media outlets including VICE and CBC. Momin is the writer and creator of both Queen City and Come By Seldom.