Vanessa Bell Calloway & Tressa Azarel Smallwood To Collaborate On BET Her Film ‘Black Girl, Erupted’
Deadline reports that BET Her has greenlit Black Girl, Erupted from director and star, Vanessa Bell Calloway, and executive producer, Tressa Azarel Smallwood of MegaMind Media. The project is the first feature film under the BET Her Presents: The Couch franchise.
Written by Tiffany Yancey, the cast includes Khalilah Joi, Vanessa E. Williams, Eric Roberts, Rodney Van Johnson, Janeva Stoute, B.J. Britt, Kareem Grimes, Brely Evans and Asia’h Epperson.
Black Girl, Erupted follows Reina (Khalilah Joi), a woman paying her dues at a law firm while facing microaggressions from co-workers and her boss Mr. Horowitz (Eric Roberts). Reina’s parents, Cassandra (Vanessa E. Williams), and Donald (Rodney Van Johnson), favor their younger daughter, Reilly, (Janeva Stoute), and consistently remind Reina not to be the “angry black woman” at the firm. The pressure to be perfect and uphold the family’s image wreaks havoc on Reina’s mental state.
The film reunites Calloway with Smallwood, who has overseen the production of all the short films produced for The Couch franchise. Black Girl, Erupted is part of The Couch, a series of short films about Black women managing mental health issues, following their journeys as they navigate the ups and downs of their diagnoses.
Launched in 2019, BET Her Presents: The Couch spotlights women-centered short films and highlight the next generation of Black women filmmakers. Previous directors include Meagan Good, Naturi Tichina Arnold, and LisaRaye Mccoy.
Deshawn Plair, Sade Oyinade, and Kristin Iris Johnson also serve as producers on Black Girl, Erupted; production is currently underway in Los Angeles.