Brooklyn Shakara Brooklyn Shakra is a 2011 romantic comedy television pilot written and directed by Femi Agbayewa. The title Brooklyn Shakara is derived from a famous Fela Kuti song called "Shakara" [1]. The word Shakara is a yoruba word that loosely translates to referring to someone posing, showing off or bluffing with something they don't necessarily have [2].
The pilot features an ensemble cast starring Gbenga Akinnagbe [3], Esosa Edosomwan, Chike Johnson, Ebbe Bassey Hannah Wilson, Rena Anakwe, Marjorie Johnson and Joe Amato. Akinnagbe plays Emeka Nwandu, thinks he has his "American Dream" all figured out. He is in line for a promotion and his girlfriend, Jumoke, has agreed to marry him. Everything is going perfect until Jumoke's father refuses to let her marry outside their tribe and Emeka's boss puts a zany condition on the new promotion. A condition that will jeopardize the whole wedding if it does ever happen. As if these pressures weren't enough, Emeka also has a big secret he's been keeping from his bride to be. [4]
Development on Brooklyn Shakara began approximately 3 years ago. In 2008, Agbayewa wrote a 20 page treatment about a Yoruba family [5] living in Flatbush New York that was struggling to come to grips with their daughter marrying an Igbo male [6]. The story was originally envisioned as a family drama inspired by concepts of a real-life Cosby show scenario but from the viewpoint of an African family attempting to adjust to the realities of life in America. Feeling the need to work with a seasoned team, Agbayewa and his company Real Livin Films [7] reached out to Rucksack Productions[8] to assist in development. In 2010, Brooklyn Shakara wrapped shooting and shooting took place in New Jersey, Fort Greene and Flatbush, Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Shakara was officially budgeted at under $100,000, a cost that was raised by private investors within the Nigerian community. Agbayewa's reputation and success on his previous film God's Own Country [9] helped the funds necessary to launch production. On September 21st of 2011, Brooklyn Shakara aired in the UK on VOX Sky TV channel 218 [10].
Brooklyn Shakara aims at becoming the first African themed sitcom to air on a major US network.
- ^ Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://naijalingo.com/alphabet.php?l=s&p=2&b=16&e=30.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1782153/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ [www.brooklynshakara.com www.brooklynshakara.com].
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Yoruba.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/igbo.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ [www.real-livin.com www.real-livin.com].
{{cite web}}: Check|url=value (help); Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.rucksackproductions.com/about.php.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1301707/.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ [www.voxafrica.co.uk/brooklyn-shakara/ www.voxafrica.co.uk/brooklyn-shakara/].
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