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The Untold Story of

mild sauce

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The Untold Story of

mild sauce

From shady record execs to rival groups and bitter infighting,

follow the meteoric rise of a 90’s R&B group told through a music exposé

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synopsis

Television’s top music exposé show - Washed Up, previews an upcoming episode on the 90’s R&B group, Mild Sauce. Childhood friends - Vonn, Dre, Heno and JuJu dream about being a famous R&B singing group. Soon the opportunity presents itself when meeting the legendary old school funk musician, Stony Mack. The guys meet Stony Mack backstage at one of his shows, and sang for him as if their lives depended on it. The group gets the record deal they dreamed of, and Mild Sauce is born! Emotions run high for the members of Mild Sauce as they are soon exposed to the harsh realities of the record industry which includes music rivals, group infighting and bitter breakups.

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comparative films

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top ten highest grossing music biopics

10. All Eyes on Me - $45 Million

9. Jersey Boys - $47M US, $67 Million worldwide

8. Amadeus - $51.9M

7. La Bamba - 54.2M

6. Coal Miner’s Daughter - $67M

5. Ray - $75.3M

4. I Can Only Imagine - $83M

3. Walk The Line - $119.5M

2. Straight Outta Compton - $161.2M

1. Bohemian Rhapsody - $216M $903M globally

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cast

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Brian Keys
VONN

Brian Keys (Vonn) has worked on projects for FOX, Netflix, NBC, HBO and Discovery Network alongside such names as: Terrance Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Johnathan Majors, Courtney B. Vance and more. Brian was last seen on the screen playing the role of Carverin Joshua Safran’s limited series Soundtrack, on Netflix and the charismatic band leader on HBO’s hit series Lovecraft Country.

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Jalen Gilbert
JUJU

Jalen Gilbert (JuJu) hails from Mississippi, where his journey as an actor began. Jalen moved to Chicago to major in BFA acting at the theater school at Depaul University. Jalen has racked up film and TV credits with Showtime, NBC, BET, and FOX. Jalen is happily represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.

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Vonzell Scott
HENO

Vonzell Scott (Heno) was born and raised in Chicago on the South Side in the Roseland neighborhood. He received his first major acting role playing ‘Keith’ in the TV show Chicago Fire. He has appeared in various short films, independent films, Chicago Med, a United States Navy industrial, and had a recurring role on the hit Showtime series ‘The Chi’.

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cast

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Michael Adkins
DRE

Michael Adkins (Dre) is an LA-Based professional actor, singer/songwriter, dancer, and vocal arranger from Philadelphia, Pa. He has also begun to add TV, Film, and Commercial credits to his resume by securing roles on “Empire”, “The Chi” “Chicago PD” and many more. Fast forward to 2020, Michael Adkins is currently located and based out of Los Angeles where he is currently working on film, music, and songwriting.

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Taylor Coleman
JUJU

Taylor Coleman (Raven) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her first television debut was in 2013 where she became a reality television personality for Lifetime docu-series “Preachers Daughters”. She appeared on several radio stations and daytime talk shows including “The View”.

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crew

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Anton Deshawn

WRITER/DIRECTOR

Anton Deshawn is an African American director, screenwriter and producer. Anton graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. degree in Arts, Entertainment & Media Management. In 2014, he co-founded ILL-HIO Films, LLC with Rahim Branch. His film feature debut, Call Center, was released in 2017 and premiered at film festivals in Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles. Anton won a Black Excellence Award (Outstanding Achievement in Film – Directing) given by the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago for his directing work for Call Center.

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Rahim Branch

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

Rahim Branch has a Bachelor’s of Art’s degree from Cleveland State University. After graduating he worked at a postproduction studio as the in-house editor. With over 15 years of experience has worn many hats as a filmmaker. From directing multiple short films and producing a feature comedy “Call Center” Rahim also has directed two documentaries, Vert-Con and 1st and Goal, another documentary that he produced titled “My father lives here” which is in post-production.

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Dashawna Wright

LINE PRODUCER

Dashawna Wright is an award-winning independent producer and filmmaker based in Chicago, IL. As a filmmaker, she uses her platform to bring unique stories and characters to life. Wright has produced and directed over several short films. Her latest created project “Beyond the Door” was selected as the winner for best short at the Philip K. Dick sci-fi film festival. Wright was the recipient of the 2018 Chicago Independent Producer’s Apprenticeship for the Chicago International Film Festival. This allowed her to work on some of Hollywood’s most prominent shows based out of Chicago. She is also a founder of Film Girls—a film collective by women for women. Wright received her Master’s degree in Creative Producing from Columbia College Chicago and a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication from Jackson State University.

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crew

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Troy Pryor

CONSULTING PRODUCER

Troy Osborne Pryor is an American producer, actor and public speaker. His stage, on-camera, and voice over work has led to award-winning content including collaborations with ABC, HGTV, Warner Brothers Entertainment, DIY Network, TV One, and Aspire TV. A Chicago native, Troy is an advocate for connecting local, undiscovered diverse talent to mainstream content and media platforms through his production network, Creative Cypher. His collaborations with Oscar and Grammy winning artists, and their foundations, include Che “Ryhmefest” Smith, Kanye West’s Donda’s House organization, and Common’s Common Ground Foundation. These partnerships have enabled Troy to mentor hundreds of up and coming artists and empower production deals that build Chicago’s artistic community. As a Chicago Scholars 35 Under 35, Black Enterprise TCX Fellow, and ADColor nominated Innovator of the Year, Pryor has a tenacity for innovation and big-picture, strategic thinking.

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Candice Majors

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Candice Majors is a Chicago based cinematographer with over 9 years of experience. She works in multiple genres(promos, narrative, documentary, social media content) and adapts her style to whatever the source material calls for. Her works have screened across the US, Canada, UK, India and the Netherlands. When she’s not on set you can find her writing, drawing and exploring new places.

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behind the scenes

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credits

Writer/Director - Anton Deshawn

Co-Writer - Johnathan Craig

Cinematographer - Candice Majors

Producer - Rahim Branch

Line Producer - Dashawna Wright

Production Designer - Judith Febles

Costume Designer - Rueben Echoles

Consulting Producer - Troy Pryor

Casting Director - Tamara Sibley

Assistant Director - Jenean Coleman

Choreographer - Zaria Chandler

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