"Rhythm in Blues" ("RnB", formerly D-DAYS) is a dance-driven impact film following foster kids born in late eighties Brooklyn. "Through the beats of African rhythms, three foster siblings from East New York struggle to heal from the invisible wounds of PTSD, leukemia and addiction while longing for security, family and love." Jackie—the student and dancer—needs a heart to deal with her feelings of abandonment instead of numbing them with alcohol; Duke—the runt-turned-soldier— needs a stronger brain to withstand PTSD from his tours in the Middle East; and Dante—the hustler with a green thumb— needs courage to fulfill his promise to stop dealing drugs by his 21st birthday. Having aged out of a broken system, these three traverse a yellow brick road that has left them scarred beyond belief, but they’ve always had each other to turn to... until now.
The first feature film from writer/director Tamika R. Guishard is slated for Fall 2019 production as an inaugural recipient of the Women Cinematographers Grant from Digital Bolex. With Cybel "Magic Eye" Martin behind the lens, "RnB" will be executive produced by Seith Mann of "The Breaks" with a production team including Ania Trzebiatowska and Travis Davis. NAACP Image Award-nominated and Broadway mainstay, Jeffrey Page of "So You think You Can Dance", will helm "RnB"'s African dance choreography. Acclaimed Casting Director, Chrisine Kromer has attracted named talent such as Tristan "Mack" Wilds and Curtiss Cook, Jr. to our male leads.
The screen adaptation of an African dance show Tamika produced at her alma mater, University of Pennsylvania, RnB’s musical story has been officially endorsed by Spike Lee and S. Robert Morgan of “The Wire”. Most recently we have received funding from NY State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and were one of only twenty narrative features selected for 2017's Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) No Borders International Co-Production Market.
Through an anonymous judging process by industry professionals from HBO, IFP, Sundance, et al, RnB was selected for the acclaimed Purple List as one of the top production-ready screenplays in the NYU Graduate Film community. RnB‘s, “proof of concept” short film, "Jackie.", premiered in Oscar-qualifying film festivals and received a Hollywood Foreign Press Grant. RnB builds on “Jackie.”’s success, as a timeless tale with an epic Shero that, like a good song, will permeate the narrative of viewers' lives for ages to come.