Editors Note: Gritty Vibes Gets Signed! A novel and a film on the way?!
Dope Updates From Gritty Vibes
Apologies for the randomness of this article. This is a rushed draft. Tonight's about taking a break from writing and finally, for once, exhaling. Tonight's about celebrating!It's official. A few months back I hinted to you guys that a novel was in the works called "The Sound of Southside". Well today I took a step further towards that goal. I'm thrilled to announce that I've officially signed to Howland Literary Agency, and we're about to begin doing the work to get your boy a book deal. It doesn't stop there though. Later this year I'm gonna take that same story and flip it into a full out feature film. That's right. The follow up to my award winning debut film April Again (Which I just put on YouTube by the way) is in the works and this time around I have actually have a film budget. (April's budget was about $2000 and some duct tape). We're talking $20k-$30k on this next film. Lemme explain....
The Sound of Southside was originally written as a screenplay, but due to Covid, it became increasingly evident that there would be no filming anytime soon. So last year, I challenged myself to spend hours everyday turning it into a full-out novel. I'm sure I drove my wife crazy with my "Zero noise during writing time" requests, but the result was a novel that I'm really freaking proud of. The only issue was getting the rest of the Literary world excited about it too. So I searched and searched for the right Agency to submit my work to. The type of place that's hungry to amplify voices like my own, and I landed on Howland. The agency wasn't my first offer either, but I treated it much like my college basketball recruitment process. I prioritized going to a place that made me feel wanted, a place that was really excited about what I do. This time, the decision didn't land me in the Mississippi woods though. And for that, I'm thankful. (Shoutout to my HBCU though, Alcorn all day).
The more I wrote The Sound of Southside novel though, the more I dreamed of bringing these words to life via film. So as soon as I typed "THE END" with the book, I got back to it with the film. My rule this time around is that I refused to spend my own money on the film -- and it's not that I don't believe in investing in my dreams. But at the same time, houses in Queens ain't cheap and I'm tryna own one soon. I wanna keep being an artist without the starving part.The next best option was applying for grants, so that's been my life for the past few months, and by the grace of God, the congratulation emails have been flowing in. So this time around we're doing a film the right way (I loved April Again, but we're not paying actors in Cheetos this time).
Anyways, after about a year of working on both the novel and script, it's looking like the skreets are getting both. I don't know anyone dropping a novel and film at the same time, I'm sure someone has done it, but lemme have my Soulja Boy moment.For tonight, I'm the first and ima bask in it (Wifey bought cupcakes). As for tomorrow? It's time to get back to work. Stay tuned for more info! Subscribe to my mailing list to stay in the loop.