first gen

By the looks of its official trailer, “First Gen” has the chops to make it from a pilot to a major network .

Created by Yvonne Orji, the show is based on her real life experiences. Orji completed undergraduate and graduate school with the intention to continue to medical school. Instead, she followed her real dreams and moved to New York to pursue acting and comedy. Orji’s goal with “First Gen” is to offer a “refreshing take on the modern day immigrant family,” while flipping the script on the usual images of Africans on mainstream media.

“An interesting shift is occurring where kids of immigrant parents are growing up and discovering America for themselves; not solely through the lens of their parents. This opens up a whole new world of opportunities. Until First Gen, we haven’t seen Africans portrayed in mainstream media as regular, everyday people. They’re usually warlords, cab drivers or fleeing genocide. The African immigrant story in America is so much richer than that. The success of entertainers like Lupita Nyong’o David Oyelowo, and Uzo Aduba suggests that mainstream America is ready to tune into a series like ‘First Gen’,” the creators told IndieWire.

 

Photo: Youtube/Screenshot