Nakia Stephens is the CEO and founder of Damn Write Originals. Stephens is an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker, and HBCU grad from Savanah State University. There, she studied mass communication and radio and television broadcasting. Stephens traveled abroad and wrote the script for her life by creating her company in 2014. Since her launch, she has had over 20 of her screenplays produced. Her most notable projects include Suga Water, Cream x Coffee, and Novella. Her latest creation, Della Mae, is set to air on Aspire TV on Jan. 23 at 12:30 AM.
What can you tell us about your latest work?
Della Mae is a film that I wrote as an ode to Black elders and intergenerational relationships within the Black family, within Black women. I was inspired by the stories of Black grandmothers and who they were before they became my grandmothers, who they were as people, what they liked, and what they did.
I was most excited for my own grandparents to see it. They saw it and loved it.
You’ve created your platform, tell us about it.
Damn Good Originals has been able to create stories on a different level, with the partnership with Aspire TV and the support that they’ve given us to tell the story that we want to tell, and authentically, reclaim the narratives of Black people, people of color, and marginalized people. So, it’s been great and we’ve made seven beautiful films with them.
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