Frankly, it’s still a shock to me that the first season of Small Victories exists at all. I still, to this day, can not tell you where the idea came from. When I was at Howard University I wrote a short story for a creative writing class about a depressed Indian man in 1950s New York and two weeks later a side character in that story named "Tiny" became the lead of a show about addiction in modern day Washington D.C. I don’t know what made me think that was a story worth telling, but it’s what happened!

I was writing furiously, but I still had no clue how it was going to be made. Suddenly (honest to God, it was out of the blue), one of my theater professors connected me with Nathan Gabriel who happened to be a director who was “currently looking for some audio projects to pursue during these quarantined times” 

The first email I received from Nathan! Who'd have thought so much could come from "humoring a complete stranger"?!

Nathan and I got along famously, things started moving quickly, and then, 181 drafts later, I had written a 9-episode series and we began casting. However, Marisol, the main character, had such a unique voice that it was nearly impossible to find someone to fully and skillfully embody her.

Boom! Nathan’s friend recommends Mo McKynzie, but the day of the audition she gets into a car accident. Somehow she still manages to send in a tape and it’s perfect. Genuinely perfect. We have a lead, we record in a week-and-a-half, and Small Victories Season 1 is out six months later. 

There were so many reasons why Small Victories should not have happened, but it did. And once it was out I could see why it was so important that it was released. So many people have shared with me how Small Victories has helped them process and articulate their own feelings when it comes to their struggles with addiction. Or they’ve spoken about how Small Victories helps them empathize with loved ones who struggle with addiction. And even people who don’t have any relationship with addiction have expressed how Marisol makes them want to be kinder to themselves. 

It’s the honor of my life that I get to be a part of a project and team that is able to have a real impact on people from all across the world, and I hope that you are able to become a part of this project of ours in your own way. -Jade Madison Scott (Creator/Writer/Producer)

Marisol Montgomery went through a lot in Season 1.

After a near-death experience, she’s decided to quit doing a litany of drugs and go on the proverbial straight and narrow. The crazy thing is being sober leaves you a lot of time to think and thinking can be sort of detrimental when you've never processed the death of your mother and twin brother (and also you have a strained relationship with your girlfriend, you feel alienated from the world, and you can't find a job on account of that whole ~long term struggle with addiction~ thing). But that's fine!

She's fine! Sure she bought drugs and nearly sold coke to a child and also got stabbed by her ex-boyfriend, but she's fine! She's great! At least that's what she's telling herself.

So, yeah. She's going through a lot and we'll get to see her go through even more in season two! She's having interactions with a supernatural being made of eyes. She's got a job as a private chef which connects her to new, interesting, and potentially dangerous friends. She's engaged and eager to be married! Also, she has been prescribed an irresponsible amount of oxycontin which means....things will be progressing in a very rapid manner. She's fine!

It's great! She's different now! Does different mean good? Can one even apply the simple binary of good and bad to the complexities of the human soul? Does Marisol even have the will to perform that level of healthy introspection? And if she does, does she have the self-love required to forgive herself and atone to her loved ones? 

Who knows!? It's fine. She's great. I'm sure she'll figure all that stuff out in season 2!

To be frank, we are a team of chronic over-achievers. We came into Season 1 with the express purpose to make the best possible production we could, and it was hard. But the wonderful thing about doing hard things is that they make you better. 

For season 2, we want to refine our old elements and experiment with new things. That means we want to go further with our immersive sound design, play more with the story structure, and go deeper with our characters.

Our team is committed to bringing you, the audience, the best possible season that we can.

Cast:

Marisol Montgomery- Mo McKynzie

Nina Greene- Yodeet Nymberg

Chinna Palmer- Stranger

Summer- Lolita Marie

The Host- Akanimo Effang

Oliver- Jacquir LaFond

Aaron- Cody Smith

Crew:

Jade Madison Scott- Producer, Writer, Creator

Nathan Gabriel- Director, Sound Designer

Virginia Wilson- Script Supervisor

Will Stokes- Executive Producer

Brittany A. Jones- Marketing Director

I suppose the first reason there should be a Season 2 is because Season 1 ended on a cliffhanger. No one wants a show to end on a cliffhanger.

The second (and better) reason is that Small Victories was always meant to be a three-season show. Recovery is a long game and the show is going to need all three parts to tell the full scope of Marisol's emotional journey.

If the first season was like a glance, the second season is like one of those team-building exercises where you stare into each other's eyes for a minute. You'll get a deeper understanding of the characters and what makes them tick.

Maybe you're a huge fan of the show. Maybe you were sent this by a friend. Maybe you just have a voracious appetite for a show with a queer Black anti-hero told by Black people who have nothing but respect, love, and care for the story they're telling and you want to contribute to this vision we all believe in. No matter what your reason is, when you contribute to our campaign you'll be joining our team and I, for one, am thrilled to have you on board.

Our proposed budget is $11,784 which will allow us to produce 11 new episodes, including a bonus episode from Nina’s perspective. The show will be released in Summer of 2023 for free across various podcasting platforms, but everyone who contributes to the project will receive a variety of perks such as:

-A Small Victories cookbook

-An exclusive 40-minute interview with Mo McKynzie, the voice of Marisol

-An early release of the season 2 premiere

-The Opportunity To Sit In On A Recording Session

-And More!

We have already recorded the first episode of Season 2. Once funding is secured we will cast 11 new minor roles and then schedule and record the remaining episodes. We plan to have a wide release of the show in Late Summer 2023. It will be released weekly with a finale premiering in Fall/Winter 2023.

We are planning to enter several festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival, NJ Webfest, and Miami Webfest.

CONTRIBUTE AND PLEDGE

You can contribute to our production by making a pledge. We have to collect 80% of our crowdfunding goal to keep our funds. You can choose any pledge and incentive. No pledge is too small! Every dollar brings Small Victories Season 2 a little closer. 

FOLLOW

Follow our campaign on Seed & Spark and our social media pages to stay up-to-date on the latest "Small Victories" news!

Seed&Spark rewards us for building our audience.  The more followers we get, the more we unlock products, services, and festival fee waivers courtesy of Seed&Spark!

TELL LITERALLY EVERYONE

The only way we'll reach our goal is if we can let all sorts of people know about our campaign. Please share our campaign via your social media, email, word-of-mouth, blogs, or carrier pigeon! 

Thank you for taking the time to read all that text up there. I hope that, together, we can make something really wonderful.