From Yard The Series, an immigrant urban drama depicting the journey of a Jamaican man as he seeks his personal and professional purpose amidst the gritty backdrop of New York City streets, debuted to an enthusiastic and sizable audience at Sovereign Center’s Palace Cineplex theater in Kingston, Jamaica, on Monday, Sept. 18th.
A star-studded capacity crowd, which included renowned names from the worlds of entertainment and sports such as former 100-meter world record holder Asafa Powell, reggae dancehall artist and producer Agent Sasco, award-winning actress Deon Silvera, and many others, greeted the one-hour pilot with laughter, cheers and thunderous applause at its conclusion.
The event was hosted by broadcaster, journalist, and educator Paula-Anne Porter-Jones and award-winning playwright and actor David Heron, who also appears in the series in a major supporting role.
Based on a true story …
From Yard is an immigrant urban drama that traces the true life story of Jamaican-born Dave G Heron (not to be confused with the aforementioned David Heron), from his humble childhood beginnings in Maverley, Kingston through his subsequent emigration to the USA and his turbulent adolescence and young adulthood on the streets of New York City in the 1970s and 80s.
The series is based on Heron’s autobiographical novel Yardie and is believed to be the first-ever television production to examine the pursuit of the American dream through the eyes of a Jamaican family.
Joining in the festivities were other members of the mostly Jamaican cast including series lead Shevrado Oliver who plays David G Heron, Glen “Titus” Campbell, Darron Donaldson, Miranda Melhado, Claire Dennison, Zole Onoura, Romar Banton and Adam Christian, making his professional acting debut in the role of young Dave G Heron.
Also in attendance were series producers, including Executive Producer Dave G Heron, Producer Phaedra Benford, and Producer-Director Leland Benford.
Authentically from yaad
In the talkback segment held after the screening between the cast, producers, and the hosts, Producer-Director Benford stressed the importance that his team placed on authenticity during the production process, which he believes resulted in a tremendously positive audience response as the show unfolded.
“From the very beginning we knew we needed to shoot this in Jamaica, in authentic Jamaican locations and with authentic Jamaican actors,” he stated.
Background reading: New TV series pilot From Yard full cast announced
“It was just too important a project for the Jamaican people and culture to not be accurately represented. And it was clearly the right decision based on what we’ve witnessed here tonight.”
Producer Phaedra Benford also revealed that several networks and streaming platforms have shown a strong interest in the project and that the producing team is hoping to secure a distribution deal for the series in the near future.
The event was held as a charity fundraiser for The BAM MOMS Club, a Jamaica-based charitable organization geared towards providing prenatal education for pregnant women in their fourth to seventh month of pregnancy.
