Finale of ‘CHILL’ to air Monday

CHILL will be returning for a second season. The online series by the Ashe performing arts group, which tells the stories of a group of Jamaican millennials navigating the worlds of sex, love, and relationship, was launched on March 1. The final episode in season one of the series will air on Monday.

“I think the expectations for the show have been met and exceeded. We only imagined how people would react, and to see it all unfolding the way it has, has just been a blessing. Even though the series was written a couple of years ago, it just so happens that most of the issues that come out in the series are still relevant today. People are relating so much to the series that it just makes us feel so accomplished,” said Makiesha Bonner Grant, project manager for the series.

Work is already underway on season two. “On a scale of 1-10, our viewers’ love for this series is a 10, hands down. Based on the reactions we see when the show is live, and even long after the show has aired, we know people are really tuned in. They are intrigued by the storyline; they absolutely adore the characters. It’s just overwhelming support all around. Season two is already in the works,” she said.

With the writing for season two already underway, Ifidel Williams, Ashe’s integrated marketing and communications lead, told The Gleaner that the company is still very focused on edutainment. He explained that even before the series was launched in March, Ashe wanted to use CHILL to educate young people on many serious issues, including gender-based violence, sexual health, and proper parenting. “I think our edutainment approach came alive even more in this 13-part series. We tackled issues around relationships, sex, HIV, gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, and we did it in such a skilful way that the message was sent through some top-notch entertainment. The CHILL storyline was deliberately infused with these very prevalent issues that plague society, and I think that’s what made it resonate with people, especially young people, the way it did,” he said.

He said the series has led to more people accessing HIV testing and counselling services. “Because of the relatability of the messages that were transferred through the beautifully written script by Michael Holgate, we got people to come into our offices and access our HIV testing services for free and our counselling services. And so CHILL has been a tremendous success for us because we have accomplished what we set out to,” he said.

For the series finale on Monday, Williams revealed that a special after-party has been planned, and invited Jamaicans all over the world to tune in for the festivities. He revealed that the live-streamed event will feature a number of special guest artistes and social media influencers and will be a taste of the CHILL future. Speaking of what is to come, the première date for CHILL season two is expected to be announced at the grand finale after-party. “Monday, we’re planning to have a star-studded season finale. The show will run at its regular 6 p.m. time, but we’re also gonna have a final after-party live stream. We’re going to have some artistes passing through, some social media influencers and a lot more surprises. And, hopefully, then we will release the date for season two of CHILL.”

CHILL writer, Michael Holgate, revealed that, with interest in the series continuing to grow each week, the pressure is on for season two’s storyline. But he assured Jamaicans that Ashe would not drop the ball, and encouraged them to stay tuned for the exciting plans. “There is pressure to develop the characters, to see what worked in the last season and decide if it will work this season. There is pressure to get things right and get it popping from the very first episode. Season one started off slowly and then built momentum gradually. We can’t afford that come season two. We affi start off fast and with a bang, and that is exactly what we intend to do,” he said, pointing out that, while smoothing out plans for the next season, he and his team will also be working on getting CHILL on even bigger platforms globally. “What I would love to happen is for our marketing team to focus on getting season one to other platforms and other continents. We want it ( CHILL) on HULU, Netflix, Amazon etc., so that, by the time season two comes out (which I know will be better production-wise and acting and storyline), CHILL will be so established, people all over will be clamouring for it,” he said.

CHILL airs every Monday on YouTube.

shereita.grizzle@gleanerjm.com