A well-known rule in storytelling is to write what you know. Writer and producer Sosiessia Nixon followed that rule with the script for her third short film, Your Day Is Tomorrow, an iKon Media Film production. Starring popular YouTube personality Kevin Swaby (Kevin2wokrayzee) as never seen before, young actor Emmanuel Nunes-Chavez and Delroy Johnson, the film is about a little boy gifted (or cursed) with the ability to foresee murders 24 hours before they happen.
Nixon recalled that she was seven years old when she had a dream that her grandmother was going to die. “And the following day, she died. That kind of stuck with me, all the way to adulthood. Oftentimes, pieces of ourselves come out in our stories. I took the reality and put it into fantasy,” she told The Gleaner.
The teaser trailer, now available on YouTube, depicts an action-packed, emotional tale – with Swaby deviating from his standard comedic posture to play a police officer. “I’ve always [said] Kevin is more than a comedian,” Nixon shared, adding that the multifaceted creator was happy to take on the challenge of a serious role.
Entering the film industry wasn’t always part of Nixon’s plan. She always enjoyed writing short stories, but it took the scrutiny and subsequent compliments from a teacher to plant the idea in her that the stories could be shared with an audience. “I realised my potential in college when my English professor said to me, ‘You need to go down to the printery, get an ISBN number and start publishing some work.’” At the time, Nixon didn’t take it seriously, but after matriculating, the stories kept coming out, albeit for no particular audience.
She approximates that it was about three years ago that her form changed, and the stories became scripts. Nixon’s other shorts are Protection, currently available on YouTube, and Drowning, also produced by iKon Media. There are plans for more short films in the future, but Nixon also has plans to go long.
“Short stories are pretty easy. I will always do shorts because I can write a short story in a day. This script took me four hours to write. The challenge is feature-length scripts. I’m actually working on a couple feature-length [scripts]. I want to start shooting one this year,” she said.
Your Day Is Tomorrow will not have an official premiere event, and the release date is currently undecided. However, Nixon anticipates it will be ready for streaming in February 2020.
There are also plans for the short film to be showcased on CEEN TV.