The two get deep about men’s mental health, redefining masculinity, Haitian culture and combatting imposter syndrome while leveling up.
ALLBLK debuted its original series “Send Help” on Thursday (Aug. 11) from creators and executive producers Jean Elie and Mike Gauyo. Elie and Gauyo recently spoke with Global Grind to discuss their new dark comedy series in an exclusive interview. The two get deep about men’s mental health, redefining masculinity, Haitian culture and combatting imposter syndrome while leveling up.
Check out Global Grind’s exclusive interview with “Send Help” creators and executive producers Jean Elie and Mike Gauyo above.
“Send Help” is a coming-of-age dark comedy series starring “Insecure”’s Jean Elie, who also serves as the creator and co-executive producer on the show. He teamed up with Gauyo, who has notably written for “Insecure” and Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia,” to create and executive produce the ALLBLK series.
The new series is about a first-generation Haitian-American, Fitz, who is struggling to overcome the challenges of “making it” in Hollywood whilst coming to terms with a recent family tragedy. Elie is joined by a phenomenal cast of talent featuring Amin Joseph, Karen Obilom, Courtney Taylor, Catfish Jean, Karina Bonnefil, Ana Bowen and Kimiko Singer.
Elie and Gauyo reminisce about working with the gifted group of actors and their all-star Send Help crew. The first season directed by Stewart Yost will consist of seven episodes.
Elie and Gauyo gave an introspective look inside their genius minds to help us better understand how they approached the dark comedy series. The series has a lot of television “firsts,” like documenting the battles men face and coping with their mental health.
The two aim to redefine masculinity and reshape the way we have discourse around men’s mental health. “Send Help” also identified a new way to explore Elie and Gauyo’s unique Haitian culture, where most depictions in media portray Haitians as caricatures.
Global Grind asked Elie and Gauyo how they had managed to step into the executive producer seat. The two co-executive producers shared their views on imposter syndrome while leveling up in their respective careers.
“Impostor syndrome comes because you feel like you don’t deserve it,” Gauyo said. “A lot of times, you just have to kind of dispel those negative feelings and negative thoughts and to walk into your purpose.
Be sure to stream the first episode of “Send Help” on ALLBLK here.