Los Angeles, CA – April 18, 2023 – “Cinnamon” — the inaugural project filmed under Village Roadshow Pictures’ Black Noir Cinema banner, co-founded by NBA all-star Kevin Garnett — has debuted its first trailer.
Written, directed and executive produced by Bryian Keith Montgomery Jr., the Tubi original film was selected to make its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival and stars Hailey Kilgore, Damon Wayans, Pam Grier, David Iacono and Jeremie Harris.
The noir thriller follows a struggling small-town gas station attendant and aspiring singer, named Jodi Jackson, (Kilgore, who displays the singing chops that led to her 2018 Tony nomination for “Once on This Island” in the teaser below) whose life is sent into a tailspin after a fatal crime.
As the film’s synopsis explains, “Cinnamon” centers on Jodi, “frustrated and stuck in a dead-end job with her dreams slipping away,” as she meets a young hustler who quickly becomes her fiercely devoted boyfriend (Iacono).
The clip shows the young couple, desperate to start a new life and jumpstart Jodi’s singing career, as they make the fateful decision to commit a crime together. But their plan quickly goes sideways.
“Thinking they have made it through the worst of it, Jodi and Eddie have unknowingly unleashed a spiraling chain of events that quickly makes them the target of a ruthless family run crime organization, with Jodi’s boss Wally (Wayans) at the center,” the synopsis explains. “Mama (Grier) and her son James (Harris) will stop at nothing to find out what went wrong. As James begins to uncover the truth, no one is safe and secrets begin to be revealed leading to a deadly showdown where Jodi and Eddie must answer for their crime.”
In 2021, Variety exclusively announced the development of Black Noir Cinema, a lineup of genre movies developed and produced by Village Roadshow and Tubi which will exclusively debut on the Fox-owned free streaming platform. Following its Tribeca premiere, “Cinnamon” is set to launch on the platform this summer.
Inspired by classics like “Shaft,” “Super Fly” and “Cleopatra Jones,” Black Noir Cinema, aims to adapt and redefine the Blaxploitation genre and translate its spirit of empowerment to a new generation of Black audiences. The initiative is also part of Garnett and Content Cartel’s first-look deal with Village Roadshow to develop and produce scripted and unscripted projects.
Veteran producer Oz Scott oversees the content slate and produced “Cinnamon,” alongside executive producers Michael D. Jones, Garnett, Brian Bennett and Mike Marangu for Content Cartel.