Colen Wiley at the Urbanworld Awards
Hampton University alumnus Colen Wiley has created a lot of buzz in the entertainment industry with his post-Katrina inspired script titled After the Storm. What started out as Wiley’s graduate school thesis project at New York University, soon turned into plans for a feature film production and has even earned the support of esteemed filmmaker Spike Lee and other key film industry figures.
Wiley's script won the 2011 Urbanworld Screenplay Competition sponsored by BET and HBO, and also won the 2011 Spike Lee Production Fund Award. He began working on After the Storm in 2009 and is looking to begin filming this summer with plans of premiering in 2013. Actor Wendell Pierce, best known for his performance in the HBO series The Wire and native New Orleanian, has signed on to star in the film.
Wiley was inspired to write After the Storm after visiting a friend in New Orleans and envisioned how the post-Katrina environment he observed could develop into an allegory. He relied on the experiences of people he knew, along with his research and observations to help make his script authentic and insightful.
“I have several good friends whose families have endured tremendous hardships as a result of Katrina. Some have even had relatives that died.”
Wiley was a political science major at HU, was the salutatorian of his class, and won the President's Cup award in 2004. Wiley attributed the knowledge he gained from his political science classes to him becoming more keenly aware of the social and political happenings around him.
“Katrina had a great deal of political and sociological undercurrents beneath it, and I’ve subtly tried to pick at a few of those with this project.”
Wiley took a few film and acting classes, and co-directed a short film while at HU. Wiley recognized the unique educational and cultural experiences he endured at Hampton University and noted its role in his overall development.
“I learned a great deal in the classroom while I was there, but an even bigger part of the experience was to be a part of an environment of such beautiful blackness. That turned it into an education that was truly unique. It helped to make me comfortable and confident in my own skin. That is vitally important as a storyteller.”
History professor Robert Watson, HU’s history instructor, commented on having Colen Wiley as a student.Wiley believes that that everyone who sees the film will walk away with a different experience.
“Colen Wiley was an excellent student. He was very goal oriented in class and always had a vision of how he could make a difference. He served as a positive role model for his peers and led by example. Wiley also comes from great stalk. His father was an outstanding writer which had a good influence on him.”
Wiley believes that everyone who sees the film will walk away with a different experience.
Wiley believes that everyone who sees the film will walk away with a different experience.
“I don’t believe in trying to force feed anyone with any particular message with my films. When you try to do that, people usually reject it because they feel like you are trying too hard to teach them something. The best way to reach someone is to entertain them.”
He also wants to portray things that mean something to him and that resonates deeply when audiences see it.
"I'm very careful to keep things as authentic and truthful as possible. At that point, it's up to the audience to take from it whatever they will."
Wendell Pierce who is set to star in the film
