A film major, a few of his Howard University cohorts, some summer networking, and a script about HBCU love. This is the equation that brought Tevin Scott’s new web series “Doing It Wrong” to Black and Sexy TV.
Black and Sexy TV, which originally started as a widely watched Youtube channel, switched over to a premium subscription service in 2015. The platform delivers web series that displays black normalcy in intimate and comedic ways.
“Doing It Wrong” creator Tevin Scott sent in a pitch of his show, and three episodes to Black and Sexy Co-Founder Dennis Dortch in 2014. With no hesitation, Dortch picked the show up to develop it for their lineup, of course.
“The idea for the show came from two things, one of those being the song “Doing It Wrong” by Drake. The first episode actually starts off quoting a lyric from the song, which I found to be very profound when it comes to describing what dating and being in love is like in this day in and age. The idea also stemmed from a never ending conversation on talking vs. dating in college. I would see this debate resurface time and time again on social media and in my daily dealings at Howard, so I thought, why not make a series about it?”
Doing It Wrong is a dramedy if you will, about relationships in college and how badly they can be handled. It follows the turbulent relationship of Chanel Stephens (Kiah Clingman) and Tyler “Ty” Drayton (Sideeq Heard.) While Ty and Chanel are going through the “situationship” ringer because of his infidelities with women like Kiana (Colby Muhammad,) Chanel finds solace in the smooth guy on campus, Jake (Marcus Livingston.) Both Chanel and Ty seek their friends Anya (Phoenix Renee), Sean (Shawn Washington), Brandon (Jarrett Powell,) and Bria (Olivia Russell) for advice in the whole ordeal.
Scott said that he pitched the show in 2014 with the script and three episodes to Black and Sexy Co-founder Dennis Dortch. B&S decided to pick it up for their roster.
“I would lock myself in my room, throw on a playlist of songs that would get me in the mood to write, and I wouldn’t leave my room until I finished at least an episode!”
“The show kinda has this “battle of the sexes” feel where we’re seeing how the guys view things and how the girls view things, so talking to girls beforehand really helped me capture the woman’s voice.”
The show will premiere on Black&Sexy TV’s premium subscription service on Sunday, April 17.
The cast of Doing It Wrong and Creator Tevin Scott sat down with us at The Buzz and talked all things HBCU with us. Each of them are Howard students and graduates.
Sonia: Why Howard University?
Colby Muhammad: “My older cousin who is four years older than me attended Howard University, and he shoved it down my throat literally ridiculous. So I visited the yard and I fell in love with it. It’s nothing like coming out here and seeing so many brown faces on the yard… It’s such a rich and beautiful culture that I had to come here”
Sideeq Heard: “I only applied to Howard, and then I got denied. I was like “woah!” So I called up here like “So can I be undecided, What can I do because I’m coming to Howard University.” My test scores were high enough to be undecided, but not high enough to be a regular student. I went to the Theatre Arts audition, and I got into their program. Eventually after I got my denial letter, I got my acceptance letter.”
Kiah Clingman: “I never thought I’d come to an HBCU. I wanted to attend Northwestern, Columbia, USC, NYU included, but Howard gave me the most money out of all the schools. What Howard gave me was a sense of purpose and a sense of identity. I was not able to identify with my roots or who black people were. I came from an all-white neighborhood in Ohio, and coming here it felt so refreshing to be around so many people of my kind who are immensely intelligent and gifted.“
Jarrett Powell: “I always knew that I wanted to go to an HBCU. I grew up in an all-white neighborhood, and went to a majority white high school. I was the only black guy in all my honors classes, and I would always get those questions like “Can I touch your hair?” I always knew I wanted to be around black people.”
Phoenix, Tevin, and Marcus all knew Howard was the place for them in the long run as well. Each of them having a never say die mentality, today they are able to call themselves Bison.
A show centered around anything dealing with HBCUs has rarely been seen since the hit series A Different World. It is Scott’s hopes to appeal to a younger demographic about an aspect of Black College life, and if this goes off without a hitch, we could be looking at a web series that will sweep Black America in way that has been untapped for quite some time.
