As Impact Network rebrands from a faith and gospel-focused multiplatform channel to include family-friendly lifestyle entertainment designed for Black audiences, Variety can exclusively reveal its first “Impact Original” movie, “The Life of Me.”
Brian White (ABC’s “Scandal”), Brandon T. Jackson (BET’s “Family Business: New Orleans,” “Percy Jackson”) and Danielle Nicolet (CW’s “The Flash”) star in the film about a wealthy businessman, who “disillusioned by his family’s illicit business dealings, escapes to a small town and finds friendship, love, and a new focus on life until he must confront his past, reveal his identity, and redefine his future.”
White plays Marcus Banks, a real estate mogul and heir to his family’s multi-billion dollar development business, who is described in the film’s official description as a “man with a conscience.”
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The film’s synopsis explains:
Marcus becomes disgruntled with the family’s greedy tactics after learning his family would put the lives of innocent people in harm’s way to make a profit. He flees his big-time lifestyle to a small town where he assumes a new under-the-radar identity as a handyman named “Dom.”
Nicolet plays Kennedy, a single mother, dance instructor and owner of the local cafe (and love interest to Marcus/Dom). Kennedy and her brother try to keep their small business, which was passed down by their late parents, alive despite the economic devastation experienced from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Marcus faces a moral dilemma when his family’s company comes to his small-town hideout and tries to snatch land from his newfound friends.
Jackson is Simon, the Banks family’s ruthless fixer, who informs Marcus of the plot. Rounding out the cast are Reece Odum (“Saints & Sinners”) who plays Jasmine, Marcus’ heartless and overly ambitious sister, and Mandela Van Peebles (“Reginald The Vampire”) as Kennedy’s brother Daniel.
“The Life of Me” is written and directed by Ty Manns and produced by The Impact Network & Manns Mackie Studios. Bishop Wayne T. Jackson and Royal Jackson will also serve as the executive producers on the project, which shot on location in Nashville. Zerogravity has partnered with Impact to distribute the film, which is the first to be deemed an “Impact Original.”
Impact Network is a 100% Black-owned independent company, founded in 2010 by Bishop Wayne T. Jackson and wife Beverly Jackson as a channel airing sermons and religious talk shows. With the appointment of their son Royal Jackson to chief creative officer in 2022, Impact moved into entertainment programming with a strategic focus on religious content.
In February, the company announced plans to shift its lineup to encompass “family-friendly lifestyle entertainment, premium scripted and engaging non-scripted series in addition to programming initiatives around health/wellness/financial/cultural areas affecting Black communities.”
White is represented by Zero Gravity Management, Buchwald, Strategic PR and Eric Feig Entertainment & Media Law; Nicolet is represented by Link Entertainment, Vault Entertainment, Strategic PR and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher; and Jackson is represented by Zero Gravity Management, Buchwald and RMG.
