SILVERBACK is a comic book-inspired web series. With its London setting, Black creative team and female lead, the series intends to present a grounded & uniquely Black British look at superheroes and the science fiction genre.

Dee Igoni (Laura Njoku) is an ex-offender who returns home on the day of her younger brother Arinze's (Matthew Moore) funeral. Dee suspects that Arinze's death is connected to his secret life as The Silverback, a masked, tech-based vigilante.

With some of The Silverback's older gadgets in hand, Dee takes to the streets in search of the truth behind her brother's death, meeting old friends, new allies, and dangerous enemies along the way.

I've always wanted to write stories set in the familiarity of East London - where I grew up - and mix it with the fantastical nature of the sci-fi and fantasy genres that I have always loved. My idea for Silverback pretty much stems from one simple question: "what would a British superhero look like?".

This is a question with many answers, and this series is one interpretation, inspired by the environment that I grew up in. With this series - a science fiction thriller set on a Hackney council estate - I love that I'm able to shine a light on characters that rarely get to take the lead in these types of genres.

North West Londoner Laura Njoku returns to acting after a 3-year hiatus. Laura has always been a lover of acting and storytelling, particularly within action & adventure. In every role she plays, Laura aims to project strength, courage and boldness in an honest and emotional performance.

Laura's recent credits include Eastenders, a commercial for TikTok and 2017's Tomb Raider adaptation.

One of Laura's missions is to shift the narrative around the performative boundaries of black women; to be the person she wished to see on-screen: a real - not role - model for young, black and - in her own words - tomboyish girls.

Matthew Moore is a London-born actor and multi-instrumentalist. After completing a Performing Arts BTEC in Sixth Form, Matthew has continued to pursue his love of acting, taking lead and supporting roles in a range of short films over the past two years.

Matthew recently released an EP, Daybreak, under his stage name Matéus.

Peace Oseyenum is a graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and has taken on multiple roles on stage and screen in the past few years.

Peace has appeared in the Netflix-produced series of Top Boy and is set to appear in Ogodinife Okpue’s directorial feature debut, A Song from the Dark. She also stars in the award-winning short sci-fi drama Pepper Soup, which she also produced.

On stage, Peace took the titular role in The Cockpit Theatre’s all-female production of Othello, performed in several plays at the Lyric Hammersmith, and is a frequent collaborator with Orisun Productions.

Jay Gomez-Adams is a leading man in the making. Over the past few years he has completed work on the Edgar Wright directed thriller, Last Night In Soho (2021), and is set to appear in Daniel Espinosa’s comic book adventure drama, Morbius (2022).

Jay can also be seen in Jermaine Pinnock’s feature film, Outwitting The Devil (2021) and the Anton Novoselov directed short, Please Leave Quietly (2020).

Fabian Spencer is a classically-trained actor, playwright and Reggae artist. A product of the London Shakespeare Workout, Fabian appeared as Iago in their National tour of Blacking Iago, a modern take on Othello with a cast of current and ex-offenders.

Fabian went on to appear in King Lear at The Globe Theatre, several short and independent feature films, and has co-written two plays for the Intermission Youth Theatre.

Fabian can be seen as the co-lead in 198 Grand, a British Indie feature recently screened on London Live.

Tamunodiepiriye "Tam" Paul-Worika is a Nigerian-British screenwriter, and a Hackney native. In addition to writing short films, Tam created and hosted more than 60 episodes of The Broken Elevator, a film pitching podcast; produced the short film Donkeytooth which screened at multiple festivals; directed two 15-second horror shorts and most recently produced, curated and guest-hosted the Famalam Film Fest, a series of virtual short film nights.

In 2018, Tam’s feature script Don’t Leave was selected in Raindance's inaugural Film School Pitching competition, giving him the opportunity to develop his psychological thriller with the school.

Adeeb “Deeby” Waren is an East Londoner, creativity hype-man and a lifelong cinephile who has dedicated most of his working life to the moving image.

While working his way up to management at Whitechapel’s award-winning Genesis Cinema, Deeby has been a part of a wide range of creative projects in a wider range of roles; he has worked on feature films, arthouse shorts and much more, learning from some of the best in the business. Deeby also co-founded both the Famalam Film Fest and the arts collective Beddow ‘n’ Battini Studios, and was a regular contributor to The Broken Elevator podcast.

Deeby has put to practise everything he's learnt in his own projects, including writing, producing and directing his own short thriller, Pets.

Nick Kofi is an all-rounder: a Director, Editor and Colourist, whose intention as a filmmaker is to build and develop a narrative universe that audiences will not only want to watch, but will want to immerse themselves in.

In addition to his own independent projects, Nick has worked on narrative short films, abstract & experimental concepts, as well as more commercial work.

Levi Eddie Aluede is an award-winning writer and director, well-known for the 2020 web series Visions of Vivid Life. Levi moved from Northamptonshire to South London to complete a two-year production apprenticeship, where he was commissioned to make documentaries while serving as cinematographer on many short films and other projects.

Levi is also an experienced and print-published film journalist, writing for the Tomatometer-approved site Film Inquiry. Levi is currently writing and directing an LGBT short film, The Smell of Cut Grass, for Eurasfilms.

Moses Ssebandeke is a Writer, Director and Comedian who has been making films for the past 14 years. In 2015, Moses wrote and directed the sci-fi short film Patient 4318 with the BBC Academy, which screened at the African American Film Market in Hollywood. Moses went on to produce content for BBC Comedy, CBBC and CBeebies, as well as writing and directing a BBC Africa interactive drama with South London artist Stormzy.

As co-founder of the film collective Lionstooth, Moses has written, directed and produced several award-winning short films, and recently released his first feature Drapetomania, which he shot during the first Lockdown.

Shakira Francis is a writer, director and actor who graduated from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2015. Inspired by her acting journey, Shakira began writing her own short films.

In 2017, Shakira's landed a space on Creative England’s Shortflix programme where she received professional help in developing her short film script. In 2018 Shakira made her short directorial debut with her script, 4C. The short was selected as a finalist in the South East Filmmakers Competition and toured the South East of England. Shakira’s BFI-funded short The Lost Land Girl is currently on the festival circuit.

Loraine ffrench started watching martial arts movies from a very young age. As the child of a martial arts master, these films made a regular appearance in her household, and she quickly learnt to understand the discipline and beauty of the martial arts form. Loraine is also passionate about the sci-fi genre, and directed an action sci-fi proof of concept short, Kenya.
Loraine is fascinated by the concept of human beings having the capability to have powers beyond their expected means, taking the normal to the extraordinary and seeing that person transition into the role of a hero.

Loraine is most inspired by directors like Zhang Yimou, Wilson Yip and Wong Kar-wai.

Each pledge tier is named after a different iconic Black Female comic book or sci-fi character. We have a range of rewards for your contributions, including:

• A thank you on social media
• Early Access to the full series
• Tickets to a live virtual or physical* cast & crew screening with a Q&A
• Early Access to behind-the-scenes photos, videos & concept art
• A special thanks in the credits
• An Associate Producer or Executive Producer credit in the credits & on IMDb
• A 30-minute chat with series creator Tam Paul-Worika
• A 60-minute chat with the cast & producers
• A day on set with the cast & crew**
• Up to six Silverback comic book cover-style postcards, desgined by Wumzum
• Limited Edition "shiny" character postcards
• Unique hand-drawn, signed & framed Silverback posters
• A 3D-printed copy of props used in the series

*The screening will be held in a London cinema with an exact date TBC. If you are unable to attend, you will be provided with access to the live streamed screening and Q&A with the cast & crew.

**Filming is expected to take place in London between July and August