A Lit Space Production has added NAACP Award winner Tyrese Gibson, Emmy winner Rome Flynn, and Oscar winner Van Lathan as executive producers on the short film Talk To Somebody. The addition marks Flynn’s first-ever executive producer credit.
Directed by Jamal Akakpo, Talk To Somebody follows Elliot Jones, a 17-year-old one wrong choice away from juvenile detention, as he’s forced into therapy sessions with Maurice Fields, a therapist carrying his own unresolved trauma over a friend he couldn’t save. As their sessions progress, Elliot has to decide whether to stay silent or finally open up in a system he says punishes more than it understands. The cast includes Sheldon Frett as the therapist, Maurice, Christopher Ammanuel as the teenager, Elliot, Bentley Green as Thomas, Joshua Suiter as a younger version of Maurice, and Jordon Fite as GT, with Armani Greer producing and Chase The Money serving as music director.
The film’s subject matter, a Black teenager navigating court-mandated therapy and generational trauma within the juvenile system, places it inside a broader push in independent Black filmmaking toward stories that treat mental health and systemic harm as central narrative material rather than background context. That focus, paired with the film’s Academy Award-qualifying status and genuine festival traction, positions Talk To Somebody as part of a growing wave of short-form work using awards infrastructure to push urgent, specific stories toward wider visibility.
It’s also worth noting, Van Lathan won his Oscar as executive producer on Two Distant Strangers, the 2021 Best Live Action Short Film winner, giving him direct, award-winning experience in exactly the kind of role he now holds on Talk To Somebody.”
The film has already picked up several festival honors, including the Viewer’s Choice Award at the Oak Park Black Film Festival, Best Narrative Short at the San Antonio International Black Film Festival, and the Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short at the Awareness Film Festival, along with finalist and selection placements at the SJV Blacksno Film Festival, Greenwood Film Festival, Cannes Indie Shorts, and New York Indie Shorts.
With Academy Award qualification already secured and three high-profile executive producers now attached, the next marker to watch is whether Talk To Somebody‘s festival momentum translates into an actual awards season push.