Dreaming Whilst Black is a new dramedy series from the UK co-written by and starring Adjani Salmon. The show first began as a web series and earned its way to a 30-minute format thanks to its relatability and sharp social commentary often delivered effectively through hilarious writing; the Dreaming Whilst Black trailer shows how well that has stayed intact. The series was co-produced by A24 and Big Deal Films and also stars Dani Moseley, Rachel Adedeji, and Demmy Ladipo.
Dreaming Whilst Black was brought to life by a number of people who have dedicated their professional careers to bringing un- and under-heard stories to the screen. One of those people is Nicola Gregory, a producer whose previous credits include Riches, Hard Time Bus, and Born Again. Gregory boarded Dreaming Whilst Black as a line producer on the pilot, and returned to finish out the show after that first of six episodes was completed.
Nicola Gregory spoke with Screen Rant about the range of her work on Dreaming Whilst Black, and her favorite aspects of creating the show. Note: This interview was conducted during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and the show covered here would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.
Nicola Gregory On Dreaming Whilst Black
Screen Rant: I know the role of producer can mean so many different things. Can you talk about where you fit in with this as it was coming together?
Nicola Gregory: I was involved early on, [though] not at the web series stage; I guess that was more Big Deal Films discovering the web series and getting that commission to the pilot. I was involved in the pilot. I was the line producer on the pilot, and then [was] invited back to produce the series, which was an incredible honor. My role on the show was really to stay true to Adjani’s vision for the show, and with that, I suppose, our intention was to really stay true to the UK Black experience. Whether you’re a creative or you work in other industries, I think that the running themes of the show are very relatable.
There’s such a conversation in this series, about the struggle between doing projects that are personal and then doing projects that you’re going to get money for, basically. How much can you relate to that as a producer who has done so many different projects?
Nicola Gregory: I can relate to that fully. Sometimes there’s a difference between producing film and producing TV. [In] producing film, not to say that you don’t have to go out and hustle and find broadcasters willing to give you money, but you’re going out raising finance and being creative. And a lot of times in the early days, whether you do jobs for free or you help people out, it’s really a long game.
I’ve always been one to really focus on projects that mean something. I like to say [I’m] working on projects that feed my soul. Going out and hustling for your dream to make that a reality is… as filmmakers, that’s what we do. We love what we do, and we’re not always making money doing it, but we continue. I don’t know what that means about us. We’re gluttons for punishment, but the fruits of our labor are well received.
Something I loved about this that felt kind of unique to the series was the overall structure, even [in] how the time jumps are accomplished. They’ll talk about something, like, “Oh, this is happening in a few weeks,” and then the next episode, it’s happening. How much did you discuss the scope [in terms of] how much of these characters’ lives you wanted to cover in the series, and how to accomplish that?
Nicola Gregory: There were a lot of characters, and we packed in a lot in each episode–within those 22 to 30 minutes. We really wanted to hone in on Kawbena’s journey. Then we have Amy who is sort of following along in the same path, but [who] has her own storyline as well dealing with office politics and the microaggressions that go on there. Then you have the authenticity of Kwabena and his family, and then you have Maurice and Funmi and those characters as well. And again, those are themes that are relatable: a young couple [and] the new baby. I don’t want to give too much away to people who haven’t watched the series, but I think that we really tried hard to make sure that [with] each character that you saw on screen—down to Lewis who pops up every now and again, which is sort of a bit of funny, comedic relief–there’s a reason for [them] to be there.
Can you speak at all to the music of the series as well? Because the composer’s amazing, the licensed songs are perfect [and] it’s such a character of the series.
Nicola Gregory: With this show everything is intentional, from the people that we hire, HODs, our casting, and music, which was a key element from the pilot. [It] was, again, very intentional. We focused on highlighting British talent as well, in terms of music and our choices editorially for music. Our music supervisor, Kaya Pino at King Lear, was brilliant in terms of selecting music and bringing [things] to our attention, but we had sort of a collaborative space as well. Even our costume designer would suggest [songs]. There is one episode, I believe it’s episode three, with “Suck Your Mum”; she’s the one who said, “This track would be brilliant,” and it worked perfectly. And Adjani is very integral to music selection.
We were very intentional, and we were working within the parameters that we had as well, but it needed to speak editorially. We wanted to create a soundtrack that you could then go off and listen to, where it became a character within [the show] an added an extra layer. And Adam, who was our composer, was phenomenal in terms of, “Okay, this is what we want to achieve from this scene.” He would go back and send us something, we’d have a listen and some tweaks, but the process and the journey of our music was great.
Was there anything in this series that you personally related to the most, or really fought for in terms of making sure it shone through the way that it did?
Nicola Gregory: I think our visions were pretty much aligned with this series. I fought for everything to be in there, because it’s [about] whittling those scripts down to be able to pack what we had within a half hour. I think where we were very intentional [was] in terms of things that just happened in the background. Even with our costume [department], having 60 brands that were Black and people of color. We made sure that the [costuming] was very intentional. The music was intentional. The fact that we had a love story of two say dark-skinned characters, because colorism is a thing within our culture. That was something that was very important to us, and we wanted to highlight things whereby, rather than being the exception, they would just become the norm. So I think in terms of fighting, I fought for everything.
About Dreaming Whilst Black
Dreaming Whilst Black is a six-episode dramedy series co-created and co-written by and starring Adjani Salmon, the 2022 BAFTA winner for Emerging Talent: Fiction and Screen International Star of Tomorrow. Co-produced by indie Big Deal Films and A24, Dreaming Whilst Black is loosely inspired by real-life events, following Kwabena (Salmon), an aspiring filmmaker stuck in a dead-end recruitment job who takes the first step to achieving his dream. However, he is quickly confronted with the tribulations of balancing finances, love and his own sense of reality. The show is adapted from the award-winning web series of the same name.
Check out our other Dreaming Whilst Black interviews here:
- Director Koby Adom
- Executive Producer Dhanny Joshi
New episodes of Dreaming Whilst Black are released on Fridays on Paramount+, and Sundays on Showtime.
