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The German King
Overview
Overview
In the hands of oppressors, the history of the oppressed will slip away. The German King is a story of the heroism it takes to hold onto a people’s lost history. Set during The Scramble For Africa leading up to the First World War, The German King is inspired by the true story of Rudolf Douala Manga Bell; a German-raised African prince who becomes king after his father’s death.
Estranged from his homeland, Rudolf returns to Cameroon only to find oppression, grief, and death. Confronted with injustice and compelled to act, Rudolf leads a rebellion against Kaiser Wilhelm II, a man Rudolf once counted as a brother. This is a moving series about one of Africa’s greatest forgotten heroes. Our vision is to tell Rudolf’s story in such a way as to reclaim and immortalize a royal heritage of bravery, nobility, and love.
Perhaps more than any other time in modern history, we need true stories of what it means to love thy neighbor, even when that neighbor least deserves it. We believe The German King offers viewers a previously unseen view of African valor. Steeped in the dramatic history of the European conquest of Africa, The German King is the powerful story of one man’s heroic defense of the Cameroonian people against all odds.
In the example of Rudolf Douala Manga Bell’s life, we see a lesson in sacrificial courage and selfless love against incredible odds. This is the story about what it means to live your deepest identity in the face of fear and persecution.
Previous Runs
This isn’t the first time that you may have heard of The German King. It has been in film festivals all over the country winning awards like Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Short Film. The short film took home the award for Best Production Design and was the winner for Best Actor (Adetokumboh McCormack) at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. We were thrilled to have multiple film news outlets review the short.
“It becomes very clear that The German King needs MORE screening opportunities. If you want to see an authentic, beautiful and greatly performed film about history, then you should support The German King for sure!"
- Just Celebrity Magazine
“M’Cormack’s vision sets the precedence of authenticity and gathering historical pieces by aligning the sentiments of how the state of war can change the perspectives of family and one’s duties.”
- Black Star News
“It is clear that Rudolf is unlikely to succeed in his attempt to free his people yet M’Cormack never instills him with any sense of failure; rather a deep belief that what he is doing is right and that if he can do one thing, it is at least to set an example to his son and the people of Cameroon that they must struggle against oppression and that one day they will succeed.”
- The Consulting Detective
What Will The Show Be Like?
The German King is part Braveheart, part Black Panther, part 1917, part The Crown. The story’s intrigue lives between the mores of Victoria or The Gilded Age and the epic feel of Game of Thrones. It’s the timeless tale of the hero’s journey in a period piece.
We believe this story’s blend of high-stakes politics and personal valor creates a compelling world that will draw fans from several genres. The German King celebrates the royal threads and fantastic settings that make up the tapestry of African culture. Our hope is that we can pull back the veil of underrepresentation and showcase the forgotten worlds of the African diaspora.
*Success in other projects does not guarantee success of The German King. Revenue does not guarantee profits. There can be no assurance that the projected results will be obtained, and actual results may vary significantly from the projections.
**Revenue data for these projects are from Box Office Mojo, found at https://www.boxofficemojo.com.
Adetokumboh M’Cormack
Creator, Executive Producer, Actor
Adetokumboh “Ade” M'Cormack is an award-winning actor and filmmaker originally from Sierra Leone and lived in Nigeria and Kenya before moving to the United States. He graduated magna cum laude with a BFA in Acting from the Conservatory of Theatre Arts & Film at SUNY Purchase. His acting credits include the Oscar-nominated film Blood Diamond, Battle: Los Angeles, and Captain America: Winter Soldier. M’Cormack voices “Isaac” in the hit Netflix animated series, Castlevania for which he received two Voice Arts Award Nominations. He also won the Best Actor Award at The Oregon Cinema Arts Film Festival for his portrayal of Henry “Box” Brown, in the film “Boxed”. M’Cormack has also starred in The Chosen, Blood of Zeus, NCIS, Lost, 24, Gilmore Girls and Heroes.
With a passion to tell diverse stories that shine a light on the underrepresented, M’Cormack wrote, directed and produced his first short film, Irish Goodbye about a Syrian refugee fleeing persecution. The film screened at Cannes, won numerous best of festival awards and can currently be seen on Amazon Prime Video. His second short, The German King, (executive produced by NCIS star Pauley Perrette) also screened at Cannes, qualified for Academy Award consideration and earned M’Cormack a Best Actor Award at the Rhode Island International Film Festival. M’Cormack also wrote the epic graphic novel Orishas: Legacy of Shango which is set to be released in 2023.
Chris Freeman
Producer
Award-winning filmmaker Chris W. Freeman began his career under iconic directors Wolfgang Petersen, Michael Mann, and Tim Burton. Since then, he's written and directed 5 features, produced over a dozen, and has worked intimately with executives from Fox, Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros, and Universal. His dystopian graphic novel, So...I Survived the Zombie Apocalypse and All I Got Was This Lousy Podcast, was published by Dark Horse Comics to rave reviews, and his latest feature film was an official selection of Grimmfest and awarded Best Horror Feature (Toronto Independent Film Festival), Best Comedy Feature (Kapow) and the Silver Award at The Hollywood Independent Film Festival. Chris recently adapted the best-selling novel The End of Temperance Dare for the screen with Kathryn Nawrocki and is currently developing several episodics with Shaun Redick (Get Out) and Yvette Yates (Dayshift) of Impossible Dream Entertainment.
Glenton Richards
Executive Producer/Writer
Glenton Richards is a Writers Guild nominated television and film writer living in Los Angeles, California. During his time in Los Angeles, he has had the opportunity to work on TV shows such as the Emmy award-winning show Fargo and on the Emmy-nominated TV show American Crime, under the supervision of Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley.
Glenton attended Texas Christian University where he received a B.S. in Radio, Television, & Film and a minor in English. After graduating, Glenton began pursuing his dream in Los Angeles and most recently served as a writer on the Amazon Prime series, The Expanse, and the spin-off web series, The Expanse: One Ship, for which he received a nomination from the Writers Guild of America.
Stephanie Filo
Editor
Stephanie Filo, ACE is a three-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning TV/Film Editor and activist with over 15 years of experience editing and producing both Scripted and Unscripted content. She is based in Los Angeles, CA and Sierra Leone, West Africa.
In 2021, she won a Primetime Emmy award for her work on HBO's "A Black Lady Sketch Show", making her team the first all-Women of Color editing team to take home the award for Outstanding Picture Editing for Variety Programming.
Hanna Sturwold
Producer, Editor
Hanna Sturwold was born and raised in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles. She is an accomplished Producer and Editor who has worked for the top production studios and advertising agencies such as Disney, Killer Films, and Warner Media.
Constance Ejuma
Actress
Constance Ejuma is an award-winning actress and producer. Born in Cameroon and raised in the Washington DC area, she started acting in her teens and went on to study theater at the University of Toronto. Constance has credits in theatre, film and television and her work has given her the opportunity to collaborate with prolific artists like Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka and Academy Award Nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo. Constance is best known for Ben & Ara, a feature film in which she starred and subsequently received an AMAA award (fondly referred to as the African Oscar) for her efforts as a producer. Years later, she had a role in Marvel’s Black Panther as a Dora Milaje warrior for which she received a SAG Award. She has also been featured in music videos for artists like Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce.
Deeply Rooted Values
The German King is a thoroughly human story. From plot to characterization, the hope of the show is to highlight the humanity of all people. Regardless of geography, race, or cultural background, the highest human calling is to treat another with acceptance, respect, and ultimately love.
We want to showcase the human condition, not just the beautiful, the good, and the true, but those undeniably uglier parts of us that we can learn from. It’s our hope that in doing so, what’s heroic can be emulated, what’s good celebrated, and what’s unjust renounced. The truth will out.
It’s worth mentioning that this story is a passion project born from a personal connection. Like the show’s protagonist, Rudolf, the show’s creator, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, grew up under colonial influence. Both were indoctrinated into a foreign culture, losing relationships with their own. Both came to an awareness of colonialism’s atrocities. For both, that awareness developed into a call to action. The German King is an expression of that personal connection and a testimony to the power of finding something of yourself in the story of another.
The Challenge
As our favorite African proverb says, “the tale of the hunt will always glorify the hunter until the lion speaks.” The creator of The German King, Adetokumboh M'Cormack, spent his younger years growing up in Sierra Leone, Nigeria, and Kenya. It wasn’t until he left Africa that he began to learn about history before the German colonization. It never even occurred to him that there was history to be learned. That experience is what drives Adetokumboh’s passion to tell this story. The German King examines real experiences being told through film for the very first time. Most importantly, it is an African story being told from lived experience.
By partnering with Angel Studios, the creators of The German King won’t have to compromise this view or surrender creative control to industry trends. We will have full creative control to tell this story the way it’s meant to be heard. Even though this series will examine hardships through Rudolf’s life, The German King is not meant to attack any group or historical choices; it just presents humanity in its truest form. History is people, and it’s worth seeing this story told from a special perspective. We believe that Rudolf’s story is as epic as any Marvel superhero movie.
Angel Studios Model
Angel Studios is the distributor of the phenomenal series The Chosen. In 2021 alone, The Chosen earned more than $80 million in revenue*, which is extraordinary for a faith series, and even more incredible when one considers the ground-breaking “pay-it-forward” model pioneered by Angel. We believe The German King meets a huge need that hasn’t been filled yet.
Right now, we are gauging interest to see if the crowd wants to back this project. If we gain enough interest, we plan to go to the crowd to raise funds for this production. However, this wouldn’t be a typical crowdfunding where you get a company t-shirt with your equity, it would be a chance to be a part of something meaningful, and share in any profits of the project as well. If the show is profitable, our investors will share in those profits. * By expressing interest, you are helping us determine if we will allow the crowd to invest in The German King, and reserving your space if we do!
