Series ‘Found’ Is About Much More Than Locating Missing People, Says EP

Forbes Business Hollywood & Entertainment Series ‘Found’ Is About Much More Than Locating Missing People, Says EP Anne Easton Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. I write about original content on all platforms Following Oct 24, 2023, 07:45pm EDT | Press play to listen to this article! Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Shanola Hampton stars as Gabi Mosely with Brent Dalton as Detective Mark Trent in ‘Found. ‘ Courtesy: Steve Swisher (NBC) With a firm voice and a heartfelt tone, Nkechi Okoro Carroll says, “I believe in God and my belief is that I was put here on this Earth to help spread joy, light and love.

” What’s interesting is that she’s doing this as the creator and executive producer of the dark drama series Found. Filled with twists, Found is about recovery specialist Gabi Mosely and her team who are dedicated to finding missing individuals, particularly those they that feel have been overlooked by the system. They’ll stop at nothing to solve these cases because every one of the team has firsthand experience in this area, including Gabi, who’s hiding a chilling secret — she has her childhood kidnapper locked up in her basement, and she’s getting him to help her find the missing.

Shanola Hampton stars as Gabi, with Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Kelli Williams, Brett Dalton, Gabrielle Walsh, Arlen Escarpeta and Karan Oberoi rounding out the cast. Okoro Carroll expounds on her earlier statement, saying, “[God] gives us each a weapon with which we’re supposed spread joy and love — mine just happens to be my keyboard. ” Nkechi Okoro Carroll creator and executive producer of ‘Found’ which is produced through her Rock My .

. . [+] Soul production company.

Courtesy: Nkechi Okoro Carroll. In addition to Found , Okoro Carroll is also currently executive producer and showrunner on the CW/WBTV shows All American and All American: Homecoming. Previously, she’s worked on several series, including The Resident, Rosewood, and Bones.

MORE FOR YOU ‘The Fall Of The House Of Usher’ Dethroned In Netflix’s Top 10 List By A New Show New MacBook Pro Leak Reveals Stunning Apple Decision Who Is Tom Emmer Here s What To Know About The New GOP Speaker Nominee Endorsed By McCarthy But Criticized By Trump Allies Okoro Carroll says she created Found because she’s been keenly aware of the lack of attention given when individuals who fall into certain groups go missing. “As a black woman in this country, it’s something I’ve been very cognizant of for a long time. We will always remember the name Natalee Holloway, right? But, I could not roll off my tongue the name of an indigenous woman or black woman who has gone missing, even if I wracked my brain trying.

“So, it’s always been something that for me is very frustrating. And in the back of my mind, I kept thinking, ‘how do we do better as a society?’” This led Okoro Carroll to dig into why there was such a disparity between the way searches for the missing were handled. “I started thinking, ‘Is it media bias, or is it a difference in the way the girls are being reported missing? Is it police bias? Is it institutionalized?’ In order to find something that I think of as a solution, I had to understand the problem.

” She says that this is when, “the idea of someone like Gabi started to percolate — someone who was a missing teenager herself who grows up to fight back against this ever happening to anyone else. She’s someone who realizes that using a public relations group to put the pressure on the media and the police to solve these cases can play a role in making it happen. ” But, deep down she knew that she needed to find another level for the narrative.

“I grew up loving television. I’m obsessed with TV, so, I was like ‘Okay, this is great, but how do I make it special? What is the extra entertainment factor that can be included?’ That was when I started to think about what Gabi must be like as an adult after what she went through as a child, thinking, like, what if she hasn’t fully processed her trauma for the year she spent in captivity?’” This is when Okoro Carroll decided that Gabi would have a twisted method of working to find the missing — by using her captor, who she’s now imprisoned, to help her. “She is the personification of that saying that the ends justify the means,” explains Okoro Carroll.

“She believes that whatever helps her bring these missing people home is what she’ll do. She’s convinced that if having Sir (as her captor is referred to), who can think of all the ugly things that regular people aren’t capable of, help her shaves a day or an hour off of finding someone then it’s worth it. ” This juxtaposition — of Gabi as a hero and yet as herself a kidnapper — is something that Okoro Carroll wants viewers to feel conflicted about.

“I figured there would be a such a diverse range of feelings towards what Gabi is doing, and that’s really the whole point. There’ll be people who will be like, ‘ahh, yes, she’s getting revenge,’ and there will be others who will think, ‘why is she doing this? This isn’t right,’ and all of that is ok,” says Okoro Carroll. She adds, “It’s really very complicated because this is a woman who’s a poster child for when healing from trauma has gone wrong, and while people might despise her methods, everyone is rooting for because she’s saving lives.

But, she’s also becoming the monster that she’s seen in her own life and we don’t want that for her. Yes, it’s all very complicated. ” In addition to the trauma that Gabi continues to face, other members of her team are also battling their own demons, which allows for an exploration of how to deal with others’ issues, says Okoro Carroll.

“This show is about empathy, chosen family, humans being together, and the grace we show each other. When other people have been through things that we don’t understand, we may not understand how they’re choosing to handle it, but we know that we have to support them in whatever way they’re dealing with it. ” Nkechi Okoro Carroll (middle) on the set of the NBC series ‘Found.

‘ Courtesy: NBC As for her influences, Okoro Carroll says, “I always tell people that all you need to know about me as a writer is my equal love of Shakespeare and Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything that falls in between. ” Right now, she says she’s ‘obsessed’ with the series Queen Charlotte and thinks The Diplomat is very well-done. She’s also a fan of The Good Wife, The Good Fight and Vampire Diaries .

And, she admits that it was the late ‘90s series Dawson’s Creek that made her decide to become a writer, after an early career in finance. The common throughline in all of her series, says Okoro Carroll, is people who ‘push themselves, and the choices they make to do that. ’ “This is in every one of my characters,” she says.

With Found , it’s not just about the characters, but also about the subject matter, and using the medium to draw attention to the issue. Okoro Carroll explains, saying, “It’s easy for people to be like, ‘oh, you know what, that’s too hard for me to think this and it doesn’t directly affect me so I’m just going to put that aside. ’ But with this show, one of the goals is awareness.

TV is such a powerful media because it’s so easy for us to be like, ‘oh wow, that’s horrible that that’s happening’ and then we forget about it. But if it’s something that’s on our TV and we’re engaged then maybe we’ll do something about it. ” Given that the series does focus on trauma, Okoro Carroll says that she would, ‘absolutely respect anyone who feels that they can’t watch.

“I have no idea what has happened in someone’s life and therefore what might trigger them so I totally understand that thinking,’ but, she adds that, “however, I will just say that there’s actually a significant center core of hope in this show. ” Okoro Carroll sums up what it’s like to watch Found by saying, “You’re going to need your favorite liquor to calm your nerves for the twists and turns, but you’re also going to need plenty of Kleenex because you will cry at the reunions that happen. And you will cry watching these survivors triumph in both big and small ways.

” She insists that with this series she’s furthering her personal mission, which is the one she’s set for everything that she produces via her Rock My Soul production company, which is, ‘creating content that leaves the world a better place than we found it. ’ It’s clear that she’s using her greatest weapon to do it — her keyboard. ‘Found’ airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on NBC and streams the next day on Peacock Follow me on Twitter .

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