Charm City Bastards
Charm City Bastards
Television (Half-hour)
· Comedy · 48 pages
Status: Spec
When an affluent, suburban Baltimore family's patriarch kicks the bucket, they discover he had a penniless second family in the City—and now both households must cohabitate in his mansion or lose it to his freeloading best friend.
Written by
Naki Franklin
1 Writer
Los Angeles, California
Growing up in Washington, D.C., you could find Naki playing soccer against the daughter of the President of the United States or draining her mom's printer ink to "publish" books. Wearing a back brace throughout grade school gave her a straight spine and a passion for creating underdog protagonists in her stories.
Naki writes hard-funny family a...
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Drama writer turned sketch comedy writer, Naki tackles heavy, personal topics such as death, classism, and human rights, all while wrapping them in a warm blanket that provides a light, digestible, and relatable escape from from life's harsh realities. She began her career in sketch comedy and late-night television, drawing inspiration from sitcoms like That’s So Raven.
With aspirations of showrunning, Naki has gained experience at The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, Paramount, and the Hillman Grad Program. She’s also fresh off a sold-out staged reading of her multi-cam pilot, Charm City Bastards, starring Jackée Harry (227, Sister, Sister) and Angel Laketa Moore (A Black Lady Sketch Show, Churchy). Now, Naki is eager to take the next step in her career, seeking representation and staffing opportunities.
You can watch the staged reading here: https://youtu.be/AWMfE4qUJqU?si=zBJcfzdfhDEAMXV7
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Additional Project Info
- Completed as a television writing fellow in Emmy-Award winner Lena Waithe's Hillman Grad Mentorship Lab. -In fall 2024, Naki Franklin cast and directed a staged reading of CHARM CITY BASTARDS in collaboration with Lena Waithe’s Hillman Grad Foundation. - The reading starred Jackée Harry (227, SISTER SISTER) and Angel Laketa Moore (A BLACK LADY SKETCH SHOW, CHURCHY) in leading roles. - Jackée Harry says this script reminds her of "great sitcoms like THE JEFFERSONS," and Naki is “the next Quinta [Brunson].”