Joseph has conceived and written the following creative projects, for which he is currently seeking resources for production.
Stage Project
Homegrown The Musical
On stage as Professor in Homegrown, National Black Theater, 1992
Based on the true story of Joseph running Harkhomes, a shelter for homeless men in Harlem. Adapted from his stage play Homegrown, which was produced at the National Black Theater in Harlem and experienced two extended runs in the 1990s. In addition to writing the stage play Homegrown, he acted in it, playing Professor (“a homeless man . . . nerdish, diffident – the still-hovering cloud of his troubled past characterizing his behavior. His speech is affected with a misguided eloquence, firing words and phrases like a soldier fighting a guerrilla war with bayonet tactics.”) Homegrown The Musical is more than a theatrical production; it is a social movement designed to inspire audience members to build a better world.
TV Projects
Harlem Law: Justice Beyond The Courtroom
Dramatic Series
Logline: Two ambitious attorneys – a conflicted black Ivy Leaguer and a cool white bootstraper – lead a motley ensemble in a Harlem law firm and become reluctant soldiers in the battle for racial justice in America. It’s L.A. Law with soul; Boston Legal with compassion; Law & Order with resonance.
Beacon Place: Compassion Comes In From The Cold
Sitcom
Co-written with Gregory Holtz
Logline: Two compassionate ministers – an earnest preacher and his old-school dad – lead a down-and-out ensemble of homeless men through the travails of daily life at an under-funded, crisis-fraught Harlem shelter; they’re Sanford & Son for the twenty-first century, fixing lives instead of junk.
Film Projects
Booker T
Biopic adapted from Joseph’s stageplay, Cast Me Down, which ran Off-Broadway in 1987.
Logline: Booker T. Washington, the greatest Black leader of his times, rises from slavery, builds a movement, outwits a White segregationist lawyer, and saves an enterprising Black activist; in doing so, he is transformed from equivocal educator to reluctant hero to American legend.
Undercover Grace
Buddy dramedy; it won 2005 Christian Screenwriting Contest.
Logline: Two ministers discover an unexpected calling – urban crime-fighting; imagine Mel Gibson and Danny Glover as preachers, using faith instead of guns to take down the bad guys.
If you’re interested in more information on Joseph’s stage, TV and/or film projects, please contact him here.