“Raw, Raunchy, Relatable, and Audacious” have been used to describe The Black Switch, so ain’t no watered-down stories over here! Victoria Renee draws from her interdisciplinary experience in psychology, screenwriting, and filmmaking to create an anthology of four TV pilots that explore how Black women mask and code-switch between their authentic selves and who they present to the world. This collection of teleplays, coupled with reflections on their development, offers emerging storytellers, television enthusiasts, and lovers of unapologetic Black culture a glimpse into the ups and downs of a rising writer.

The Pilots:

Sophisticated Ratchets follows Atlanta-based Karma Jones, an aimless 20-something who wants a fun-loving career after suffering through her mechanical engineering degree. This is cute until Karma’s roommate, Brooklyn, threatens to throw her out if she doesn’t get a job and pay her third of the bills. Karma makes a bet with Brooklyn and her other roommate, Zahra, that if she can secure a job that same day, they all have to turn up like old times. Karma’s determined to navigate her career, romances, and friendships being both sophisticated and ratchet, and she’s not having it any other way.
 

Not Guilty By Reason of Insanity (NGBRI) examines the life of Washington, D.C., forensic psychiatry fellow Nia Harris, M.D., as she assesses clients facing criminal charges ranging from simple misdemeanors to life in prison, with her supernatural gift of sight that allows her to see what truly haunts her patients. Nia feels she must constantly prove herself, not only as the only Black fellow, but also because they’re all competing for the one full-time employment opportunity offered at the end of their program. So, when the “Heinous Henderson” case involving a mass murderer at an HBCU lands at their office around the same time chaos in Nia’s family life erupts, Nia struggles to keep it all together.
 

By the Code tracks Afro-Latina Amirah Martin as she begins her freshman year at Columbia University just as her Tío Gio, who raised her and is the leader of the Leyenda gang, is murdered. In the midst of her grief, Amirah tries to focus on her coding business and new Ivy League environment, but she’s constantly pulled back to the Bronx to witness the disarray left by her uncle’s absence. This includes her hot-headed cousin, Ricky, who seeks to avenge his father’s death and thereby start a gang war. Amirah knows Ricky’s not cut out to fill Tío Gio’s shoes. Perhaps she could do a better job? Amirah vows to live by the code of her school, the codes of her tech business, the code of the streets, and her familia’s code, “Family over everything.”
 

Highly Inappropriate explores Atlanta psychologist Candice Campbellton, Ph.D., who is forced to trade in her role as the “fun auntie” for that of a parent after her best friend dies. Candice attempts to bring two young teens, Diamond and Onyx, who grew up in the roughest parts of ClayCo, to her bougie life in Cascade. Candice elicits help from her best friend Bianca, but questions if Bianca's free-spirited lifestyle will negatively impact the children. As they attempt to adjust to their new status quo, they all act out their grief in highly inappropriate ways. Nevertheless, Candice remains committed to her goal of directing them toward healing and keeping them away from the three P’s: the pole, the pipe, and prison.
 

The Black Switch combines fiction, memoir, and screenwriting craft to create a space where Black women can unmask themselves, remove their super strong Black women capes, bask in their brilliance, and seek refuge in their resilience.