Darker the Berry
Tara Taylor & Kimber Wesley, Afromations Media Production Inc.
Language: English
Based On: Original Screenplay
Project Type: Feature Film (Scripted)
Genre: Social Horror / Psychological Thriller
Stage of Development:
Shot a proof of concept (15minutes) to be submitted to film festivals. Received 25k to develop the script.
Estimated Length (minutes): 98-110 mins
Director: Tara Taylor
Director Bio:
Tara Lynn Taylor is an award-winning director, filmmaker, writer, producer, animator, and cultural storyteller from East Preston, Nova Scotia. Her directing work spans film, television, animation, and theatre, with a strong focus on Black stories, history, identity, family, culture, and representation.
As a screen director, Tara has directed short films, animated projects, proof-of-concept productions, and television pilots. Her recent directing work includes the proof of concept for the social horror thriller Darker the Berry and the black-and-white historical noir pilot Cyn of Omission. She continues to develop original film and television projects through Afromations Media Productions Inc., bringing a distinct visual style and character-driven approach to stories that centre voices and experiences too often absent from the screen.
Tara’s directing practice is also deeply rooted in theatre. As a playwright and director, she has written four original musicals and has directed performers through the development and staging of her own productions. Her musical Love, Peace and Hairgrease received a Robert Merritt Award nomination for Outstanding Production, marking an important recognition of her work as a theatre creator and director.
Her theatre productions have also become an important training ground for emerging performers. Members of the principal and supporting casts who developed their skills through Tara’s musicals have since gone on to perform in five productions at Neptune Theatre, demonstrating the lasting impact of her approach to directing, mentorship, and artist development.
Her work behind the camera is complemented by her experience as an animator, allowing her to approach directing through both live-action and visual storytelling. In 2026, Tara received the Best Story Reel Award for Animation upon graduating from Story Xperiential.
Beyond her individual productions, Tara has played a significant role in strengthening Nova Scotia’s film ecosystem through Black Above the Line and Breaking Through the Screens, helping emerging Black filmmakers gain hands-on experience in directing, producing, writing, performance, and other key production roles. Partnered with ACTRA Maritimes, our talent receive union credits under the IPA agreement for the productions.
Whether directing actors on a film set, shaping an animated world, developing a television pilot, or guiding performers on stage, Tara’s work is grounded in a commitment to powerful storytelling, strong performances, cultural authenticity, and creating opportunities for the next generation of artists.
Proposed or Confirmed Talent:
Kimber Wesley, Ryan Gannon and Desiree Casimir - Executive Producers
Total Budget: 2.5 - 3M
Percent Confirmed:
None yet
Currency: $ CAD
List names of confirmed partners:
none yet, just shot the proof of concept
What is this project seeking?
Financing, Broadcaster, Co-production Partner
Logline:
When brilliant Black cosmetic chemist Essence Walker lands her dream job at global beauty giant Melanique, she uncovers a secret underground operation harvesting melanin from dark-skinned Black people to create a revolutionary anti-aging serum. As the disappearances move closer to home, Essence must expose the billion-dollar conspiracy before Melanique decides her own skin is too valuable to waste. (Tag: The darker the berry, the sweeter the juice. - Beauty has a price. And it’s paid in blood.)
Synopsis:
Brilliant cosmetic chemist Essence Walker has spent her life believing excellence will eventually open every door. When she lands her dream job at Melanique, a global beauty empire famous for its revolutionary anti-aging serum RejuvaLux, it feels like everything she and her family have worked for has finally paid off. While her mother, Marilyn, celebrates the achievement at Heather Mae’s, the family’s bustling Black hair and beauty salon, Essence quickly rises through Melanique’s ranks, even developing a breakthrough formula that makes its coveted serum more effective than ever.
But beneath Melanique’s pristine laboratories and carefully crafted message of diversity, something is wrong. People from nearby Black communities are disappearing after participating in the company’s charitable wellness and donor programs. Restricted files reference mysterious pigmentation classifications, and Essence discovers that she herself has been labelled M9 — Exceptional. Her investigation leads her to Nia Baptiste, a young woman believed to have become a recluse after a mysterious illness. Instead, Nia reveals the horrifying truth: Melanique abducted her during a supposed clinical trial and repeatedly extracted biological material from her body, leaving her once-dark skin gray, cracked and painfully damaged.
With the help of her mother, journalist friend Malcolm, conflicted executive Evelyn Vale, and scientist Dr. Adrian Vasquez, Essence uncovers Melanique’s darkest secret. Hidden deep beneath its glamorous headquarters is a massive biomedical facility where predominantly dark-skinned Black people—many selected because society is less likely to notice their disappearance—are classified, imprisoned and harvested for their melanin. Melanique has discovered that material derived from highly pigmented skin can power its extraordinary anti-aging products, turning the familiar observation that Black people often appear younger than their age into a billion-dollar commodity. Even worse, Essence learns that the scientific breakthrough she proudly created has made the harvesting process more efficient.
Now targeted by Melanique’s unnaturally youthful CEO, Celeste Voss, Essence learns that she was never recruited solely for her brilliant mind. Her exceptionally dark skin makes her one of the corporation’s most valuable potential subjects. Captured and placed on the very extraction table she has been trying to expose, Essence must survive long enough to transmit evidence of the underground operation through the anonymous whistleblower platform Black Berry.
As Melanique dismisses the footage as fabricated, Nia makes the courageous decision to step before a camera and reveal herself to the world. One survivor becomes dozens, families begin identifying the missing, and the community surrounding Heather Mae’s mobilizes outside Melanique headquarters. The corporation’s carefully constructed image begins to collapse.
Essence ultimately survives, but Melanique leaves its mark on her body. Returning home, she transforms Heather Mae’s small laboratory into a restorative research space dedicated to helping the survivors rather than exploiting them. Yet as Melanique falls, another cosmetics company quietly acquires its secret technology and expands the search for high-yield subjects overseas—revealing that the system Essence exposed may be much larger than one corporation.
Because in this industry, everyone knows the saying:
The darker the berry… the sweeter the juice.
Contact Information: afromationmedia@gmail.com; kimberwesleycreative@gmail.com
