Created, written and directed by The Clarks Brothers, Groupie: The Blueprint of a Self-made Millionaire is a 2023 television series that stars Megan Hernandez, Renata Fajti, Princess Bey, Mike Marin and others.
The story goes as follows. A self-made millionaire is on the lookout for women with similar traumatic pasts. She finds five of them and decides to become their mentor. As she coaches them on how to become rich through mental, emotional and sexual manipulation, unexpected events and twists will come to light. The story is inspired by true events and is framed as a journey of survival as the women face a myriad of threats.
By far the best aspect of this show is the underlying tension at display. With entrepreneurs, politicians and other powerful men having the women in their sights, it makes for an interesting game of cat and mouse as the once meek and unconfident women are guided to become fearless by the self made millionaire. It is interesting to see this power dynamic shift so effortlessly and the script makes this transition wholly organic and believable. This power play is also the central bedrock of the entire story as it is a journey of getting in sync with your inner confident selves.
The acting is fine across the board and The Clarks Brothers have really chosen the cast based on who illustrates their characters best. Each of the six women are different in their own way and it is their chemistry and dynamic that really provides the underlying spark to the story. Megan Hernandez as Lucy is a force to be reckoned with and Renata Fajti as Bella is equally as fierce. The show benefits from the distinct personalities for the five leading ladies as much as it does from the script which perfectly balances the drama, heartbreak, wit and twists. The drama taking place on screen needs to be believable for the audience to connect with it and the way The Clarks Brothers have approached it is both novel and authentic. There are no outlandish plot contrivances that come up at convenient times and there is no drama just for the sake of drama. The seed of each plot thread is planted without the audience ever getting to know it consciously and this is what keeps the story both fresh and exciting.
The cinematography is stunning as the vibrant colours of both the sets and the costumes come out in full display. Using a reality television inspired format, cinematographer Devon Smith has made sure that the series looks as glamorous and polished as possible. Being a drama that is shot in the style of any famed reality series, the show instantly raises expectations and thankfully manages to deliver on them without fail. Every episode is gorgeous to look at and it shows the tremendous work done by Smith and his team to make sure the visual aspect of the production remains damn near perfect.
The sound design compliments both the visuals and the onscreen drama really well. The constantly shifting momentum of the drama is captured vibrantly by the audio visual aspects and one cannot help but remain glued to the screen. This is as much due to the audio visual aspects as much as it is due to the brisk editing that always seems to be rushed (in a good way). By preventing the narrative from slowing down for even a second, the show forces the audience to keep up with the constant shifts in the story. Like an entertainer vying for the audiences’ eyeballs, the show also shoots for the same and succeeds. The audience is so glued to whatever is occurring on screen that they might not even question the logic of it. This is what every showrunner aims to accomplish and here, the Clarks Brothers have done it flawlessly.
To conclude, Groupie: The Blueprint of a Self-made Millionaire is a potent and entertaining story of power. The series features likeable characters, plenty of twists and turns and the glitz and glamour of Reality TV that we all have come to expect and embrace. Taking the constant drama and anxiety of the story and repackaging it into something new yet familiar, The Clarks Brothers have made an infectiously entertaining series, one that has all the ingredients to attract sizeable audience interest.
You can check Groupie out now Free on Tubi:
https://tubitv.com/movies/713636/groupie-the-blueprint-of-a-self-made-millionaire?start=true
ABOUT THE CREATORS – The Clark Brothers
Award wining director duo The Clark Brothers will be heading up this project and plan to produce and release it as a web series. The Clark Brothers have had recent success with web series scoring multiple film festival appearances and 4 wins. They just collected the award for best web series at the 2019 Orlando Urban Film Festival for their pilot Playing Dirty.
