Meet the 2013 Sundance Filmmakers #40: Shaka King Tells the Story of an Unusual Threesome in 'Newlyweeds'

Shaka King Parris Whittingham

With the support of IFP, Rooftop Films, and Edgeworx, Shaka King brings his feature-length debut "Newlyweeds" to the NEXT competition of this year's Sundance Film Festival.

What It's About: A love triangle between a repo man, his globetrotting girlfriend and Marijuana.

And So It's Really About: At this point I’m too close to it to tell.

What was your path to filmmaking? I’m an only child. My dad’s Panamanian and my mom’s family is from Barbados and Panama. They're both teachers. I grew up in a very strict Caribbean household but my parents were children of the 60’s so it was an interesting mix of old world discipline, Black power and psychedelia. My dad produced a play my mother wrote, while working four jobs. The power of love and hard work was on display there and that’s something I carry with me in my day to day…definitely part of a complete breakfast.

"Newlyweeds"

I’ve always been fascinated by how people talk. I went to school all around New York: Spanish Harlem, Bay Ridge, Ft. Greene…so many ill cultures. You can take a trip around the world on the bus. My cousin, another buddy, and I used to get on the phone and talk in different accents. To this day we leave each other messages as different people. The belly laughs reside in the specificity. How specific did you get when you became that guy?

What previous films impacted this one? Seeing "Little Murders" for the first time really freed me up tonally. That movie remains ahead of the viewer until the very end.

What's up next? I’m writing two new scripts and developing a TV series.

Indiewire invited Sundance Film Festival directors to tell us about their films, including what inspired them, the challenges they faced and what they're doing next. We'll be publishing their responses leading up to the 2013 festival.

Keep checking HERE every day up to the launch of the festival on January 17 for the latest profiles.

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TAGS: Sundance Film Festival, Meet the 2013 Sundance Filmmakers

Meet the 2013 Sundance Filmmakers #40: Shaka King Tells the Story of an Unusual Threesome in 'Newlyweeds'

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Meet the 2013 Sundance Filmmakers #40: Shaka King Tells the Story of an Unusual Threesome in 'Newlyweeds'

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