Chloe Bailey And Tina Gordon Talk Duality Of 'Praise This'

Looks like Peacock is ready to “Have Mercy” on us fr fr.

Source: Courtesy / Peacock

The streamer just released the trailer for their upcoming film Praise This which stars five-time Grammy nominee Chloe Bailey in a new cinematic musical event set in the world of Atlanta’s competitive gospel youth choir praise teams.

We caught up with director Tina Gordon and Chloe Bailey last week ahead of the trailer release to discuss the film.

“I love it because I was born and raised in Atlanta and now I live in LA, so I feel like I’ve had best of both worlds,” Chloe Bailey told BOSSIP in an exclusive interview ahead of the trailer’s release. “They do have those parts [in Georgia] where it is the Bible belt and other parts where it’s more liberated, but it’s definitely got that aspect of religion and Christianity and getting dressed up for Sunday School and Sunday stuff like that. It was fun bringing that and showing that in such a fun way.”

Directed by Little writer/director Tina Gordon, the film follows aspiring musical superstar Sam (Chloe Bailey) who is driven, at almost any cost, to break into the music business. When her father (Philip Fornah) becomes worried that Sam is associating with a dangerous crowd and moves them from Los Angeles to Atlanta to live with Sam’s sunny cousin Jess (Anjelika Washington), she’s definitely not happy about it.

Things slowly start to take a turn after Sam is forced to join her cousin’s struggling, underdog praise team in the lead-up to a national championship competition. Through her involvement with the team, Sam sees an opportunity to finally make her dreams come true. In the process she discovers that ambition can command a high price and that praise is not about glory, but gratitude.

“It started with Chloe,” Praise This director Tina Gordon told BOSSIP in an exclusive interview ahead of the trailer release. “Really I wanted Chloe from the jump because I knew she could carry a movie. I was initially attracted to her voice and how she pushes culture. I thought ‘if I meet her and she has what I think she has for this role… ‘ and when I met her she had relatability, vulnerability and an emotional intelligence that I just knew – she is going to ROCK leading this movie.”

Check out the trailer below:

The film also stars comedian Druski, Quavo, Tristan Mack Wilds, Birgundi Baker, Loren Lott, Kiara Iman Heffner, newcomer Ilario Grant, Crystal Hayslett, Cocoa Brown, Vanessa Fraction and gospel stars Jekalyn Carr and Koryn Hawthorne.

We asked Tina Gordon about the dynamics of such a diverse ensemble cast, and she told us that duality really set the tone for Praise This overall.

“That idea, the idea of being at a crossroads for all of the characters, like sinner/saint, church/club, fun/faith we just rock in that duality the whole way,” Gordon said. “It was from conversations about faith with Chloe early on, Quavo same thing, Druski, same thing. You would be surprised that the faith that a lot of your favorite people in the world have to keep them going, but it’s a comedy and everybody is a clown.”

We can’t wait to see it. Praise This begins streaming exclusively on Peacock April 7.

Praise This is produced by Will Packer p.g.a., whose films include Girls Trip, the Ride Along franchise, Breaking In, Stomp the Yard, Little and 10 movies that have opened No. 1 at the U.S. box office; by Tim Story, blockbuster filmmaker of Barbershop, Shaft and the Ride Along and Think Like a Man franchises; by Sharla Sumpter Bridgett (executive producer Wild Hogs, Coach Carter) and by James Lopez (Beast, What Men Want).

The story is by Brandon Broussard, Hudson Obayuwana and Jana Savage, the writing team collectively known as Murder Ink (#Reality High), and the screenplay is by Tina Gordon and Brandon Broussard, Hudson Obayuwana and Jana Savage. The film is executive produced by Preston Holmes (Till, Night School) and Johanna Byer, executive vice president of motion pictures for Will Packer Productions.