Big Ideas,
Real Impact.
The Multi-City Initiative represents the broader development framework within Comedy Unlocked, supporting a Doc series exploring justice-involved youth, across the U.S. and internationally. Each location is developed as its own self-contained narrative within a broader series framework. Houston’s Opportunity Center serves as an anchor site and ongoing creative hub within this work.
The Multi-City Initiative is a separate documentary series framework with its own development process, creative team, and funding pathway.
Multi-City Initiative Doc Series Team
Susanna Spies was featured in Variety as one of the nation’s top ten in the Educational Impact Report for Innovative Approaches to Learning, Susanna Spies is a veteran comedian and educator. She has spent more than two decades developing and leading her program Comedy Playground for kids and teens focused on emotional growth, self-expression, and resilience. Since 2003, her original curriculum has been implemented with diverse populations across the world, including at-risk youth impacted by drugs, and gang violence.
Bobby Salomon is a US/Canadian award-winning writer/producer who has worked on hundreds of hours of content for HBO, Netflix, Amazon, CBS, A&E, TLC, History, and more, including Emmy-winning Love on the Spectrum US and Critics’ Choice Award-nominatedLike a Girl. He’s developing two high-profile docuseries with Lionsgate and Cutting Class Media, and a scripted series about a quadriplegic ER doctor with Northern Pictures/Incendo Films. He produces and hosts a podcast called mindframe: where shift happens! where he chats with people who’ve experienced extreme trauma about the incremental shifts and serendipitous moments that helped them get through it. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Finance from McGill University and is getting his master’s in Clinical Psychology.
Tommy Sowards is a Los Angeles-based producer, writer, director, and actor, and a UCLA School of Cinema/Television graduate. He has produced, directed, or edited music videos for artists like Young MC, Kurtis Blow, and Eazy-E, and was the first to document MMA, filming its second championship. His documentary Slippin’: Ten Years with the Bloods premiered at Tribeca, won Best Picture at the Montenegro Film Festival, and ranked #2 on Showtime Networks. Other notable works include The History of Rap and Enter the Jungle (HBO, Netflix South America). Tommy earned acclaim for his acting role in Kill Me Today, Tomorrow I’m Sick! (2018). His films have screened at prestigious festivals, including Tribeca, CPH:DOX, Rotterdam, and the Pan African Film Festival.