Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen is taking cue from Insecure creator Issa Rae by creating her own opportunity with her upcoming animation web-series.
The daughter of veteran talk show host Felicia Mabuza-Suttle serves as creator, executive producer and writer of Coconut Confidential, which is scheduled to debut on YouTube early next year.
The three-minute trailer for the coming-of-age series teases an inside look into Lindiwe’s high school life, where she felt like a social outsider in the 1990s in Georgia, US.
“Hell yeah to ownership. Issa Rae is an example of a black woman who had an idea and didn’t wait for the approval of big execs. She knew in her heart it would work and it did,” Lindiwe, 44, says.
“Her web series, Awkward Black Girl, became four seasons and counting of Insecure. I’m not waiting for someone to buy this show. Coconut Confidential will eventually be picked up, but we have such strong support.
The animated comedy series is voiced by Candice Modiselle, Noxolo Dlamini, Amanda Du-Pont and Kim Engelbrecht. It is directed by Gbenga Emmanuel Ajetomobi.
“I grew up in a predominately white southern neighbourhood and always felt like an outsider being black with a South African mom and American dad. I decided to write about it,” Lindiwe shares.
“We were working Covid-style before Covid hit. Emmanuel and I started working together in November 2019. I would send mood boards from Berlin to his Lagos-based team of animators.”
Lindiwe has already had success as a screenwriter. Her short film, Desmond’s Not Here Anymore, scooped the 2019 HollyShorts Screenplay competition. She plans to film it in Seattle with Mmabatho Montsho as her dream director to helm the project.
She was also voted by International Screenwriters’ Association as one of the Top 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2020.
Lindiwe’s showbiz career started in the fashion industry and worked for DKNY while she lived in New York.
After moving to Atlanta she hit it big as Beyoncé’s personal costumer on The Fighting Temptations.
Next she moved to Cape Town, where she worked as a buyer for Truworths and she hated it. Lindiwe quit and launched her music career – even recording her album Kamikaze Art.
She performed on stages with her musician husband Marius before deciding to quit four years ago to pursue her passion as a screenwriter.
“[The best advice I got from my mother is] dare to dream. Like the title of her book, she really has supported every dumb idea I’ve had – a true pioneer, great woman and mother.”
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