KCU Pitchfest Showcase 2023 (Top 50)
I'm Doing Your Best
Newly unemployed, living rent-free with her younger brother, and on the verge of her second 29th birthday, Katie is about to age out of being a “struggling kid” and into a “failing adult.” So, she decides to finally take control . . . of other people’s lives. Katie is going to be a Life Coach.
I’m Doing Your Best features a cast of stressed-out millennials (in adorable anthropomorphized animal form) struggling to live up to the aspirational standards of their own shiny Instagram posts. Facing the trials and tribulations of adulting, they’re forced to wonder, “When is it time to face reality if you’ve always been told to fake it ‘til you make it?”
Age Range:
Young AdultGenre:
Animals, Fiction, Humor, Realistic Fiction/Slice of Life, Romance, Social-Emotional, Social IssuesPage Count Estimate:
300
My Why:
Young adults are navigating a world in which success is defined by their most envy-inducing Instagram post. Yet modern economics seem ensure that they'll soon be drowning in student debt, struggling to afford housing, and feeling generally humiliated by their career prospects. The system feels rigged, but a constant stream of toxic positivity insists you're not allowed to complain about it.
I'm Doing Your Best doesn't pull the tears from that friction–it pulls the laughs from it. It’s not here to shame you, educate you, influence you, or depress you. It’s here to connect with you. Relate to you. Invite you to join Katie in an us-against-the-universe kinship. It's a warm hug from a friend who knows how it feels to feel like you're failing.
Emily Watts
Still lauded by her Chinese tiger mom as Spokane, Washington’s 3rd grade spelling bee champion, Emily Watts fears that she, too, might have peaked in grade school like I’m Doing Your Best’s rabbit protagonist.
Emily is currently a freelance animator for Nickelodeon and Adobe. Previously, she was the Assistant Director of Animation for Your Daily Horoscope on Quibi, and creator of a children’s series on emotional literacy for Sesame Studios.
Kaja Martin
Kaja Martin’s greatest accomplishment was getting her full name announced at college graduation: Kadiatou Nzinka Dado Bntu Usmano Martin. Born to a black Muslim father and white hippie mother, Kaja is a legacy for both African drumming and the Rajneesh, Osho cult (you know, the one from the Netflix Doc: Wild, Wild Country).
Most recently Kaja was the Co-EP and Head Writer for the animated comedy Your Daily Horoscope on Quibi, the platform hailed by critics as “a few good shows that can’t justify the cost.” And Your Daily Horoscope was one of those good shows, as the #1 watched show on the Daily Essentials Feed and top 3 for the entire platform.
Nikki Goldberg
Nikki just might be the real-life inspiration for Katie's roommate, Blake, in I'm Doing Your Best. A sweet, easy-going turtle on the surface but a ninja turtle underneath. Toss her a stylus and she will burst out of her shell with fierce artistic moves like you've never seen before. It's always the quiet ones.
Nikki is currently a storyboard revisionist with Harmon Brothers and a character designer for Adobe.