A Bermudian actress living in New York City yesterday appealed to the island to support a web series she stars in.

Lana Young said it was hoped the series could go to a second season if enough people bought the first – and that the show might be picked up by network TV if it proved a success.

Lana Young said that the independent web series Praize was released on Vimeo this month and will be available for rent.

She said that the creative team were keen to produce a second season, but highlighted that would depend on funds generated from sales.

Ms Young said: “I thought it would be really fun to ask my fellow Bermudians to rent the show and, in a way, become executive producers of our second season.

“A rental is an investment in the production of a second season and I just thought it would be really cool if 60,000 Bermudians rented this show and we’d be able to make a second season.”

Ms Young added: “Artists and actors have all been put on hold because of the pandemic and the reality of the situation is that we need to create our own content if we want to keep working.

“On top of just wanting this show to do really well we also want to keep working and with the support of Bermudians, friends and family and audience members all over the world we will be able to continue to create our content and keep working.”

She said : “Our goal is to get picked up by somebody so that we can make it into the big production – the big story – that it should be.”

Praize tells the story of a young poet named Davida Battle, who struggles to recover from the traumatic loss of her mother and the absence of her father.

Ms Young plays Maddy Cannon, Davida’s aunt who lives in upstate New York and takes the girl in to help “set her on the straight and narrow”.

Ms Young said that the character differed from many of her previous roles, who were often woman doctors who struggled with being empathetic people in hierarchical situations.

She said that Maddy Cannon was emotional – but also believed in “tough love”.

My Young added: “I don’t get an opportunity to show that side of my acting skills a lot.

“That’s where I really have enjoyed doing the work on Maddy and her journey with Davida – finding that balance between the tough love and her being my niece and being empathetic to her struggle.”

Ms Young has appeared alongside award-winning actor Jake Gyllenhaal in the 2015 film Southpaw, as well as in other television series such as Dynasty, NCIS New Orleans and Greenleaf.

Praize was released last year and won several awards at international film festivals, including the BronzeLens Film Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, and Newark International Film Festival in New Jersey.

The director, Thomas Goggans, released the 70 minute-long season to generate interest and help raise funding for the second season.

Ms Young said that the series was planned to stay online for a week, but Mr Goggans decided to keep it online until they raised enough funds.

She added that the show was a “labour of love” filmed in New York City with a small cast and crew.

Ms Young said: “It tells the story from a young girl’s perspective, when a lot of stories leading up to our current times have always been from a boy’s perspective.

“On top of that it’s a girl of colour, which is a perspective that we don’t see very often.”

Ms Young added that she hoped viewers would see themselves in the characters and understand that they could also overcome their problems.

She also encouraged island viewers to contact organisations such as the child protection agency Scars if they were affected by some of the traumatic events depicted in the series.

Ms Young said: “There is help out there for people who relate to this and I hope that the show gives them the courage to find that help.”

To watch Praize, visit: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/praize