The Premise
Logline
Four lifelong friends in the heart of the city must navigate a treacherous world of street loyalty and high-stakes desire when a luxury bakery becomes the front for a missing kingpin's millions. As they fight to keep their "Single Ladies" pact, they realize that in a world of predators, the only way to survive is to become the ones holding the knife—and the cake.
Format
Vertical Series / 9:16
Episode Length
90 Seconds
Total Episodes
60 Episodes Only
Platform
Mobile / Serialized
Why It Works
Aspirational Aesthetic
Merges high-fashion baddie culture with luxury lifestyle visuals.
High-Stakes Conflict
A clear Women vs. The System narrative that drives binge behavior.
Sonic Identity
Driven by a Neo-Soul/R&B soundtrack that sets a sultry, sophisticated tone.
Cliffhanger Engine
Every 90 seconds delivers a shocking reversal, optimized for mobile discovery.
The World
Series Summary
Single Ladies is a high-stakes, sexy urban drama that explores the limits of loyalty, the price of ambition, and the power of a sisterhood under fire. Set against the backdrop of Angie's Cakes—the city's premiere luxury bakery—the series follows four women who are forced to transform their "clean" business into a high-stakes laundering hub to survive a debt they didn't create.
The story begins with Tammy, a single mother struggling to evade a predatory landlord. Her life changes in ninety seconds when she witnesses a hit in her apartment hallway and recovers a diaper bag filled with a million dollars in "Purple Tape" cocaine. Panicked, she flees to the only safe place she knows: Angie's bakery.
Angie, who has spent years perfecting her image as a legitimate entrepreneur, realizes the bag belongs to Dante, her powerful ex-fiancé who has just been released from federal prison. Dante doesn't just want his product back—he wants the bakery, the brand, and the women. He installs high-tech surveillance in the shop, turning the sanctuary into a gilded cage where he watches their every move.
As the season progresses, the "Single Ladies" pact is tested. Lisa finds herself seduced by a rival mogul, Vegas, creating a split in the group's loyalty. Falisha takes the lead in weaponizing the bakery's delivery vans to move product under the nose of the law. Meanwhile, Angie plays a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with Dante, using her "Boss Chic" allure to stay one step ahead of his possessive grip.
The tension reaches a breaking point when the bakery is torched in an act of war between rival factions. Homeless and hunted, the women must shed their identities as "victims" and execute a final, calculated heist to rob the city's kingpins of their offshore accounts.
Single Ladies asks: What happens when the sweetest people in the room are forced to do the dirtiest work? In this world, sisterhood isn't just a bond—it's the ultimate weapon.
Setting
A contemporary urban drama set in a Pink Noir version of the city. The primary hub is Angie's Cakes, a luxury, marble-and-neon bakery that serves as a high-end sanctuary. The world is polished, intimate, and sexy, contrasting the Sweet aesthetic of the cakes with the Dirty reality of the streets.
Tone
High-stakes, sexy, emotionally raw. A clear Women vs. The System narrative built for binge behavior on mobile platforms.
Themes
Loyalty vs. ambition · The price of survival · Sisterhood as a weapon · Black women and power · Love as leverage
Visual Style
Pink marble. Gold accents. Deep shadow interiors. Luxury fashion as armor. Every frame is a magazine cover shot in 9:16 vertical format.
Format
Vertical micro-drama · 90-second episodes · 60 total episodes · Serialized storytelling built for mobile platforms.
The Players
Lead Characters
Format
Built for the Vertical Era
Every episode of Single Ladies is engineered for 9:16 — cinematic close-ups, rapid-fire dialogue, and cliffhangers that hit in the final five seconds. This is premium vertical storytelling, not repurposed horizontal content.
The Story
Scripts
Vertical Microdrama Pilot · Runtime: 90 seconds per episode
Episode 1
"THE DIAPER BAG"
Full scripts available upon request · Written by Blake Karrington
Episode Breakdowns
Beat Sheets
Episodes 2–10 · Season 1 · 90 Seconds Per Episode
- HOOK
Dante enters the bakery, his presence turning the air to ice.
- CONFLICT
Dante reveals he has a photo of Tammy at the scene of the shooting, framing her for the murder.
- CONFLICT
Falisha tries to physically intervene, but Dante's muscle blocks her path.
- TWIST
Dante doesn't call the cops; he slides a $1,000 "investment" check across the counter.
- CLIMAX
Dante tells Angie he owns 50% of the shop — starting now.
- CLIFFHANGER
CLIFFHANGER: Dante's voice fills the shop through the speakers: "Check the smoke detector, ladies."
The Long Game
Season Arc
60 Episodes · 3 Seasons · Complete Story
"The Arrangement"
Episodes 1–20
Four women in Atlanta's elite social circuit discover they are all connected to the same man — Dante Cross — in ways none of them fully understand. As Dante systematically compromises each woman, they are forced to choose between self-preservation and solidarity. The season ends with an uneasy alliance and the revelation that one of the four is still Dante's agent.
Season Finale
Dante's plan is partially exposed — but he escapes consequences by sacrificing a pawn. The four women are fractured but alive. The real war is just beginning.
"The Reckoning"
Episodes 21–40
The alliance between the four women deepens — and fractures. As they work to dismantle Dante's empire, old wounds resurface and new betrayals emerge. The federal investigation closes in on Lisa. Tammy's documentary footage becomes a weapon. Falisha discovers the full scope of what Dante has built — and what it would take to destroy it. Angie must decide who she really is.
Season Finale
Dante is publicly exposed — but the damage to the four women is irreversible. One of them will not survive the season with her freedom intact.
"The Crown"
Episodes 41–60
The aftermath. With Dante's empire in ruins, the four women must rebuild — separately and together. The final season is a meditation on what power costs and what it means to choose yourself. Each woman faces her defining moment: Angie confronts her legacy, Tammy chooses authenticity over audience, Falisha decides what she's willing to build versus what she's willing to burn, and Lisa faces the consequences of a life built on arrangements.
Season Finale
Not a happy ending. A true one. Each woman ends the series exactly where she chose to be — which is the most radical act of all.
Market Context
Comparables
Single Ladies sits at the intersection of prestige drama and vertical-native content — a space no title currently owns.
High-stakes crime drama, luxury aesthetic, morally complex leads
8M+ viewers S6
Power
Starz
Authentic Black female voice, ensemble dynamics, Atlanta-adjacent world
2.6M avg viewers
Insecure
HBO
Urban crime, moral descent, cinematic street-level storytelling
Top FX Drama
Snowfall
FX
Same world, same women — but scripted, with stakes that matter
2.1M avg viewers
Basketball Wives
VH1
Hip-hop culture, Black celebrity families, drama-forward format
Top WEtv Series
Growing Up Hip Hop
WEtv
Friend ensemble, NYC/ATL energy, aspirational Black women
Top 10 Prime
Harlem
Prime VideoThe White Space
“No existing vertical micro-drama series combines prestige-level writing, an A-list Black female ensemble, and a platform-native 9:16 format. Single Ladies is not competing with these titles — it is creating a new category.”
The Numbers
Analytics & Demographics
Market data supporting the vertical micro-drama opportunity
38.7M+
Combined Cast Reach
across all platforms
$47B
Vertical Video Market
projected 2026
#1
Black Women 18–44
vertical content consumers
84%
Avg Episode Completion
vertical drama format
Target Audience Age Distribution
Platform Distribution
Vertical vs. Traditional Content Consumption (% of total viewing time)
- Vertical Content
- Traditional Content
Cast Combined Social Reach (Millions)
Hartbeat Vertical · BLKTOPIA TV
Submission Compliance
Every requirement in the Hartbeat Vertical Microdrama Submission Guide has been addressed. This checklist maps each item to the corresponding section of this pitch deck.
Full Submission Package Complete
17 of 17 requirements met · Ready for review
01 — Submission Package
Series Bible
Logline, genre pillar (Romance & Power), core conflict, core expectation (the burning question), story summary, character breakdowns (lead, love interest, antagonist/villain), and 60-episode target count — all included in this deck.
Pilot Script — Episode 1
Full Episode 1 "The Diaper Bag" in standard screenplay format (Courier 12pt). Includes detailed visual descriptions, emotional arcs, sound cues, and a cliffhanger ending.
Episode Outlines — Episodes 2–10
Beat sheets for Episodes 2–10 with intro/hook, big conflict, small conflict, twist, climax, and cliffhanger per episode. All nine outlines included in the Beat Sheets section.
Core Conflict Line
"How much of your soul are you willing to frost over to keep your crown?" — one repeatable sentence designed to anchor the audience throughout the series.
Full Series Arc
3-season escalation document with key turning points at Episodes 5, 20, 40, 60+ and series climax. Included in the Season Arc section of this deck.
02 — Story & Format Evaluation
Hook Within 5 Seconds
Every episode opens mid-action. Episode 1 opens on Tammy's diaper bag drop; Episode 2 opens on Dante's surveillance reveal. Zero cold-open setup — immediate tension.
Cliffhanger Every Episode
Each beat sheet ends with a hard cliffhanger confirmed across all 10 episodes. Engineered to drive immediate replay and next-episode pull.
Emotional Arc Per Episode
Each 90-second episode carries a complete emotional journey: desire → obstacle → consequence → revelation. Verified in pilot script and all beat sheets.
Series-Level Escalation
Stakes escalate from personal (Angie's bakery) → criminal (Dante's syndicate) → systemic (city-wide power play) across 60 episodes and 3 seasons.
02 — Audience & Genre Evaluation
Cultural Authenticity
Atlanta-set, Black women-led, rooted in real social dynamics of beauty, business, and survival. Cast drawn from authentic urban entertainment culture with verified audience reach.
Clear Genre Pillar Alignment
Aligns with Hartbeat Vertical's "Romance & Power" pillar. Urban Noir + Romantic Thriller hybrid with clear aspirational and cautionary threads woven through every episode.
Mobile-First Visual Writing
All scripts written for 9:16 frame. Tight close-ups, vertical blocking, single-location scenes. No wide establishing shots that lose impact on phone screens.
High Replay / Social Potential
Each episode ends on a shareable moment. Combined cast social reach of 38.7M+ across Instagram, TikTok, and X/Twitter drives organic amplification on every release.
02 — Production Viability Evaluation
Shootable in 5–6 Days
60 episodes x 90 seconds = 90-minute feature equivalent. Designed for block shooting across 3–4 Atlanta locations. Minimal VFX, practical wardrobe, lean crew.
Limited Locations & Cast
Core 5-character ensemble. Primary locations: Angie's Cakes bakery, Dante's penthouse, Lisa's condo, Tammy's apartment. All Atlanta-accessible and production-ready.
9:16 Frame-Conscious Scenes
Every scene is written and blocked for vertical framing. Character blocking, prop placement, and dialogue pacing all optimized for mobile consumption.
Clear Visual Shorthand
Each character has a defined visual signature: Angie (white & gold), Tammy (black bodysuit), Falisha (leather & ink), Lisa (Instagram-ready glam), Dante (bespoke suits). Instantly readable on small screens.
Note: All submissions are confidential. Hartbeat Vertical requires a signed submission release form prior to review. This pitch deck is submitted on behalf of Upscale Promotions & Entertainment, Inc. by Malik Davis. Legal representation: The Law Office of Omara S. Harris, Esq., LLC · 404-409-7354 · [email protected]
Production Entity
Upscale Promotions & Entertainment, Inc.
Distribution Target
Hartbeat Vertical · BLKTOPIA TV
This pitch deck is a confidential document intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which it is addressed. All characters, storylines, and creative elements contained herein are the original intellectual property of Upscale Promotions & Entertainment, Inc. Unauthorized reproduction, distribution, or disclosure of this material is strictly prohibited. All cast attachments are subject to formal agreements. © 2026 Upscale Promotions & Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved.
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