When I first started writing Albany Post Road, I knew there was an argument to be made and in certain ways, it wouldn't be an easy sell. My admiration for a
novelistic series and depiction of authenticity made me a student of The Wire. Many of us have seen the layout of shows and have consistently seen the same
narrative and template, putting audiences in a format and frame of mind to oversell what is good and what is bad. Many of us know it is not that simple.
These circumstances made me want to create a series that accurately depicts America. The idea that we all face the same struggles
but with different baselines of wealth and varying disparities of poverty. This show takes place in one of the most unique areas in the country,
a cross-section that possesses all the socio-economic conditions that share a frontier with the metropolis known as New York City.
An area that, although unique, is the truest representation of America’s demographic as a whole.
From public housing to dairy farms and suburban developments, the cross-section lives within five miles of each other.
It wasn't until I had traveled and visited other parts of the country that I realized the disparity is far greater between the rich and the poor,
black and white, red and blue; this is the narrative we are accustomed to. From northern Westchester to southern Dutchess county, the disparity is not noticeable
to the outside eye. A rich suburb becoming one of the most highly taxed counties in America, but what happens
when you grow up seeing everybody has money…but everyone is broke.
My fascination with functional poverty was something I had encountered firsthand, a theme that followed my friends around in grade school. The theme that echoed
between the quarters in my pocket was to pay $2.50 for a school lunch because my parents had to heat our home… many sandwiches were
consumed from that change jar, and they were the same ones every kid got. The idea of the sacrifices parents have made in
our communities underscores the absurdity of a $3,000 mortgage being justified as long as our children can reap the benefits of a high-quality life.
My life has led me to different cross sections of America, all in my own backyard. I never understood systemic racism until I was pulled over for
being the only white person in the car. It wasn't until I was thrown in a police car while my black friends were forced to
take off their shoes that I realized these issues cannot be addressed without encountering these elements yourself.
It was my desire to speak Spanish that taught me people look for something familiar in the unfamiliar. It wasn't until I had
worked back-breaking jobs alongside my Latin cohorts that I realized I am just passing through; this is their reality. A 62-year-old
man’s calloused hands picking up rocks I couldn't even move.
My grandfather worked like this until he was 78.
As a lifelong resident of Westchester County, I realized that the underclass is hidden behind a baseline that does not exist in other parts of America.
Where do we stop to say the cost of a high quality of life demands we sacrifice our own well-being? Isn't that a function of quality of life?
The silent suffering and expectations hide behind the used vehicles and Dunkin' Donuts cups, the nicotine vapes and Uber, the computer and
the hammer. Incarceration, drug abuse, criminal activity and corruption are issues that face every part of America. The authenticity of this show stands on that.
Our cast and crew come from a variety of backgrounds: black, white, Hispanic, Asian, formerly incarcerated, blue collar, white collar, and people active
in industries that do not exist in sectors of the GDP. Albany Post Road could not be possible without these people;
if we are going to make a show about the cross section, it will be made by the cross section.
As a student of cinema and music, Albany Post Road is meant to put a dramatic spin on the Hudson Valley corridor. Although not officially
a “rust belt town”, the covid 19 pandemic has ushered in the arrival of a second rust belt, one where tech breeds disparity, convenience eliminates freedoms
and the people who built this land are thriving in keeping things the way they are. The rust is now corrosion, the
steel is now a circuit board and the loss of population is nothing more than a replacement.
The exile of the ones that planted the trees but will never be able to enjoy the shade below them, to the detriment of the ones that seek to sit in that shade.
This is America. This is our fault line.
-Meeko Kolledi