Meet Chuck and Bree West, the creative force behind OCTET Productions, a thriving film and TV company in DC. In this article, the duo shares their journey from Chuck’s theater background to founding OCTET, driven by a passion for authentic Black storytelling. The couple delves into overcoming funding challenges, establishing a reputation for ‘OCTET Pretty’ projects, and securing a game-changing deal with BET. They reflect on pivotal moments, including Chuck’s recovery from a car accident and the success of projects like ‘A Wesley Christmas Wedding’ on BET+. Despite setbacks, their dedication has earned them accolades, including Chuck as DC Filmmaker of the Month and Bree’s NAACP Image Award nomination. Discover their latest triumph – the second season of ‘HUSH’ on ALLBLK, showcasing their commitment to diverse narratives in entertainment.
Introduce yourselves, how you started writing and producing, and why you decided to venture into the film business as partners.
BREE: We are Chuck & Bree West, the husband-and-wife team who in 2015, founded OCTET Productions, a full-service film and television company based in the District of Columbia. When we started, Chuck had been in the entertainment world for nearly 25 years as a Producer and General Manager of both Urban and Broadway stage plays. I began working in the entertainment industry in 2012 managing talent. OCTET Productions was created to tell authentically Black stories of diverse genres that accurately represent our vibrant culture. As time passed, I found myself developing and writing my own scripts. As a Creative Producer, I often worked closely with my writers to develop the scripts that we produced. Chuck encouraged me to write and in 2021, we produced my first script, “A Wesley Christmas.”
CHUCK: Now, that’s the story we tell often, and it is true, but there is also a back story.
BREE: Here we go!
CHUCK: What you don’t know is that during most of my career in the theater, I toured stage plays, both Urban and Broadway, around the country. As such, I met a lot of individuals and developed a few friends.
BREE: Several women! All over the country!
CHUCK: And during the first year we started dating, I still maintained friendships with some of those ladies.
BREE: A major non-starter for me!
CHUCK: (Laughing) That’s when Bree said that if I was going to be in a “relation situation” with her, I needed to be 100% exclusive and focus on us or continue my life, as it was, by myself. It was at that point; I knew I had found my soulmate and I came off the road permanently. We both loved the art of storytelling and decided to start an endeavor where we could both do what we love together. We each got therapy, focused on us, and our “relation-situation” became the best relationship either of us has ever had.
BREE: We also learned to tear down the walls we initially had with each other and focus on becoming best friends and true partners. As a result, we founded OCTET Productions and have been truly happy ever since.
CHUCK: OCT is the Latin prefix for the number eight. Combined, we have eight kids. Bree brought four daughters into the relationship, and I brought two sons and two nephews that my brother and I raised like brothers from a young age.
BREE: From our union, OCTET was formed and our company logo, is both a number eight turned horizontally and an infinity sign. The logo represents our love for God, family, and each other is grounded by our children, and is never-ending.
Can you share some insights into your journey as a producer in the film industry, highlighting key milestones and experiences that have shaped your approach to filmmaking?
CHUCK: As filmmakers, we have been very fortunate to foster strong relationships with well-known talent and have established a reputation for producing “OCTET Pretty projects.”
BREE: Getting started was a great deal slower than we thought it would be.
CHUCK: I think the fact that I had been so successful in the theater world had us believing that getting funded to start a production company, would be easy, but it was not.
BREE: We were in a predicament where we had to decide what we were going to do. Either wait for money to find us or finance our dreams on our own. Once again, we bet on ourselves and financed our first three projects independently with a lot of support from close family and friends who believed in us.
CHUCK: It was a relatively slow start, but our first two projects were theatrical stage plays that were shot for television. The second was our first feature film entitled, “Couples Night.”
BREE: That film was where we developed our reputation in the industry as having “OCTET Pretty” projects. We were proud that our films looked good and from there, we continued learning more and more. This was around 2016-2017.
CHUCK: In 2017, I had a terrible car accident and had a severe concussion that left me unable to work for a year.
BREE: That year was difficult, but we maintained our faith that Chuck would be back to baseline eventually and prayed that once he healed, we would be blessed with work.
CHUCK: The first week I was cleared to travel, Bree and I went to the American Black Film Festival (ABFF) and met Lorisa Bates of BET Network through our producing partner Brett Dismuke and our early work secured us a solid co-production deal with BET Network in 2018.
BREE: Since working with BET, we have produced a number of very successful projects including, but not limited to “Angrily Ever After” starring Jasmine Burke, Ta’Rhonda Jones, Terayle Hill and Kenny Lattimore, ‘Twas the Chaos Before Christmas starring Cynthia McWilliams, Sherri Shephard, Affion Crockett and Victoria Rowell, American Gangster Presents: Big 50 – The Delrhonda Hood Story” starring Remy Ma, Tank, Debbi Morgan, Ta’Rhonda Jones and Pretty Vee. Wake stars Shoniqua Shondai, J Alphonse Nicholson, Parker McKenna Posey, and DeRay Davis, and most recently, in November 2023, we released A Wesley Christmas Wedding, starring Dorien Wilson, Jasmine Guy, TC Carson, Valerie Pettiford and a phenomenal ensemble cast on BET+.
CHUCK: We’ve been blessed. In January 2020, I was selected as DC Filmmaker of the Month and in March 2022, Bree was selected as DC Filmmaker of the Month. In 2023, Bree was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing In A Television Movie or Special for her first script, “A Wesley Christmas.” a movie starring Dorien Wilson, Jasmine Guy, TC Carson, Loren Lott, and an outstanding ensemble cast. At the same time, TC Carson was also nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a TV Movie or Special.
BREE: Most recently, on December 7th, we released the second season of HUSH, a wildly successful episodic series for ALLBLK streaming network starring Joyful Drake, Caryn Ward-Ross, Candiace Dillard, and TS Madison.
The New Christmas movie, A Wesley Christmas Wedding has garnered significant attention for its unique storyline and captivating performances. What inspired you to venture into the holiday genre, and how do you believe it stands out from other Christmas films?
BREE: The Wesley Christmas franchise is a three-part film series that includes, A Wesley Christmas (2022), A Wesley Christmas Wedding (2023), and A Wesley South African Christmas (to be produced in 2024). The stories center around Brian and Sylvia Wesley, the Wesley family patriarch and matriarch, their three adult children, their significant others, their extended family, and close friends who gather together to celebrate the holiday season with a great deal of drama and love in a myriad of different situations.
CHUCK: The Wesley franchise was established around characters from our own big and extended family. It stands out from other Christmas films because the family is based in the DMV and it addresses multi-generational storylines that provide entertainment for each member of the family while also providing a great deal of love.
BREE: The Wesley family is loosely based on the West family. Our original family. Our love for timeless Christmas movies prompted our inspiration for producing them. We believe that the Wesley franchise will become a timeless Christmas classic that will be watched during every Christmas holiday with our family.
As a power couple in the film industry, how do you navigate the challenges of balancing personal and professional life? Share specific strategies or principles you both adhere to to maintain a successful partnership both on and off the set.
CHUCK: We have developed our own lanes in the operation of OCTET Productions. I run the operational and technical side of the business and Bree runs all things creative. I do a great job staying in my lane and Bree does a pretty good job.
BREE: (Laughing) I like to say Chuck is the boss of OCTET, but I’m his boss.
CHUCK: We have a really good time together because we are passionate about each other and our business.
BREE: We know that our priorities are aligned, and we work each day to continue to better ourselves in the business. Communication is key.
CHUCK: And prayer. Each morning, we say a prayer together before we hit the floor and we tell each other what we loved about each other the day before.
BREE: We put our marriage second to only our love for God and we laugh a lot!
CHUCK: A lot! We are true partners, and we move in love and mutual respect.
Looking back at your previous projects, are there specific themes or messages that you consistently aim to convey through your films? Has your past work contributed to your reputation as producers in the industry?
BREE: It is important to us to make sure we accurately portray our stories and continue to “edu-tain.” That means educating while we entertain. There are several topics in our community that historically we have been told to stay away from because the topics might be too heavy for the genre, but we address the critical issues our culture is facing, and we have figured out how to address them while making sure our audiences are still entertained.
CHUCK: For example, we’ve addressed racism, mental health issues like PTSD, postpartum depression, domestic violence, bipolar disorder, infidelity, narcolepsy, and many more issues facing our community.
BREE: We aren’t afraid to say what many others are thinking, and our work is getting praised for it. I guess you can say that we’ve garnered a great deal of respect for our messages, and it is important to portray the Black family in a positive light. Most importantly, showing the love that we have in the community as a race.
CHUCK: We work hard to portray the black community in an upwardly mobile manner. We know that movies and television are a real method of archiving our culture and capturing our society at the time. As such, it’s critical to us that we provide authentic, original stories that organically portray who we are as a people.
The film industry is constantly evolving, with new technologies and storytelling techniques emerging. How do you stay ahead of trends and ensure that your upcoming projects, including any future Christmas movies, remain relevant and resonate with modern audiences?
BREE: We connect with our stories and characters and address real topics. This helps us stay on the cutting edge of storytelling.
CHUCK: We also talk to our kids about how life is showing up for them. We have an open-door policy and often use real-life experiences to tell good stories.
BREE: We continue to learn what’s new in the industry and stay on top of the trends so that our stories and scripts stay relevant. We also work with writers of different generations to ensure our characters have real voices that resonate with our viewers of all different ages. Recently, I started writing with Chazitear, an extremely talented younger writer, and our voices combined became an immediate success.
CHUCK: In addition to being Bree’s writing partner, Chazitear has also come on board as OCTET’s Director of Development and as a result, we are obtaining several diverse scripts that we are green-lighting and producing.
What’s next for you in the film world?
CHUCK: Growth. We are grateful that in eight years, we have been able to accomplish what we have to date, but we are just getting started.
BREE: With each project, we try to continue to improve and grow with our crew we call our OCTET family. We are continuing to build the company and our portfolio.
CHUCK: We are also committed to helping new and future filmmakers. We have relationships with several schools and Universities around the DMV and we often give lectures to break down the gates in this exclusive world so that the emerging artists have an easier time than we had breaking into this business.
BREE: We also teach master classes and serve as panelists for universities and international film festivals including The Johannesburg Film Festival and the Durban Filmmart Film Festival. We love opening new experiences to others through storytelling and in 2024 we plan to film in South Africa for our third installation of the Wesley Christmas franchise.
What encouraging words can you give those who wish to venture into the film business?
CHUCK: There will be a lot of doors shut and “nos” told to you. Continue to follow your passion, turn those nos into yeses, and use your network to open those doors. Also, trust in God’s plan.
BREE: Agreed. Passion fuels success. When you are passionate about anything, that’s the first step to achieving your goals. Learn as much as you can so that you become the best that you can be and utilize your network to make sure you’re moving in the best direction. Remember, growth is a process. Trust God’s timing and in the meantime, become a student of the art. The more you know, the better prepared you will be so move with a goal of success in mind and remain humble. Success will be inevitable.
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