If you had a social media presence in 2014 or were super obsessed with Buzzfeed like I was, then there is a very high chance that you ran across Quinta Brunson. Now known for creating and starring in Abbott Elementary, many people remember her as the “oouuuu he got money!” girl that went viral across Instagram, Twitter, and Vine (r.i.p.). Today, Brunson is on the rise as she is making her way as a writer, producer, author, and actress.
Brunson began her media career around 2014 when she started “The Girl Who’s Never Been on a Nice Date” series. In these short videos, Quinta acted as a woman who would be overly dramatic when her date could afford things like unlimited passes at amusement parks, desserts at restaurants, and most popularly, a large popcorn at a movie theater, which has over 1 million views on Youtube. Creating comedy sketches based on her favorite shows like Saturday Night Live, she got the opportunity to star in a Buzzfeed video with one of her friends. She then joined their staff as a freelancer and eventually a video producer. During her time there she starred in many comedy series and was able to create series based on her favorite shows like The Office and Parks and Recreation. Many of the series focused on experiences and problems that many people in their 20s face. In 2016, she wrote, starred in, and sold 2 web series Broke and Up for Adoption. The mockumentary-style series Up for Adoption was focused on a fictional pet store rather than real-life experiences and allowed her to see that she could create new worlds.
After realizing that her goals were deeper than a traditional 9-5 job, she left Buzzfeed and began working with Larry Wilmore, a notable multi-hyphenate within the media industry. While she acted and produced two show pilots that didn’t get picked up, Wilmore taught her the ins and outs of the network industry, and she credits him for her current success. In 2019, she began co-writing and co-starring in my all-time favorite sketch show, A Black Lady Sketch Show. Streaming on HBO, she worked alongside Robin Thede, Gabrielle Dennis, and Ashely Nicole Black. With sketches that highlight Black women and the inside jokes that are known within our community, the show gained popularity, but Brunson left after the first season due to scheduling conflicts.
Throughout her career, Quinta blended her love and talent of comedy with real-life experiences to create funny and relatable stories. With her experience on A Black Lady Sketch Show, she realized how valuable it was to work with so many Black people. While the shows that she enjoyed inspired her work, she noticed that Black people were rarely at the forefront of them. She saw the opportunity to change this when her ABC picked up her show Abbott Elementary, which follows the teachers of an underfunded elementary school in West Philadelphia. Named after one of her middle school teachers and inspired by her mother’s experiences as a kindergarten teacher, the show tackles many real issues surrounding public schools. It focuses mostly on Janine Teagues, an overwhelming naïve first-year teacher, and her efforts to make a change at the school while working under a tone-deaf (and equally hilarious) principal and getting advice from experienced teachers.
Brunson began writing the series in 2020 and was excited to have characters that look, talk, and act like her on the screen. As a young, Black lover of mockumentaries, I shared this excitement. With the show’s authentic and up-to-date dialogue, along with its witty comedy and relatability, it has become popular among ages. As the show has become more popular, many people have compared it to other mockumentaries like The Office and Parks and Rec. While I do believe that this has contributed to the show’s popularity, I hate to see that it is being compared when it is one of its own. Its focus on real-life issues, efforts off-screen to help these issues, make it more than a funny tv show. Luckily, the series was renewed for a second season, and we can continue to be graced by Quinta’s writing and acting talents.