Chloé Zhao To Executive Produce Vincent Chin Scripted Series; Jurnee Smollett Joins Jamie Foxx In Amazon’s ‘The Burial’; Tabitha Brown Sets ‘Tab Time’ At YouTube
by Team Diaspora | Nov 19, 2021 | News |
- The 1982 racially-driven murder of Vincent Chin will be adapted into a scripted series for Participant by Chloé Zhao, the director behind Nomadland and Eternals. Zhao has made an exclusive agreement with the Chin estate to create the only authorized telling of the legal case that proceeded the murder. Chin, a Chinese American engineer, was murdered by two resentful white men who blamed him for Japan’s success in the auto industry. The men, who assumed he was Japanese, served no jail time. The tragedy and the blatant leniency of the legal outcome served as a catalyst for an increase in Asian American civil rights advocacy.
- Emmy-nominated actress Jurnee Smollett will star as the female lead for the new Amazon Studios movie The Burial. Based on a true story, the courtroom drama tells the story of a bankrupt funeral homeowner who is attempting to sue a rival businessman over a handshake deal gone wrong. Smollett and Jamie Foxx will play the attorneys representing the two businessmen. Maggie Betts will direct while Foxx will produce the movie with partner Datari Turner.
- Meagan Good and Dijon Talton will executive produce ALLBLK’s new six-episode dating dramedy À La Carte. The series, created by Breanna Hogan, follows Mahogany Rose as she begins to develop feelings for a man who is in a relationship with someone else, a situation she never thought she’s been in. Pauline Dyer stars as Mahogany with Courtney Burrell playing her love interest, Kaleb Myles. À La Carte is currently in production and is set to premiere in spring 2022.
- Social media sensation Tabitha Brown is bringing her infectious personality to her new YouTube original children’s series Tab Time. Premiering December 1, Tab Time is aimed toward ages 3-5 and focuses on themes such as family, helping others, music, and making things grow. Tabitha, or “Ms. Tab” as the children call her on the show, will be joined by actors like The Chi’s Lena Waithe and Black-ish’s Miles Brown, and a slew of other famous guest stars.
- 50 Cent is expanding his television portfolio once again with a documentary series about the Black Mafia Family. The rapper, who also produces a scripted series about the Black Mafia Family, has seen breakout success in the television world through his Starz drama Power and its multiple spin-offs. The eight-episode series will be a companion piece to the scripted drama series BMF and is a part of 50 Cent’s four-year, exclusive deal with Starz and his production company G-Unit Film and Television.
- A new family drama series is being developed for NBC by producers Pharrell Wiliams, Jorge A. Reyes, and Ben Silverman. Titled The Santos of Chicago, the show is loosely based on Reyes’ real family and follows the lives of six Afro-Latinx siblings while the two eldest sisters run for Congress. It’s being described as This is Us meets The West Wing with a Latinx focus.
- The Bravo series Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce is getting its first international adaptation through a partnership between NBC Universal and the Dubai and Cairo-based production company S Productions. The adaptation, titled 45 Rules of Divorce, is pushing boundaries in the Arab world as, under Islamic doctrine, it is discouraged for women to initiate divorce, although divorce rates are growing. 45 Rules of Divorce stars Egyptian actress Injy Al Moqaddem as protagonist self-help writer Farida Al-Shazly.
- George Lopez is starring in and executive producing a new pilot for Amazon Studios and STXtelevision titled Once Upon a Time in Aztlan. Lopez will be joined by Arianna Williams and Jimmy Gonzales in the drama series that follows a Chicano family in the suburbs of Los Angeles as they navigate the hypocrisies of the American dream. Williams portrays a Gen-Z Afro Latina USC student while Gonzalez plays a morally compromised hustler attempting to legitimize himself. One Upon a Time in Aztlan is written by Javier Rodriguez.
- Derek Luke, known for his roles in Friday Night Lights and Captain America: The First Avenger, will be starring in Rare Objects, an upcoming movie directed by Katie Holmes. The pair worked together nearly two decades ago in the 2003 movie Pieces of April and will continue to collaborate on an untitled project also directed by Holmes. Rare Objects is based on Kathleen Tessaro’s novel of the same name that follows a young woman seeking to rebuild her life after her tragic past. Along with directing the film, Holmes will star and produce the project.
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