Posted by | Ray Cornelius
Congrats to Oscar winner and “Moonlight” co-writer and executive producer Tarrell Alvin McCraney. He is teaming up with Michael B. Jordan for a new coming-of-age series on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network.
According to the press release, the untitled series will be created, written and executive produced by McCraney along with Page Fright’s Mike Kelley and Melissa Loy. Michael B. Jordan will executive produce the show through his Outlier Productions.
Haunted by the death of his closest friend, and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty, a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects must choose between the streets that raised him or the higher education that may offer him a way out. Set in South Florida at the end of the Obama legacy, the lyrical drama inspired by events in McCraney’s own life, explores the precarious balance needed for the making of a man.
“When Tarell shared his powerful story with us there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” said Oprah Winfrey in a statement. “I knew this was something special that our viewers will without a doubt connect to and feel compelled to explore with us. I am honored to be working with Tarell and the rest of the producers on this project.”
“I wanted to explore the pivotal steps towards adulthood and identity, the ones we take when we think or feel we have no other choice,” said Tarell Alvin McCraney.
“Being young, gifted and black in America today and anywhere for that matter makes it extremely hard and challenging to follow your dreams and achieve success,” said Michael B. Jordan. “Tarell’s adaptation of this reality was so honest and true and it’s the exact message our youth needs today.”
The series is also being produced in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television and is part of OWN’s new lineup of scripted series. It will join the network’s hugely popular dramas, “The Haves and the Have Nots,” “If Loving You Is Wrong” as well as “Queen Sugar,” “Greenleaf” and Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil‘s “Love Is __”.
Stay tuned…
Photo Credits: Facebook/Tarrell Alvin McCraney and RayCornelius.com
