Director Ava DuVernay has set her next project in the form of a romantic drama series. The program, which DuVernay will produce, stars Lauren Ridloff and Joshua Jackson, and Starz, the network that will air the series, clearly has a ton of faith in DuVernay and the concept, as the show has already been greenlit for three seasons of eighteen episodes total.
The untitled series will consist of half-hour episodes, which will explore what it means to truly fall in love. Starz released the following synopsis:
“The half-hour drama will chronicle what it takes to fall and stay in radical, rebellious love. One person is ambitious, while the other is restless. One is ready to commit, while the other debates the merits of relationships. One is Black and one is white. One is deaf and one is not. Though wildly different, the two are emotionally and physically drawn to each other despite personal expectations and public assumptions. Their attraction passionately disrupts notions of race, gender, class, physical ability, and normative culture, elevating to true love that surpasses difference.”
Kat Candler will serve as the showrunner and write the first episode. DuVernay’s involvement will extend beyond producing, as she will help oversee the writing on the program through her narrative change collective ARRAY Filmworks, which won a Peabody Award. Her last major directing gig came with Netflix’s When They See Us, which explored the young men and families falsely accused and exploited in New York’s 1989 Central Park jogger case. Recently, she directed an episode of HBO Max series DMZ, as well as Netflix series Colin in Black & White.
Aside from the talent behind the scenes, this series has two strong performers in front of the camera. Ridloff most recently appeared in Marvel’s Eternals, where she starred in the ensemble as Makkari. This won’t mark her first television appearance, as she’s also starred in The Walking Dead. In 2018, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her work in Children of a Lesser God.
Jackson last left audiences squirming, as he led the Peacock series Dr. Death as the psychotic and dangerous Christopher Duntsch. That series was based on the podcast of the same name, which focused on Duntsch’s ego and malpractice as a neurosurgeon. Jackson is certainly an iconic television performer, having led shows like Dawson’s Creek, Fringe, and The Affair. He also starred opposite Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon in Hulu series Little Fires Everywhere.
DuVernay had the following to say about the series:
“On behalf of my producing partner Paul Garnes and everyone at ARRAY Filmworks, I’m thrilled to develop this passion project with Lauren, Josh, and Kat. Starz and Warner Bros. Television have made a bold production commitment to immediately explore three seasons, and we’re revved up and ready to begin what I hope will be a beautiful journey for all involved.”
Stay tuned to Collider for more updates on this project.
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