article via eurweb.com
Michael B. Jordan has moved his explosive film career into the executive suite.
The actor has signed a multiyear first-look film and TV production deal with Skydance Media to launch his own shingle, Outlier Productions, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Jordan has tapped Wynn Wygal to serve as the company’s vice president.
“Michael is an incredibly gifted actor and storyteller whose proven track record on both the big and small screen together with his boundless ambitions make him an ideal partner for us at Skydance,” Skydance CEO David Ellison said Wednesday in a statement. “We are so excited to team up with Michael and Eric on ‘Apollo Park,’ a riveting sports drama about courage, perseverance and family.”
Outlier’s first TV project under the deal is the scripted drama “Apollo Park,” which revolves around a young basketball player’s rapid rise to professional fame and the effects of his success on his family and community back in inner-city Detroit.
Eric Amadio, whose FX drama “Snowfall” was just picked up to series, co-created “Apollo Park” with Jordan and will write the potential series as well as executive produce alongside Jordan. Evan Silverberg, Kenny Goodman and Skydance’s Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Marcy Ross will also executive produce.
“I love telling true, modern stories and ‘Apollo Park’ — an underdog tale about a very real and very heroic hustler who defies stereotypes and thrives against great odds — has long been a passion project of mine. Eric and I are excited to join forces with the incredible creative team at Skydance to share it with the world,” said Jordan, who grew up playing basketball for his high school team in Newark, N.J. “I’m also very eager to start this new chapter in my career by launching my production company and I am thrilled to have Wynn join my team.”
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Erika Alexander has booked a season-long recurring arc on Amazon’s drama series Bosch. Alexander will play Connie Irving, a college professor and Deputy Chief Irving’s (Lance Reddick) wife who is concerned about furthering her husband’s career and keeping her police officer son safe.
Bosch is a police procedural based on Michael Connelly‘s novels about a veteran homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. Alexander will next be seen in the indie feature Brave New Jersey.
Malcolm Mays has been cast as a series regular in FX’s drama pilot Snowfall, about the beginnings of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles in the 80’s. Co-written by John Singleton and Eric Amadio and directed by Singleton, Snowfall is set against the infancy of the epidemic and its ultimate radical impact on the culture as we know it. Mays will play Leon Simmons, Franklin’s (Damson Idris) best friend since childhood. In addition to Idris, Mays joins stars Billy Magnussen and Sergio Peris-Mencheta. Mays can currently be seen opposite Jake Gyllenhaal in Southpaw.
article by Denise Petski via deadline.com
According to Deadline.com, John Singleton’s take on the beginnings of the crack cocaine trade in Los Angeles has found a new home. Originally bought by Showtime, John Singleton’s Snowfall pilot has now been picked up by FX, Presidents of Original Programming Nick Grad and Eric Schrier announced today.
“Snowfall takes us on a wild ride through one of LA’s most fascinating cultural and social periods, and no one can tell this story better than John Singleton,” said Schrier. “The pilot script by John and Eric brilliantly depicts the era through the story of three captivating characters, and we can’t wait to see John’s execution of it.”
Singleton (“Boyz In The Hood”, “Baby Boy”, “Higher Learning”, “Shaft”) co-created and co-wrote the early-1980s set Snowfall pilot with Eric Amadio and will direct the pilot for FX Productions, with production set to start this summer. Justified’s Dave Andron will serve as an Executive Producer along with Singleton, Groundswell Productions’ Michael London, Amadio and Trevor Engelson. With the drug storm about to come, Snowfall focuses on a trio of main characters – ambitious dealer Franklin Saint, ex-Mexican wrestler and now gangster Gustavo Zapata and prodigal son Logan Miller.
“I have always been fascinated with that volatile moment in time before crack changed everything,” added Singleton. “It’s a tense, insane and sexy era that touched every aspect of our culture. I couldn’t have better partners for this journey.”
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)