Joshua Jackson & Lauren Ridloff to Star In Ava DuVernay Romantic Drama
Ava DuVernay has signed a three-year script-to-series deal with Starz for a romantic drama series starring Lauren Ridloff (The Walking Dead) and Joshua Jackson (When They See Us).
The news was announced on Thursday during the network’s first-ever #TakeTheLead Summit, where DuVernay, Ridloff, and Jackson shared details about the upcoming project. In addition to starring, Ridloff and Jackson, who previously starred opposite each other in Broadway’s Children of a Lesser God, will serve as executive producers on the as-yet-untitled series alongside DuVernary.
According to Deadline, the half-hour drama follows two polar opposites who become embroiled in a love affair that turns their world upside down. While wildly different (one is Black, deaf, and ambitious, the other white and restless), the two are emotionally and physically drawn to each other despite personal expectations and public assumptions. Their love disrupts notions of race, gender, class, physical ability, and normative culture.
DuVernay, who directed the Best Picture-nominated Selma, will head up the writing team for the series through her Peabody Award-winning narrative change collective Array Filmworks and its overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. Starz’s Senior Vice President of Original Programming, Kathryn Tyus-Adair, will oversee 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,” said DuVernay. “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.”
Speaking at the Summit, Starz’s President of Original Programming, Kathryn Busby, said, “There is nothing like this series on TV and we are thrilled to be in development with Ava, a trailblazer and unparalleled champion of diversity.”
Untitled Ava DuVernay Project, TBA, Starz
