
Continuing its commitment to creating diverse, elevated original programming from the entertainment industryβs leading talent, OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network today announced the ensemble cast β including Emmy nominee Phylicia Rashad β for its new original drama seriesΒ David Makes Man, the television debut of Academy Award winnerΒ TarellΒ Alvin McCraney (Moonlight), produced by Warner Horizon Scripted Television. McCraney wrote the coming-of-age drama and will serve as executive producer alongside Mike Kelley & Melissa Loy (Revenge), Michael B. JordanΒ (Creed) and Oprah Winfrey. Dee Harris-Lawrence (Shots Fired,Β Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.) has been named showrunner and will also join the executive producerΒ team. Production will begin on the drama this summer in Orlando, Florida, for a 2019 premiere.
David Makes ManΒ centers onΒ a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects who is haunted by the death of his closest friend and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty. He must choose between the streets that raised him or the higher education that may offer him a way out. Set in South Florida, the lyrical drama, inspired by events in McCraneyβs own life, explores the inherent trauma sustained in the fight for survival.
The cast ofΒ David Makes ManΒ includes:
- Akili McDowellΒ (The Astronaut Wives Club)Β is set to star as David, a young teenager and former block drug dealer from a state housing project in Homestead, Florida, who rides a bus every day to attend a magnet school for academically gifted kids. Aware of the expectations and perceptions other have of him, he has become an expert chameleon whoΒ toggles between two distinct personas that reflect his surroundings β but this exacts an emotional price.
- Emmy nomineeΒ Phylicia RashadΒ (Creed, The Cosby Show) stars as Dr. Woods-Trap, a respected and intimidating instructor at Davidβs middle school who is one of those teachers that students remember for the rest of their lives. Her assignments are challenging but rewarding, and her students genuinely like and respect her. Though firm with David, she sees something special in him and becomes his advocate.
Rashad starred in McCraneyβs playΒ Head of PassesΒ in 2017 and will appear in the upcomingΒ CreedΒ sequel starring Michael B. Jordan.
- Nathaniel Logan McIntyreΒ (Magic CampΒ andΒ Barry) is set to play the role of Davidβs best friend, Seren. Seren holds painful secrets, and his relationship with David has recently become fraught.
- Broadway actorΒ Isaiah JohnsonΒ (Hamilton,Β The Color Purple) plays the role of Davidβs close friend, Sky,Β prone to quiz and give David advice.
- Ade Chike TorbertΒ (East Los High)Β will play Raynan, whoseΒ tiesΒ to the drug trade drive a wedge between him and David, despite Raynanβs desire to connect on behalf of their mutual friend.
- Jordan BolgerΒ (Peaky Blinders) is set for the role of Shinobi, Raynanβs second-in-command who, like Raynan, clashes with David.
- Cayden K. WilliamsΒ (Girls Trip) will play JG (Jonathan Greg), Davidβs rough-and-tumble younger brother, who is more vulnerable than one might expect.
- Travis ColesΒ (Liza on Demand)Β will play theΒ genderqueer Ms. Elijah, a longtime Homestead Village resident who watches over David when his mother is away. Ms. Elijah knows all the skeletons of Homestead Village and its residents.
Dee Harris-Lawrence most recently was co-executive producer and writer on the drama seriesΒ Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G., Shots FiredΒ andΒ Star.Β Before that, she served in the same capacity on series such asΒ Zoo, Detroit 187Β andΒ Saving Grace, among others. Her other writing credits includeΒ Any Day Now, Kevin Hill, New York UndercoverΒ and more.
Playwright, actor and producerΒ TarellΒ Alvin McCraney received an Academy Award, with director Barry Jenkins, for Best Adapted Screenplay for the 2016 filmΒ Moonlight, which also won for Best Picture. The movie was based on McCraneyβs semi-autobiographical scriptΒ In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue. McCraney currently serves as the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama. This will be his first foray into creating a scripted drama series for television.
Page Fright producing partners Mike Kelley and Melissa Loy have worked on several notable scripted series, includingΒ Revenge, where they served as executive producer/showrunner, and executive producer, respectively
Michael B. Jordan has had prominent roles in critically acclaimed films includingΒ Fruitvale Station, Creed,Β andΒ Black PantherΒ as well as on popular television series includingΒ Friday Night LightsΒ andΒ The Wire. Last year he launched his own production company, Outlier Productions.
David Makes ManΒ is produced by Page Fright and Outlier Productions in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television.
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