OWN drama series will begin production in Orlando soon
“David Makes Man,” a drama series for OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, will begin production this summer in Orlando, the channel announced Tuesday.
The series will focus on a 14year-old prodigy and is inspired by events in the life of series creator Tarell Alvin McCraney, who shared an Oscar for writing “Moonlight.” That film, winner of the best picture Oscar, was adapted from his play, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue.”
“David Makes Man” will debut next year. OWN said the young protagonist “must choose between the streets that raised him or the higher education that may offer him a way out.”
Akili McDowell, who acted in “The Astronaut Wives Club,” will play David, who lives in a housing project in Homestead. Emmy nominee Phylicia Rashad (“The Cosby Show”) will play an instructor at David’s middle school for academically gifted children. OWN described the character as “respected and intimidating.”
The showrunner, who oversees the series, will be Dee Harris-Lawrence, whose credits include “Shots Fired” and “Unsolved: The
Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G.” Her other credits include “Star,” “Zoo,” “Detroit 187” and “Saving Grace.”
Harris-Lawrence and McCraney will be executive producers along with Mike Kelley & Melissa Loy (“Revenge”), Michael B. Jordan (“Black Panther”) and Oprah Winfrey.
McCraney serves as the chair of playwriting at the Yale School of Drama. “David Makes Man” is his first series for television.
In the series, David is a former block drug dealer who is haunted by his best friend’s death. He rides the bus to the school for gifted children. “He has become an expert chameleon who toggles between two distinct personas that reflect his surroundings,” OWN said.
The cast will include Broadway actor Isaiah Johnson (“Hamilton,” “The Color Purple”), Nathaniel Logan McIntyre (“Barry”), Ade Chike Torbert (“East Los High”), Jordan Bolger (“Peaky Blinders”), Cayden K. Williams (“Girls Trip”) and Travis Coles (“Liza on Demand”).