Sunny Hostin Debuts Novel, Media Company
As a young girl, “The View” co-host, author and Emmy-winning legal journalist Sunny Hostin would take a hairbrush and mimic Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer in the mirror. She didn’t have many options for broadcast idols to emulate — in those times, there weren’t many women of color headlining news shows.
Now, with the launch of her latest venture, Roots & Wings Prods., Hostin will be able to champion on-screen representation. The global multiplatform media company will develop and create content for film and television focused on social justice issues and meaningful, inclusive stories.
In tandem with the company’s debut, Hostin has announced Roots & Wings’ first project: a drama series based on her newly released novel, “Summer on the Bluffs,” created in partnership with ABC Signature and Octavia Spencer’s Orit Entertainment banner. “Summer on the Bluffs” follows three -something Black women on their mission to secure the inheritance rights to their godmother’s house on the shore of Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard. “I started writing and creating this world based on the fact that there were only a couple of places that Black folks were allowed to buy beachfront property — Oak Bluffs, Highland Point and Sag Harbor, to name a few,” says Hostin.
“I’m humbled to have the backing of a company like Disney,” she adds, “and we’re going to create really intentional premium and diverse content together that centers on women and people of color as well as people in the LGBTQ+ community, stories that I think will be fresh and that you haven’t seen before.”
This isn’t Hostin’s first foray into scripted television. Last fall, she announced the development of a drama series produced by Ridley Scott’s Scott Free banner and Universal Television at Fox. Titled “The Counsel,” the series is inspired by her life and career as a federal prosecutor before she pivoted to journalism.
Roots & Wings has also hired Ranard Caldwell, formerly of STX Entertainment, as head of development to work with Hostin and existing partners to develop original programming and films and series adapted from Hostin’s IP, and to uplift marginalized and underrepresented talent. Caldwell says he is excited to help Hostin grow Roots & Wings while developing impactful stories that are authentic, timely and compelling.
“Diverse casts are really speaking to what our country really is, and people want to go out and see this content,” Hostin says. “I think our production company is going to tap into that and give people what they want.”