Another brilliant collaboration between Oprah Winfrey and critically-acclaimed director Ava DuVernay is in the works.
The multi-media mogul and her "Selma" director will be working on the TV adaptation of the novel "Queen Sugar," written by first-time author Natalie Baszile. The upcoming TV drama will be aired on Oprah's OWN network.
The novel focuses on the story of a city-based woman named Charley who has to leave her life in upscale Los Angeles with her 11-year-old daughter to move to Louisiana to claim her inheritance from her father, which is a sugar cane farm. The mother-daughter pair will have to start their lives anew while rebuilding the old farm.
Baszile reportedly sold the rights to her book during her birthday on June 23. The director contacted the author sometime in October, before the two women met up in Louisiana in November.
DuVernay is tasked to write, produce, and direct the "Queen Sugar" series, which also happens to be her first television drama. Meanwhile, Oprah will return to her acting roots by debuting as an actress in her very own Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) cable channel.
Oprah recently discussed the project and said, as quoted by Variety, "I loved this book and immediately saw it as a series for OWN. The story's themes of reinventing your life, parenting alone, family connections and conflicts, and building new relationships are what I believe will connect our viewers to this show."
Meanwhile, "Selma" director also expressed her excitement with the upcoming drama project. DuVernay said, "From the moment I was introduced to the book, I was captivated by the idea of a modern woman wrestling with identity, family, culture and the echoes of history. To bring this kind of storytelling to life alongside Oprah for her network is wildly wonderful. I'm excited about what's in store."
With the help of Discovery Networks, the "Queen Sugar" TV series is scheduled to start production in the later part of the year.
