A three-part docuseries charting the rise, movements, voices and memes that made Black Twitter an influential and dominant force in nearly every aspect of American political and cultural life has received a straight-to-series order from Disney’s Onyx Collective.
“Black Twitter” (working title), based on Jason Parham’s WIRED article “A People’s History of Black Twitter,” will be produced by Parham and directed by Prentice Penny, marking his first project with Onyx through an overall deal under his A Penny for Your Thoughts banner.
The series’ executive producers include Penny, Chris Pollack and Alex Solar from A Penny for Your Thoughts; Sarah Amos, Helen Estabrook, Agnes Chu and Andrew Whitney from WIRED Studios; and Raeshem Nijhon, Carri Twigg, Nicole Galovski and showrunner Joie Jacoby from Culture House.
Additionally, Onyx has picked up a pilot of the 20th Television’s scripted comedy “1266.”
Inspired by the true-life story of Academy Award-nominee Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious,” “American Horror Story”), the series follows Gabby Brixton (Sidibe), a woman living with her mom and making half-hearted attempts to become a singer/model and overnight millionaire.
After being fired from her job, Gabby stumbles upon the gig of a lifetime — phone sex! What initially seems like a quick way to make money turns into a life-changing experience when she meets the women who become her chosen family and learns how powerful, profitable and prolific her voice can be.
“1266” is executive produced by Sidibe, Steven Canals (“Pose”) and co-showrunners Thembi Banks (“YOUNG.WILD.FREE,” “Only Murders in the Building”) and Julie Bean (“grown-ish”), with Jill Kaplan to serve as a non-writing executive producer. The story is written by Banks and Bean, with Banks writing the teleplay and directing the pilot.
