Gabrielle Union, Freida Pinto Team for ‘Dressed in Dreams’ Adaptation at Sony Pictures TV (EXCLUSIVE)
Click here to read the full article.
Gabrielle Union and Freida Pinto are teaming up to develop a series on the moving memoir, “Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl’s Love Letter to the Power of Fashion.”
Written by author and culture critic Tanisha C. Ford, the adaptation will come in under Union’s first-look production deal at Sony Pictures Television via her company I’ll Have Another, in partnership with Pinto’s Freebird Films Entertainment. Their respective partners, Holly Shakoor Fleischer and Emily Verellen Strom, will also oversee.
More from Variety
“Dressed in Dreams” was released in 2019 by St. Martin’s Press to critical acclaim, landing on numerous notable lists and garnering praise from nonfiction and feminist spaces.
In her book, Ford uses fashion as a through-line for time and identity — afros and dashikis, go-go boots and hotpants of the ’60s, hip hop’s baggy jeans and bamboo earrings, and the #BlackLivesMatter-inspired hoodies of today. These symbolic garments also represent her own life, as a Black girl coming of age in a Midwestern rust belt city.
“I am so excited to have my book in the hands of these incredibly talented women. Gabrielle and Freida have been such champions of my work and I am so ready for the next step in this journey of the power of fashion,” Ford said.
I’ll Have Another and Freebird Films share similar mandates when it comes to telling authentic and uplifting stories that may have flown under the radar and celebrate real women and people of color.
“Tanisha’s memoir brought up so much for each of us being women of color. Fashion is such a huge part of one’s self-expression and to this day plays a major part of how we each operate in our daily lives,” said Union and Pinto in a joint statement. “For us, growing up with such unique and specifically cultural pieces of fashion helped shape our lives and we think it can be the driving force that tells the story of what it means to grow up being a proud woman of color. We have been friends for a long time and we couldn’t be more excited to have the opportunity to develop something alongside a force as brilliant, funny and fierce as Tanisha Ford.”
Ford has authored and co-authored numerous non-fiction books, articles and essays that analyze history, fashion and blackness. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Elle and The Root.
Union’s I’ll Have Another is currently in development on six series with buyers ranging from HBO Max to Apple to Quibi. She recently wrapped production on Season 2 of hit series “LA’s Finest” for Charter/Spectrum, which premiered in 2019 and has been the No. 1 viewed series on the Spectrum On Demand platform.
Pinto’s Freebird Films is currently in development on eight projects in both the television and feature film space.
Both Union and Pinto are repped by CAA. Union is also represented by Atlas Artists and attorney Patti Felker of Felker Toczek Suddleson Abramson. Pinto is also represented by Larry Taube of Principal Entertainment. Ford is represented by CAA and McKinnon Literary.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
