Jay Z, Weinstein Company’s Trayvon Martin Docu-Series Lands at Paramount Network
Shawn “Jay Z” Carter and The Weinstein Company’s planned docu-series on the killing of Trayvon Martin will air on the Paramount Network, Variety has learned.
The news comes just two weeks after Variety exclusively reported that the rapper and TWC were planning multiple projects centered around the 2012 killing of the unarmed Florida teenager by neighborhood watch member George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was later acquitted of second-degree murder, claiming he killed Martin in self-defense under the state’s “stand your ground” law.
The six-part event series, currently titled ““Rest In Power: The Trayvon Martin Story,” will go into production later this year and premiere on Paramount Network in 2018. This marks the first new non-scripted series for Paramount Network, which is rebranding from its current name, Spike TV, next year. This is the second partnership between Carter, The Weinstein Company and Paramount Network/Spike TV and The Cinemart, as they previously teamed on the docu-series, “Time: The Kalief Browder Story.”
“From two brilliant books come an incredible portrait of another American injustice,” said TWC co-chairman Harvey Weinstein. “Having this opportunity to reunite with Shawn Carter and Kevin Kay of Paramount TV is a career highlight for me.”
The new series will be based on two books: Lisa Bloom’s “Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It” and “Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin,” by Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin. Carter, Weinstein, Fulton, Sybrina Martin, David C. Glasser, Chachi Senior, Jenner Furst, Nick Sandow, Julia Willoughby Nason, and Michael Gasparro will executive produce.
“This is an important American story,” Carter said. “We’re honored that Trayvon’s family has entrusted us to share the truth with the world. Thank you, again, to Paramount Network/Spike TV for being brave enough to partner with us and tell these complex narratives. It’s through these conversations that we can begin to heal.”
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