Lena Waithe Moves to Amazon in Major New Deal
Lena Waithe is headed to Amazon.
The multi-hyphenate has closed an overall deal with Amazon Studios, they announced at their Television Critics Association summer press tour on Saturday. Waithe will produce the streaming service's upcoming horror anthology series THEM, and will further work with Amazon Studios to create and produce additional original series to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
"Lena is a powerhouse writer and producer who also has a gift for identifying exciting and authentic voices," Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, said in a statement. "Our upcoming series THEM is the result of her rare ability to cultivate brilliant voices like Little Marvin and bring his wholly original and compelling vision to Amazon. We look forward to collaborating with Lena and her team for years to come.”
Waithe added: "I couldn’t be more excited about this new partnership with Amazon Studios and am looking forward to this next chapter. Both of our goals are aligned in that we want to continue elevating storytellers who are underrepresented and have a unique vision of the world."
The 35-year-old writer-producer became known to fans for her role as Denise in Netflix's Master of None. She co-wrote the "Thanksgiving" episode, for which she later made history as the first African American woman to win an Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
Waithe will make her feature film writing debut with the upcoming Queen & Slim, starring Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith and directed by Melina Matsoukas. The movie will be released by Universal Pictures this November. Her production company, Hillman Grad, is also producing Twenties, which she created and wrote for BET, HBO's Untitled Kid Fury Project and Showtime's How to Make Love to a Black Woman.
Waithe is also creator and executive producer of Showtime's The Chi and BET's Boomerang. She'll also appear in front of the camera in the upcoming third season of Westworldon HBO.
See more on Waithe in the video below.
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