Poorna Jagannathan, Nikohl Boosheri To Topline ‘Alia’s Birth’; KJ Smith, Roger Guenveur Smith Co-Star in ‘The Available Wife’
Poorna Jagannathan (HBO’s The Night Of, S2 of Big Little Lies), Nikohl Boosheri (Freeform’s The Bold Type) and newcomer Catharine Daddario will star in Alia’s Birth, an indie drama from Sam Abbas. It’s about a rocky relationship between a female couple that forces them to spend the night apart. Abbas will producer under his company ArabQ Film, an Arab-based LGBTQ-focused production company, along with Tatiana Bears, Nicole Townsend, and Neal Kumar. This marks the second feature from ArabQ Film after making its debut with The Wedding, which also starred Boosheri. Anacrónica, a newly formed production company in Bolivia led by actors Quim Del Rio and Nakai Mirtenbaum, will team with ArabQ Films on this project. Executive producers are Randelson Floyd, Suki Sandhu, David Klein, Josh Jupiter, Jorge Quintero, Lucky Cheng, Quim Del Rio, and Nakai Mirtenbaum. The project is set to begin shooting this summer in New York. Jagannathan is repped by Artists & Representatives and Smith Talent Group; Boosheri by Abrams Artists Agency, KC Talent, and LINK Entertainment; Daddario by Innovative Artists.
KJ Smith (A Medea Family Funeral, ABC’s The Fix), Roger Guenveur Smith (Marshall), Terayle Hill (Love, Simon), and Clifton Powell (Black Lightning) have signed on to lead the romance drama, The Available Wife, which is being directed by Jamal Hill (Netflix’s Brotherly Love, Deuces). Hill and Tressa A. Smallwood co-wrote the piece, based on the book of the same name by Carla Pennington. The story follows a successful music CEO who, caught up in lies, affairs, and power, is forced to face the dark motives of her secret lover. Smallwood will serve as an executive producer via her company MegaMind Media, while Sean M. Butler and Patrick Strøm are co-producers. Smith is repped by Abram Artist Agency, Zero Gravity Management; Guenveur Smith is repped by TCJ Jed Root and Buffalo 8; Hill by Innovative Artist and Crackerjack Management; Powell by J Pervis Talent Agency and dOpus Entertainment; Hill by Cul∙ti∙vate Entertainment.
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