Seth MacFarlane, Chadwick Boseman to Produce Little Rock Nine Series in Development at UCP

Joe Otterson
·2 min read

Seth MacFarlane and Chadwick Boseman are teaming as executive producers on a limited series about the Little Rock Nine that is currently in development at Universal Content Productions (UCP).

The untitled series is set in 1957 after the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown v. Board of Education. 14 year-old Carlotta Walls is among the first black students to attend the all-white Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. She walks into an unexpectedly violent struggle against integration, which suddenly turns her and the other black students into civil rights icons.

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The series is based on the best-selling memoir “A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High” by Carlotta Walls, now known as Carlotta Walls LaNier, the youngest member of The Little Rock Nine and the first African American female to graduate from the integrated school.

Eisa Davis is the writer on the project and will also executive produce. Walls LaNier will consult on the project. MacFarlane and Erica Huggins will executive produce via Fuzzy Door, which is currently under a rich overall deal at NBCUniversal. Boseman and Logan Coles will executive produce under their X-Ception Content banner. Nick Marell, Coby Greenberg and Joe Micucci will also executive produce.

The show is now the second MacFarlane has in the works at UCP, part of the Universal Studio Group. It was announced last week that he is adapting Herman Wouk’s novels “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance” as a limited series.

MacFarlane is repped by Joy Fehily and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.

Davis was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for her play “Bulrusher” and is also known for writing plays such as “Ramp,” “The History of Light,” and “Warriors Don’t Cry.” On the TV side, she has written for shows such as “She’s Gotta Have It” at Netflix. She is also known for her acting work, having appeared in shows like “House of Cards,” “The Wire,” and “Succession.”

She is repped by Gersh Del Shaw Moonves.

X-Ception Content will make its first foray into producing television with the Little Rock Nine series. The company previously produced the Boseman-led film “21 Bridges” as well as “Message From the King.”

Boseman is repped by Greene & Associates, Management 360, and Ziffren Brittenham.

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