Kenya Barris Takes On Contemporary Relationships For Paramount+ In First Series Under ViacomCBS Deal

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Black-ish creator Kenya Barris appeared during the ViacomCBS streaming event Wednesday to tease his first series for the company. It will be for Paramount+.

“The first series I will be involved with, we are taking an intimate look at contemporary relationships,” he said. “We will explore the complicated, ever changing boundaries and sometime racy dynamics that have shaped and redefined what modern love is.”

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As Deadline reported late last year, Barris opted to end his big Netflix overall pact early for a production venture with ViacomCBS. The pact with ViacomCBS is still being finalized.

“For me, when it comes to content, the thing that interests me the most is telling stories from new perspectives and from fresh voices, stories that expand how we see ourselves on screen, who we see ourselves as on screen and, most importantly who is telling those stories behind the screen,” Barris said at today’s presentation. “I could not be more more thrilled about joining the ViacomCBS family.”

Barris and his Khalabo Ink Society have the Peabody-winning Black-ish on ABC, two successful spinoff series in Grown-ish (Freeform) and Mixed-ish (ABC), as well as another spinoff in the works, Old-ish. On the feature side, the company is in production on a reboot of the family comedy Cheaper By the Dozen starring Gabrielle Union and Zach Braff, along with several other high-profile projects in the works including an animated feature based on the songs of Bob Marley, a remake of the classic sports comedy White Men Can’t Jump, and a film about comedic icon Richard Pryor that will mark Barris’ feature directorial debut. Additionally, Khalabo Ink Society, which focuses on socially conscious storytelling that reflects our culture and tackles contemporary issues and themes, has expanded its imprint into other genres of storytelling with several projects in various stages of development including a documentary feature about the life and career of groundbreaking civil rights attorney Ben Crump and a feature-length musical about Juneteenth with Pharrell Williams.

At Netflix, Barris has #blackAF, which has been renewed for a second season. He also executive produces the Astronomy Club sketch comedy series and the upcoming Kid Cudi adult animated music series Entergalactic.

He is repped by CAA, Artists First and attorney Gregg Gellman.

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