Ava DuVernay has another TV project in the works. The “Queen Sugar” creator has lined up her second OWN series. Variety reports that the network has given DuVernay’s romantic anthology “Cherish the Day” a straight-to-series order.
Each season “Cherish the Day” will tell the story of one couple’s romance, with every episode taking place over a single day. “The season-long narrative will unfold to reveal significant moments in a relationship that compel people to hold true to the ones they love, from the extraordinary to the everyday,” the source details.
DuVernay created the show under her overall deal with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. She and Oprah Winfrey will executive produce and their respective shingles, Forward Movement and Harpo Films, are producing. “Night Catches Us” director Tanya Hamilton will helm the series premiere as well as serve as showrunner and EP.
“Cherish the Day” is scheduled to premiere in winter 2020.
“OWN is home,” DuVernay stated. “I’m honored to create television for a network headed by an artist with spectacular vision and unbridled passion for the stories that we want to tell.”
“Ava is a visionary storyteller,” said Winfrey. “She brings so much care, so much heart, so much love to the art she creates. I’m excited to continue collaborating together with our very first anthology series for OWN.”
“Queen Sugar,” which DuVernay and Winfrey both exec produce, returns for its fourth season on OWN June 12. An adaptation of Natalie Baszile’s novel, the series follows the three adult Bordelon siblings, their personal lives, and their quest to revive their late father’s sugar cane farm. Each episode of “Queen Sugar” has been directed by a woman. The upcoming season’s helmers include Carmen Marrón (“Go For It”), Numa Perrier (“Jezebel”), Heidi Saman (“Namour”), Bola Ogun (“Are We Good Parents”), and Tchaiko Omawale (“Solace”).
DuVernay made history with her last feature, 2018’s “A Wrinkle in Time.” The adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s beloved sci-fi/fantasy novel marked the first film directed by a woman of color with a budget over $100 million. Her upcoming projects include comic book pic “The New Gods” and a Netflix miniseries about the Central Park Five. The latter, “When They See Us,” premieres May 31. DuVernay is also an exec producer on “The Red Line,” a CBS limited series about a racially-charged police shooting that will bow April 28.
Hamilton, wrote, directed, and produced “Night Catches Us,” centering on former Black Panthers in 1970s Philadelphia. “Queen Sugar,” “The Chi,” and “American Crime” are among her other directing credits. She is a fellow at the Sundance Screenwriter and Filmmaker Lab.
