Gabrielle Union is well on her way to becoming a mogul. According to Deadline, the “Being Mary Jane” star and producer has inked a first look deal with Sony Pictures TV. The two-year agreement will see Union develop broadcast, cable, and digital projects for Sony via her I’ll Have Another production company.
Sony TV is behind Union’s next project, “L.A.’s Finest,” in which she’ll reprise her “Bad Boys II” character, Special Agent Syd Burnett. The NBC drama pilot will follow the uninhibited Syd as she joins the LAPD. “She’s partnered with Nancy McKenna (Jessica Alba), a working mom who can’t help but look at Syd’s freedom with some grass-is-greener envy.” Union and Alba are among the pilot’s EPs.
“I am so excited to be back in business with my old ‘Bad Boys’ family, and to have the opportunity to take it a step further and develop projects under the Sony Pictures Television banner is truly an honor,” Union commented. “There is an obvious feeling of change happening in Hollywood and I feel very fortunate to now have the opportunity to create necessary projects that are reflective of those changes.”
Union appointed her longtime publicist Holly Shakoor Fleischer as Head of Development in the deal. “Holly is someone whose opinions and taste I trust implicitly,” she said. “Our collaboration has always been extremely positive and together we have the ability to tell honest stories that are relatable, inclusive, and above all, entertaining.”
The actress previously produced holiday comedy “Almost Christmas” and TV movie “With This Ring.” She starred in both projects. Union also produced “Breaking In,” a home invasion thriller hitting theaters May 11, in which she portrays a fierce mother fighting to protect her kids during a break in. Union will receive the Breakthrough Producer of the Year Award at CinemaCon later this month.
Since 2013 Union has played Mary Jane Paul, an ambitious TV journalist with a complicated personal life, on BET’s “Being Mary Jane.” The Mara Brock Akil-created series will conclude with a two-hour TV movie this summer. Her more recent credits include “Sleepless” and “The Birth of a Nation.” Last fall Union published her first book, bestselling memoir “We’re Going to Need More Wine: Stories That Are Funny, Complicated, and True.”
