Showtime has ordered Lena Waithe’s hour-long Chicago-set drama “The Chi” to series, Shadow and Act writes. The project was redevelopped and recast after a pilot was ordered in late 2015.
Waithe is a producer of indie hit “Dear White People.” Her TV credits include a staff-writer stint on FOX’s “Bones.” She previously had a deal to adapt her webseries “Twenties” for BET.
The drama follows the “coming-of-age story of a young African American male, in which just growing up can be a matter of life and death,” focusing on the “lives of six interrelated characters on the South Side of Chicago.”
Jason Mitchell (“Barry”) has signed on to play Brandon, who is described as “an ambitious and confident young man who dreams about opening a restaurant of his own someday, but is conflicted between the promise of a new life and his responsibility to his mother and teenage brother back in the South Side.”
“The two creative forces behind the show, both hailing from Chicago’s South Side, give this [project] an unparalleled authenticity,” said David Nevins, President, Showtime Networks Inc. when the pilot was ordered in late 2015. “Lena Waithe is an extremely fresh, talented young writer with a unique voice and a deeply thoughtful perspective into the world where she grew up. I immediately gravitated to her script, which is emotional, funny, tragic, and relevant, all at once. And, we are so fortunate to have artist and visionary Common for his first producing project in scripted television.”
Waithe will executive produce along with Common, Aaron Kaplan, and Elwood Reid.
