Buzzfeed has inked a first-look TV deal with Universal Television, the studio announced Tuesday.
The deal will see the studio produce scripted content based on stories and original reporting published by the media company, beginning with a Buzzfeed News story titled “Meet the Women Who Are Building a Better Romance Industry” by Bim Adewunmi.
Published in 2018, the story focuses on the Kensington Publishing Corporation and author Alyssa Cole’s Black women-centric “Loyal League” trilogy of romance novels. The series adaptation, which will be executive produced by “Good Girls” creator Jenna Bans and written by Erika Green, will tell the story “about Black women trying to change the romance industry from the inside by challenging the old, predominantly white narratives of who gets to fall in love.”
BuzzFeed’s Richard Alan Reid will serve as executive producer alongside co-EP Karolina Waclawiak as co-EP. Charlotte Simms, TV development manager for Buzzfeed, will produce.
“Not only is BuzzFeed the go-to source for pop culture information, their reporting on a wide array of topics continues to break new ground,” said UTV President Pearlena Igbokwe. “We’re looking forward to this dynamic new collaboration.”
“We are excited to join forces with UTV, an acclaimed studio with a proven track record producing series across network, cable and streaming platforms, to tap into the vast portfolio of BuzzFeed IP and elevate underrepresented voices,” added Simms. “This partnership is the foundation for building a television presence for BuzzFeed with projects that leverage our global audiences, our award-winning journalism and engaging entertainment content, and our ability to drive awareness at scale.”
Back in June, Buzzfeed announced a feature-film deal with Lionsgate to develop, produce and distribute a multi-picture slate aimed at millennial and Gen Z audiences. The first project developed under the deal is slated to launch next year.
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