‘Moonlight’ Oscar Winner Sets Coming-of-Age TV Drama With Michael B. Jordan and OWN

Tarell Alvin McCraney, the Oscar winner who shared the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for “Moonlight” this year along with director Barry Jenkins, is coming to television with a coming-of-age drama that sounds right in the wheelhouse of the acclaimed Best Picture winner. The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) has given the untitled project a straight-to-series order. Michael B. Jordan is attached as an executive producer with Mike Kelley and Melissa Loy.

The series is set in South Florida at the end of the Obama administration and will center around the life of a 14-year-old prodigy from the projects. The young teenager is forced to choose between the streets that raised him or the higher education that could take his mother and him out of poverty. Similar to “Moonlight,” the show will take inspiration from McCraney’s own life.

“When Tarell shared his powerful story with us there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” said Oprah Winfrey. “We knew this was something special that our viewers will without a doubt connect to and feel compelled to explore with us. I am honored to be working with Tarell and the rest of the producers on this project.”

“I wanted to explore the pivotal steps towards adulthood and identity, the ones we take when we think or feel we have no other choice,” added McCraney.

The show is the latest in the growing slate of prestige OWN dramas, including “Queen Sugar” and “Greenleaf.”