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Banned
Plans include a six-part documentary series and feature film
Jay Z has joined forces with The Weinstein Company to develop a six-part docu-series and feature film about Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen who was shot and killed while walking through his father’s neighborhood unarmed and became a flashpoint for race relations in the U.S., TheWrap has learned.
The hip-hop veteran and multiplatinum recording artist, whose given name is Shawn Carter, signed a two-year first-look deal with TWC in September, and he will produce both projects. Jay Z and TWC prevailed in a bidding war to win the rights to two books about Martin, Lisa Bloom’s “Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It” and “Rest In Power,” written by Martin’s parents Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin.
Bloom’s book follows her experience covering the trial as a commentator for NBC, with a focus on what she deemed mistakes made by the prosecution. “Rest In Power” is a more personal story about Martin’s life and death.
The authors were represented by Jan Miller and Lacy Lynch of Dupree Miller & Associates. TWC’s David Glasser, Harvey Weinstein, and Jay Z brokered the deal for the company.
Earlier this year, Jay Z and Weinstein Television produced another six-part documentary series, “TIME: The Kalief Browder Story,” which debuted on Spike March 1.
The project tells the story of Kalief Browder, a young African-American student who spent three years on Rikers Island without being convicted of a crime. He was 16, walking home from a party in the Bronx when he was arrested for allegedly stealing a backpack. Two of his three years at Rikers were spent in solitary confinement. The case never went to trial and the charges were eventually dropped. However, he took his own life after his release.
Jay Z Teams With Weinstein Co. for Trayvon Martin Film and TV Projects
