AMC Networks-Backed UMC Orders Legal Drama ‘Lace’ From Kemy Time, Adam Starks & Tracy Grant
EXCLUSIVE: AMC Networks-owned streamer UMC has ordered a legal drama from Adam Starks (On My Block), Tracy Grant (Lincoln Heights) and Kemy Time Productions.
The subscription service, dedicated to Black film and TV and a rival of ViacomCBS’ BET+, has handed Lace a six-episode order for its first season.
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The series will follow a prolific Los Angeles attorney who often blurs the lines between right and wrong to protect her rich and powerful clientele.
It is currently casting and the producers are in talks with Jamal Hill, who helmed Netflix feature Deuces, to direct. It was created by Katrina Y. Nelson, co-founder of Kemy Time Productions along with Michelle Ebony Hardy, Starks and Grant.
Nelson and Hardy will serve as co-showrunners and will executive produce alongside Starks and Grant. Brett Dismuke, Chief Content Officer of UMC, and VP of Development & Production, Nikki Love, will serve as executive producers for UMC. Anniken Albu will co-produce, while Sean Mik’ael Butler and Patrick Strøm, who most recently co-produced The Available Wife starring KJ Smith, will also serve as producers via Cultivate Entertainment.
Production is slated to begin in March 2021.
This comes a month after the service renewed four of its original series including the top-rated Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy and A House Divided, part of a renewed focus on originals that has seen a new series premiere almost every month on the service in 2020. That has helped spur a subscriber surge of 200% over the past 12 months, according to the network, with about half that total coming since the coronavirus lockdown that began in March.
“UMC has always been a home for Black content creators to have the opportunity to showcase their work,” said Dismuke. “We’ve had the privilege of working with several talented creatives who have developed record-breaking programs for UMC. Now, we are excited to partner with Katrina and Michelle on Lace as they push the envelope and shatter preconceived notions of Black Woman Power.”
“Kemy Time Productions is a company co-founded by two Black women whose motto is ‘creating undeniable content’. Our love of storytelling and passion to tell those stories in smart, fresh, and compelling ways is what led us to combine our superpowers to produce Lace. As the first project sold under our joint imprint, we’re excited to be working with UMC on this new series and we’re honored to have found a home that values and empowers Black content creators,” added Nelson and Ebony Hardy.
Katrina Y. Nelson and Michelle Ebony Hardy are represented by Julian Smith of McCune & Harber, LLP and Cultivate Entertainment Partners; Jamal Hill is represented by Cultivate Entertainment Partners; Adam Starks is represented by A3 Artists Agency; and Tracy Grant is represented by The Jackson Agency and Kersey Management.
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