NBC, Ava DuVernay Developing Native American Family Drama Sovereign

NBC has given a put pilot commitment to Sovereign, a Native American family drama from Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated executive producer Ava DuVernay and co-executive producer Bird Runningwater (of the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribal Nations).

The pilot was written by Sydney Freeland (Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize winner Drunktown’s Finest), a member of the Navajo Nation, and Shaz Bennett (Bosch), from a story by DuVernay.

The first Native American family drama developed for network television, Sovereign “chronicles the lives, loves and loyalties of a sprawling Indigenous family struggling to control the future of their tribe against outside forces and themselves,” the official synopsis reads.

DuVernay’s ARRAY Filmworks will produce the project in association with Warner Bros. Television, with Freeland and Bennett executive-producing alongside DuVernay. ARRAY’s Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes will co-executive produce with Runningwater.

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