Ava DuVernay is television-bound!
The Selma director is teaming up with Oprah Winfrey again to bring Natalie Baszile’s novel, Queen Sugar, to OWN.
The project, written, directed and executive produced by DuVernay and executive-produced by Winfrey, will follow around a high-powered woman and her teenage daughter who leave their comfy Los Angeles lifestyle after the woman inherits her father’s Louisiana sugar cane farm.
“I loved this book and immediately saw it as a series for OWN,” Winfrey said in a press release. “The story’s themes of reinventing your life, parenting alone, family connections and conflicts and building new relationships are what I believe will connect our viewers to this show.”
Winfrey will also star in a few episodes of the series, marking her acting debut on OWN. Production for Queen Sugar is scheduled to begin later this year. This is the second time that Winfrey and DuVernay have worked together: Winfrey played civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper in Selma.
“From the moment I was introduced to the book, I was captivated by the idea of a modern woman wrestling with identity, family, culture and the echoes of history,” DuVernay said in a press release. “To bring this kind of storytelling to life alongside Oprah for her network is wildly wonderful. I’m excited about what’s in store.”