EXCLUSIVE: Starz has put in development Turf, a drama series project charting the birth of hip-hop from the violence of gang life in 1970s Bronx. It will be written by Patrick Macmanus. This marks the second sale for Macmanus, who also is co-writing with Grant Scharbo the CW’s Sleepy Hollow, an updated take on the headless horseman story. Macmanus, repped by CAA and Evolution Entertainment, currently lives in Zimbabwe where his wife works for the U.S. government. He was last on staff for Starz on Marco Polo and Noir before that.
Starz Developing Drama Series About The Birth Of Hip-Hop
20 Comments
What's Hot on Deadline
-
1
'2 Broke Girls' Canceled By CBS After 6 Seasons
- 2
How Warner Bros.' $175M Costly 'King Arthur' Fell Off Its Horse At The B.O. With A $14.3M Opening
- 3
'Once Upon A Time's Emilie De Ravin On Her Exit: "I Would Have Loved To Continue Belle's Journey"
- 4
'King Arthur' Can't Squeeze B.O. From A Stone With $14.3M+ Opening; 'Guardians' Rules With Near $62M+, 'Snatched' $16M+
- 5
Stephen Colbert Takes Victory Lap After Donald Trump Calls Him "No Talent Guy" With "Filthy" Mouth
- 6
'Real Time': Rep. Adam Schiff Says Donald Trump "Is Dimming The Beacon Of Hope"
- 7
New TV Series For 2017-18 Season — So Far
- 8
Tim Allen Comedy 'Last Man Standing' Canceled By ABC After 6 Seasons
- 9
NBCUniversal's Ron Meyer To USC Grads: "Assumption Is The Mother Of All F*ckUps"
- 10
'Wonder Woman' Tickets On Sale Everywhere; 92% Of All Moviegoers Want To See Female Superhero Movie
Latest TV News
-
TV Upfronts 2017 Schedule: Presentations & Parties
-
‘Real Time’: Rep. Adam Schiff Says Donald Trump “Is Dimming The Beacon Of Hope”
-
Univision’s 2017-18 Slate Focuses On “Passion Points”: Soccer, News, Family, Music & Drama…
-
ABC Pilots Update: ‘Household Name’ Comedy Still In Play, Marc Cherry-Reba McEntire Drama Shopped
-
‘Once Upon A Time’s Emilie De Ravin On Her Exit: “I Would Have Loved To Continue Belle’s Journey”…
-
NBCUniversal’s Ron Meyer To USC Grads: “Assumption Is The Mother Of All F*ckUps”
- 2
-
1
Hey Starz,
Get your headput of your ass, and go back to comedy. I don’t think I’m the only one that wants to see another show like Party Down.
Thanks,
Zach
What does he know about the birth of hip hop…
I series about the birth of hip-hop from the writer of “Sleepy Hollow”? Somebody call Russell Simmons and report this crime.
Zachary,
You read Sleepy Hollow? Is it that bad? Can you send me a copy of it? Thanks!
Curious
Sorry. Meant to ask Da Matrix about Sleepy Hollow.
This is such amazing news for such a talented writer who has over the years done nothing but continue to write awesome script after awesome script. Full steam ahead P!
Macmanus also writes a damn good wedding speech.
I’ve met Patrick – and I do think he’s talented. Not my first pick to write a hip hop series, but if he did sell a great pitch, it’s such a missed opportunity for CAA to package with high end a-list new York and/or hip hop auspices to actually get this thing made. Come on Jung! There in lies the problem with CAA tv dept
Starz is certainly edgy enough for the series. But the 1st false note written, the word of mouth by the hip hop community will accurately point out there are too many living early hip hop legends & writers who covered them for this pilot to be wack.
Sounds like an interesting project that, if done right, could end up in the same arena as HBO drama series.
Da Matrix Re Sleepy Hollow AND hip hop?? It’s called talent and and a wide array of life experiences and interests. BTW only New Yorkers think the A-list resides there.
Once again, the only qualification for writing a black project is to be white. All these black writers in and out of the hip hop world, all these black writers of urban genre and what does Starz end up with Patrick Fucking Macmanus. Nice.
But we shouldn’t be surprised, Ice Cube, the studio gangster, hired a 40 year old white woman to write Straight Outta Compton which now should be renamed Straight Out of Brentwood.
And now the birth of hip hop should be called, “white is right.” White is always right.
Dear HONEST ABE,
Your post is insulting on many levels not the least of which is the fact that hip hop has never been strictly “black music”. First, if you know your history, you would know that Latinos, women and other minorities played as vital a role in the development of hip hop as blacks. By your metric, shouldn’t a Latino writer be up for the job, as well? Further, if Mr. MacManus sold the script/pitch to Starz, it was his idea. Would you have had them say, “sorry, but while we like the idea, we need a black writer because this is a black story and only a black man/woman can write it?” I understand there is a severe lack of black writers, actors, directors who are given their shot in Hollywood, but why not hope that TURF will be a step in the right direction? Perhaps, Mr. MacManus and Starz will deliver the first successful minority series to televisions all around the world. Finally, I would say, the fact that Ice Cube hired a 40 year old white woman is testament that black leaders in entertainment who came up the hard way are not beholden to the same racist tendencies that you are. Instead, he was looking for the best writer to tell the story he wanted to tell.
I agree with Honest Abe.
Speaking of Honest Abe, it is likewise a travesty that “Lincoln” was not written by a dead heterosexual WASP. Matthew Weiner hadn’t even been BORN in 1960, yet that poser had the audacity to set “Mad Men” there. The man probably has never offed a dude in his life. (And don’t get me started on that pretender Vince Gilligan. Like he has ever cooked an OUNCE of meth in his life.)
And the worst offender of all? Shonda Rhimes. Did you know that she had the audacity to write a medical procedural in which ASIANS are portrayed as working in the healthcare industry??
Obviously, Mr. Abe, you alone hold the key to adequately capturing, empathizing, or sharing someone else’s experience. Pity that that is sort of what art is all about. But good luck with it.
And Shakespeare never met a king. Blah, blah, blah. But when there was a high profile gay project, amazingly, it found its way into the hands of Lance Dustin Black (Hoover, Harvey Milk). I was sure that was just coincidence. And as I pointed out before in another post, 50 black bio pics floating around hollywood and not a single one, not one, written by a black writer. Oh, I’m sure they hired the best writer and oddly enough, that writer is ALWAYS white. Another coincidence I’m sure.
And don’t give me this crap about hip hop being started by Latinos. Hip Hop was started by Afrika Bambatta, Cool Herc, and Grandmaster Flash. No women or other minorities had a had in its birth.
There are black urban screenwriters and TV writers who have an intimate knowledge of this and they can’t even get meetings at Starz. The doors are closed to African American writers. Ice Cube’s company refused to even INTERVIEW African American writers for Straight Out of Compton.
If African American writers can’t even INTERVIEW to write one of those 50 black bio pics floating around Hollywood, then something is wrong.
What one should hope for in hiring a gay writer for a gay themed project, or a woman for female themed project is some deeper insight. You may not get it, but at least start there, if for no other reason, out of respect.
What if there were 50 female themed projects floating around Hollywood and every single one was written by a man. Do you think that might raise an eyebrow? Just maybe, someone might say, “Hey, there’s some female voices to be heard from, why not use one or two among the 50?”
But let a black man raise this issue and then he has to suffer fools and their third grade level arguments about race.
Honest Abe,
You’re missing the larger point I made which was Patrick MacManus WROTE the pitch/script and then sold it. He also worked on two Starz shows so he probably earned their trust. Dustin Lance Black researched MILK for years, wrote it on spec and it found it’s way into the hands of Van Sant. It isn’t like producers decided to magically hire these two white/gay guys. They did the work and it paid off.
Also? 50 Cent has a project at Starz right now. But I guess he doesn’t count as black in your world.
Honest Abe is just telling it like it is and he makes some very valid points.
Every time a race issue comes up on deadline, you get this slew of comments by white males incensed over their perceived idea of the ‘race card’ being used. They act so offended by these supposed ‘race card’ grievances. They act as so it’s oh so ridiculous to state hollywood discriminates against minorities. Whether we’re discussing casting, the writer’s room, producers, etc, many of the commenters here blast any such suggestions as totally untrue and unfounded. They tend to become extremely sarcastic, using their favorite examples of equality: Oprah, Will Smith, Denzel, Shonda Rhimes, Halle and yes of course…old faithful (and used just like the old term, ‘but my best friend is black’)…Barack Obama. Yes because of these people, racism has ceased to exist and all is equal and wonderful in our world. NOT.
The thing I always ask myself when I read these comments is, how do you know? Seriously, all of you who think Honest Abe is wrong, how do you know? If you’re not black or a minority, how do you know there isn’t discrimination? That’s the part that kills me. You only know, b/c you experience it or you see it first hand. I’m mixed with Indian and white and am married to a dark skinned black man. Trust me when I say, people treat my husband differently prior to me walking up and putting my arm around him. I see it all the time. He’s an incredible writer, one of the best I know. And yet his material (especially the urban material) is misunderstood constantly- b/c culturally, many of the terms and references are not understood by the white producers reading it. You can tell this by their/or their coverage staff’s notes. Of course there are white people who have grown up in inner cities and would get these references, but you don’t get a lot of those guys doing coverage at the major studios…just saying.
Anyway, it’s not that a white writer absolutely can’t write about the birth of hip hop (I don’t know this guy, so maybe he comes from Hollis, Queens, where it all began; but it is unequal out there guys. It is. That is not an opinion. That is a fact. No one is saying give someone a job just because of their race. But stop denying that subtle (and not so subtle), institutionalized, discrimination towards women and minorities exists in Hollywood. White males, please stop being threatened by this fact. It’s not a race card, it’s truth.
Final note: This is why my husband’s very urban movie was not touched at all until he a attached a white director and white producer. Guess what happened then? It was jumped on and made and ultimately won a ton of awards in 2009’s indie film circuit. He had to do what he had to do. And for his next movie, he’s doing it again. Because he’s not “legitimized” until I put my arm around him at a party, or his white producing partner puts his name on the project and takes the meetings. Only then is he ‘let in.’
DV, well said. Thanks for speaking up.
Thank you, DV. You’re speaking truth to power. There’s nothing so sad and pathetic as a white male complaining or bitching when someone of color has the temerity to shine a light on the system of privilege from which they have clearly benefited.
Keep reading Deadline because every time I see this blatant discrimination against AA writers and directors, then I will shine a light on these cockroaches.
They say we are in a post racial period because of Obama. Race doesn’t matter anymore. Sure. And a fat man in red suit will delivering Christmas gives in a couple of days. Because Obama is in the White House, Hollywood feels they gave at the office so they don’t feel the need to hire AA writers anymore. “Yo, we’re post racial, so I’m gonna hire one of my white pals to write that James Brown story, that Miles Davis story, that Sam Cook story, that Richard Pryor story…”
Dear DV,
I would point you to my post in which I acknowledged a severe problem in Hollywood: “I understand there is a severe lack of black writers, actors, directors who are given their shot in Hollywood, but why not hope that TURF will be a step in the right direction? Perhaps, Mr. MacManus and Starz will deliver the first successful minority series to televisions all around the world.”
I want to add and REPEAT. This Patrick MacManus SOLD a pitch/spec on the project. I doubt Starz came up with the idea themselves and SOUGHT him out. He isn’t a big enough name for that.
Further, as a white male writer, I have lost two jobs to the diversity writing programs for television staffing. It is more expensive to hire me than to hire a minority of any color. I applaud the diversity programs for their efforts and do not bemoan the loss of those jobs. I mention it because Hollywood is a terrible business to break into across the board. I spent 8 years working shit jobs at night and on weekends in order to spec during the weekday hours in the hopes of breaking in. 8 years busting my ass, wanting to quit almost weekly at every rejection I received until I finally got my first staffing gig.
This town eats your soul, no matter your sex, color or creed. That isn’t to say that the plight of minorities isn’t that much more insidious. Just don’t fool yourselves into thinking it’s a cake walk for whites either.