Mo Marable To Direct Freeform Comedy Pilot ‘None Of The Above’

EXCLUSIVE: Mo Marable, who directed Hulu comedy Woke, is set to direct and exec produce the pilot of Freeform’s None of the Above, a single-camera comedy from Black-ish’s Kenny Smith.

This comes after the youth-skewing Disney cable network ordered the project to pilot in April.

Marable’s other credits include Brockmire, Lodge 49, The Last O.G and Insecure in addition to directing the pilot and season of Woke.

None of the Above, which comes from ABC Studios and Tornante TV, is about two friends post-college who find their transition into the “real” world messy because they don’t quite conform to expectations.

Cannon’s a Black guy who loves things like indie-folk and foreign films just as much as he loves hip-hop and both Michael Jordans. Valencia’s a devout Christian with a budding career guiding children in the school system and is also a big fan of premarital sex, curse words and marijuana. The show tackles issues such as race, identity and sexual politics as these two best friends lean on each other to stay true to who they are — or who they’ll eventually become.

2020 Freeform Pilots & Series Orders

The project originally was developed at Tornante TV while Freeform’s EVP Original Programming and Development Lauren Corrao was co-president there. After Corrao joined Freeform last year, she optioned the script and redeveloped it to fit the Freeform brand.

None of the Above falls under Smith’s overall deal at ABC Studios. He is a consulting producer on the ABC/ABC Studios flagship comedy series Black-ish after serving as executive producer/co-showrunner on the series last season. He previously did stints as co-executive producer on Black-ish, NBC’s Marlon and ABC’s adaptation of Uncle Buck.

None of the Above was Freeform’s first pilot order of 2020. The Disney network is looking to expand its comedy portfolio beyond hit Grown-ish, a spinoff from Black-ish, which has become a signature series for the cable net. Its latest comedy series, Everything’s Gonna Be Okay, was renewed for a second season in May, and Freeform also ordered Last Summer (fka Cruel Summer), starring Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger’s Olivia Holt, to series earlier this year.

Marable is managed by Underground and represented by WME. Smith is represented by APA, and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller & Gellman L.L.P.