EXCLUSIVE: Human rights activist and author Kimberly Latrice Jones is moving into television after striking an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group.
Jones is the co-author of I’m Not Dying With You Tonight, alongside attorney Gilly Segal, a YA novel that focuses on prejudice and the racial tension in America. The film rights to the book were optioned earlier this summer by producer Autumn Bailey-Ford of Prominent Productions.
She has subsequently signed an exclusive multi-year deal with the studio to develop and produce original programming. This will include shows for broadcast, cable and streaming in scripted drama, comedy, unscripted and digital series.
The latter is particularly relevant given that Jones went viral over the summer following the killing of George Floyd, when she posted a nearly seven minute video – How Can We Win – that spoke to the anguish, fear, and outrage felt by Black people in America, and used a Monopoly analogy to address the history of systemic racism and economic inequity that persists in this country. The video, which has over 2M views on YouTube, was featured on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.
She also has a publishing deal with Henry Holt and Co. to write two new books. The first, to be published in 2021, is How We Can Win: Race, History and Changing the Money Game That’s Rigged, which will continue the conversation from that video.
A former bookseller, Jones now hosts the Atlanta chapter of the popular Well-Read Black Girl book club and has also worked in film and television with the likes of Tyler Perry, Whitney Houston, and 8Ball & MJG.
Kimberly Latrice Jones said, “Storytelling is an essential component in my journey. It’s a rich educational tool and I’m thrilled to have such an exciting new platform.”
Jones is represented by Dewayne Duprano Martin of Push Management/Films.
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