Latest in Debra Martin Chase

NBC has ordered two more drama pilots: At That Age from writer Carla Banks-Waddles (Good Girls), Night School and Girls Trip director Malcolm D. Lee and his Blackmaled Productions and Debra Martin Chase; and Echo, from writer JJ Bailey and Davis Entertainment. Universal TV is the studio for both. This marks the second…

The Broadway revival of The Color Purple netted Cynthia Erivo a Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. It also led, by chance, to her movie breakthrough: the opportunity to play famed 19th century abolitionist and escaped slave Harriet Tubman in Harriet. "I went to go see The Color Purple…on Broadway and sat…

The determined struggles of true-life heroes, whose tales look to resonate loudly this awards season, were at the heart of Focus Features' Contenders NY presentation Saturday at the DGA Theater in New York City. For Harriet writer/director Kasi Lemmons (who helmed both Eve's Bayou and Talk To Me) the task was to offer…

"I had known about her since I was little," Harriet star Cynthia Erivo said of the iconic Underground Railroad hero Harriet Tubman. "I felt like she was a superhero to me and I wanted to make sure the world saw her as a human being and a woman," added the British-born Tony and Grammy winner. In our discussion about…

Harsh reality takes center stage in Focus Features' Harriet, the harrowing story of abolitionist Harriet Tubman (Cynthia Erivo), and Dark Waters, the tale of attorney Rob Bilott (portrayed by producer and star Mark Ruffalo) ,the Cincinnati lawyer who took on DuPont, which was dumping toxic materials into the water in…

It's been almost a year since Cynthia Erivo first stepped into Harriet Tubman's shoes in Harriet—a biopic about the historical heroine who escaped slavery and freed hundreds of slaves via the Underground Railroad. And it's almost a year, too, since Erivo first felt the wrath of Twitter. As a British woman of Nigerian…

NBC has put in development a female police drama from Nurse Jackie co-creator Liz Brixius, prolific film and TV producer Debra Martin Chase and Universal TV, where both are under deals. Written by Brixius, the Untitled Police Women Project explores the personal and professional lives of four LAPD women officers who…

NBC has put in development hourlong legal drama Local Counsel from Franklin & Bash co-creator Bill Chais, Debra Martin Chase's Martin Chase Productions and Universal TV. Written by Chais, Local Counsel centers on a powerful female New York lawyer who is sent to New Orleans to handle a case. A misadventure results in…

Fox has given a script commitment plus penalty to Hard Knocks, an hourlong drama from Virgil Williams (Mudbound, Criminal Minds), Debra Martin Chase’s Martin Chase Productions (Get Christie Love) and Universal TV. Written and executive produced by Williams, Hard Knocks is an hourlong, cop procedural drama about a…

Prolific film and TV producer Debra Martin Chase has signed a multi-year first-look deal at Universal Television, where she will develop new projects for network, cable and streaming services via her Martin Chase Productions. News of the deal follows the pilot production commitment at ABC for hot contemporary spy…

Debra Martin Chase (Sparkle) is set to produce The Black Calhouns, a miniseries for ABC that chronicles the story of one African American family against the backdrop of major events in American history. The project, now in development, is based on The Black Calhouns, the family history book written by Gail Lumet…

I hear TNT is developing Conviction, a legal drama inspired by the life of Kym Worthy, the chief prosecutor of Wayne County, MI, known as the toughest woman in Detroit. How To Get Away With Murder star Viola Davis is executive producing the project with Debra Martin Chase (Sparkle). Empire co-executive producer Ayanna…