At the end of September, it was announced that Jay Z signed a 2-year TV and Film deal with The Weinstein Company film studio. Yesterday [Thursday, Oct 6], Jay Z revealed at a press conference two upcoming films that he is helping to produce.
Jay Z will produce a Richard Pryor biopic and a Kalief Browder docuseries https://t.co/hLaGnizwAn pic.twitter.com/6m40rHXHqk
— Pitchfork (@pitchfork) October 6, 2016
One of the films that Jay Z is slated to produce is the upcoming Richard Pryor biopic. Pryor, known for his raw and personal comedy, passed away in 2005, and now Mike Epps will be taking on the task of portraying the comedy giant on the big screen.
The other film Jay Z will be working on is a documentary series about the life of Kalief Browder. Browder was wrongly arrested back in 2010, and he spent three years at Rikers Island waiting for his trial to be heard, and he spent a large part of that time in solitary confinement. After being released in 2013, Browder took his own life in 2015. The series will take a look at Browder’s life during his time at Rikers, his life after he was released, and the kinds of conditions that people are put in while awaiting trial at Rikers Island.
Variety reported that at the press conference for this upcoming series, Jay revealed that he met Browder before he died. Jay Z saw Browder’s story in a New Yorker article back in 2014, and he asked his assistant to reach out and contact Browder. Browder met Jay Z at his New York office, and he told Jay that he was planning on going to college. Shortly after that meeting, Jay learned that Browder had killed himself, and that was one of the reasons why he wanted to make this project happen.
The series, “TIME: The Kalief Browder Story,” will have 6 parts, and it is schedule to air on SpikeTV in January of 2017.
Respect: Variety
