Eric Newman & Ben Silverman Prep Jamaican Music Drama

Narcos showrunner Eric Newman and Ben Silverman, the chairman and co-CEO of Propagate Content, are teaming up with Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, on a series about the birth of the Jamaican music industry.

STUDIOCANAL is financing development of the series, with its chairman and CEO, Didier Lupfer, serving as executive producer. STUDIOCANAL’s sister company Universal Music Group acquired Island Records, home to recording artists such as Bob Marley, when it purchased parent company Polygram Records, to which Blackwell had sold the label in 1989.

Sascha Penn (Power) will write the pilot and executive produce the series, working alongside fellow EP Marlon James, who is the Jamaican-born author of the novel A Brief History of Seven Killings.

The series is being targeted for cable and streaming services.

Newman said, “I am thrilled by the team we have assembled and we are honored to be entrusted by Chris Blackwell to tell an amazing story about a little island that made, and continues to make, a lot of noise.”

Silverman added, “This is a groundbreaking premium series focused on an extraordinary man who brought underrepresented music and ideas to the forefront of popular culture. Sascha Penn and Marlon James are perfect collaborators for the extraordinary Chris Blackwell, Eric and me.”