Warner Bros. Television Pacts with Lena Waithe

Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) has clinched an overall deal with Lena Waithe and her production company, Hillman Grad Productions.

The studio now serves as the exclusive home for all of Waithe’s future television projects. Waithe and her partner Rishi Rajani will produce new projects through Hillman Grad for WarnerMedia platforms, including HBO Max, as well as third parties. Naomi Funabashi will run film and TV at Hillman Grad with Rajani. Rocio Melara and Sylvia Carrasco will oversee upcoming WBTVG projects alongside Rajani and Funabashi.

Waithe is already developing a drama series inspired by the acclaimed feature doc Hoop Dreams, which was directed and produced by Steve James and produced by Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert. The coming-of-age drama will follow two African American high school basketball phenoms in 1990s Chicago. It will be executive produced by Waithe and Rajani along with Scott Huff, David A. Stern and Colin Callender of Playground Entertainment, as well as James, Gilbert and Marx. Aaron Rahsaan Thomas is set to write and executive produce.

“We are excited to work with Hillman Grad, Playground and Warner Bros. Television on adapting Hoop Dreams into a scripted television series,” said James, Gilbert and Marx. “There’s been quite a bit of interest over the years since the film came out in 1994, but Lena Waithe is the ideal Chicagoan to lead the effort to finally make it happen.”

Waithe and Rajani said, “We are thrilled to be joining the WBTVG family and incredibly grateful to Channing, Clancy and the rest of the team for believing in us and supporting our mission to give underrepresented artists a platform. To have our first project together be an adaptation of the seminal documentary Hoop Dreams is a testament to the ambition of our partnership. Hoop Dreams was more than just a documentary, it was a groundbreaking window into a community that was rarely ever seen. It provided a deeply intimate look at two families with hopes of capturing the American dream. Our goal is to continue telling that story with our collaborators at Playground Entertainment and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas as our showrunner. We look forward to bringing the legacy of Hoop Dreams back to the screen.”