Pretty much everyone in Black entertainment has stepped into The Shade Room at one point in their careers—and now it looks like a couple of celebs have stepped into the pitch room in front of development executives with the popular blog’s founder.
Issa Rae and La La Anthony are producing a horror-comedy called Juju.
More scoop via Deadline’s Dominic Patten:
The Insecure and Power vets are executive producing the upcoming horror comedy for Universal Pictures, I’ve learned. In the early stages, there are not a lot of plot specifics. However, it will be based on an original concept by Angelica Nwandu, founder of Instagram-based info hub The Shade Room and a Sundance fellow, who will write the script.
Juju will be the studio feature directorial debut for Thembi Banks, who has been a director on Rae’s Insecure, Frankie Shaw’s SMILF and a Sundance alum herself. Earlier this year, Banks was in the midst of helming Young, Wild, Free for Macro, SK Global and Baron Davis, but that feature project was put on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.
We don’t have plot details at the moment, but according to a press release sent to The Root, Deniese Davis will also produce and Sara Rastogi will oversee for HooRae. Additionally, Universal’s Senior Executive Vice President of Production Erik Baiers will oversee the project on behalf of the studio.
Nwandu also penned the 2018 film Night Comes On, which The A.V. Club described as a film “prettified by plush, delicate lighting and lens flares” with “a tenuous grasp of tension.” Nwandu was also named to The Root 100 list in 2017.
“I’m OK with [recognition] as long as it’s related to business and talent—if it’s about my writing and my business, that’s fine—but I don’t want it to be about my personality on the red carpet,” Nwandu told Marie Claire in 2019, celebrating the fifth anniversary of her highly-viewed blog. “That’s not the type of person I am.”
So to all the “Roommates” out there—as The Shade Room calls its readers—make sure you pre-order your snacks for this one.