One of America’s most prominent Black television writers recently signed a new contract with ABC that guarantees his continued influence at the network.
Deadline reported yesterday (May 8) that "Black-ish" creator Kenya Barris inked a four-year extension to his current overall deal with ABC Studios. The new agreement keeps Barris in the executive producer seat for the comedy while he simultaneously develops other projects for the studio, including three pilots already in development:
- "Libby and Malcolm," a half-hour comedy starring Felicity Huffman ("American Crime") and Courtney B. Vance ("The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks") as politically opposed pundits falling in love
- "Unit Zero," an hour-long series featuring Toni Collette ("United States of Tara") as a covert CIA team’s leader
- A still-untitled "Black-ish" spinoff focused on Yara Shahidi’s character Zoey Johnson
Barris’ resume includes writing and production work on other shows with Black leading actors, including UPN’s "Girlfriends" and BET’s "The Game." He also co-created the reality TV competition show "America’s Next Top Model" with supermodel and actress Tyra Banks ("True Beauty").