Sep 24, 2021

'Black-Ish' Producer Developing Animated Comedy for ABC

Baratunde Thurston's comic memoir How to Be Black is being adapted into an animated series by the producers of the station's hit sitcom Black-ish.

In the book, Thurston (above, left) discusses her upbringing and experiences as a black person in America. The film adaptation is being developed by "Black-ish" showrunner Courtney Lilly (above image, right) and executive producers Laurence Fishburne and Helen Sagland.

The series will come from Disney's 20th Television Animation and ABC Signature, which is also owned by Disney, and if the show is produced, it will be the first ABC primetime animated series.

Thurston and Lilly will write the script. They will also serve as executive producers, along with Fishburne and Sagland, who are involved through their Cinema Gypsy Productions banner. The production company is responsible for the Disney+ Marvel animated films "Moon Girl" and "Devil Dinosaur" and the feature film "Sneaks." [As a writer and producer, Lilly's credits include Fox's "The Cleveland Show" and Nickelodeon's "Invader Zim." Last year, an animated "Black-ish" election special was released.

"Black-ish," a comedy about an upper-class African-American family, will have its eighth and final season next year. The series has won Golden Globe and Peabody Awards and has been nominated for numerous Emmy Awards.