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Hulu has ordered a comedy series based on the novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl, according to Variety. The series, also named The Other Black Girl, will be produced by actress and producer Rashida Jones along with Harris, Adam Fishbach, Tara Duncan, Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey. The announcement was made on Aug. 4 during both the Television Critics Association virtual press tour.
The series will follow the life of an editorial assistant named Nella, the only Black woman working at her company who is excited after another Black woman is hired named Hazel. However, as Hazel becomes more successful, Nella finds out that something sinister is happening at the company and begins to lose control.
The novel is based on Harris’s time working at a publishing company in New York City. She longs to have another Black woman for a colleague until one day, she recognizes the scent of her favorite hair care products.
“This meant one of two things: One of her white colleagues had started using Brown Buttah. Or — more likely, since she was pretty sure none of them had accidentally stumbled into the natural hair care aisle — there was another Black girl on the thirteenth floor.”
The show has been in development since April of 2020. Duncan was originally hired by Disney to head the basic cable network Freeform. In 2021, Duncan was put in charge of the Onyx Collective by Disney to focus on creating content from underrepresented communities and people of color.
The Disney-backed collective quickly put together several projects, and one of them has already won an Academy Award. The Onyx Collective-produced documentary Summer of Soul directed by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival won the Best Documentary Oscar at the 2022 Academy Awards. The Onyx Collective is also producing a drama with actor Mahershala Ali, The Plot as well as the legal thriller, Reasonable Doubt starring actress Emayatzy Corinealdi.
Writer Danielle Henderson (Sorry for Your Loss) was hired as the showrunner and will also executive produce the comedy series.
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