Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic
Two years ago actor and director Nate Parker, was dragged through the mud after an old rape accusation and trail resurfaced. Box office sales of his directorial debut The Birth of a Nation tanked and all chances of Oscar nominations for the film or anyone involved vanished.
HOLLYWOOD, CA – SEPTEMBER 21: Actor Nate Parker attends the premiere of “The Birth of a Nation” at ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on September 21, 2016 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)
According to Shadow and Act, Parker, whose scandal predated #MeToo and #TimesUp by nearly two years, faced a slew of controversy from a 17-year-old rape case while he was a student-athlete at Penn State. His rape accuser went on to commit suicide. Parker was acquitted and has maintained that he was “unjustly charged.”
Since news of this resurfaced Parker has kept a low profile… until now.
THR is reporting that Parker is putting together a digital series called Baselines. It is about “a Los Angeles family intent on protecting their son and his basketball dreams from the dangers of inner-city life.”
THR’s report says auditions for Baselines will begin this week, and they note that Parker is not trying to do this project in secret, but his name appears on the casting call with mention of The Birth of a Nation.
The storyline will follow a tight-knit family as they struggle to “protect its aspiring pro basketball player from the dangers of inner city Los Angeles.” Parker is directing and writing “this raw beautiful story about family, passion and betrayal,” reads the breakdown, which goes on to detail that the project is in the vein of such films and TV shows as Animal Kingdom, Queen Sugar, Sons of Anarchy and American Honey.
The ultimate goal, according to the breakdown, is for the web series to get picked up somewhere as a series. Also per the breakdown, name actors are considered for a diverse cast of “primarily black/African-American” actors that look “as if I pulled them from the streets to be in this. Raw, gritty, not-insecure.”
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