The newly launched Warner Media streaming platform, HBO Max, has announced that it has given series order to Matthew A. Cherry’s (Hair Love) upcoming animated program Young Love, according to Deadline. The series order includes that the show’s first season will consist of twelve episodes for the 2D-animated program. Cherry is known for his 2019 Academy-Award winning short film Hair Love which is an animated short on the Young family with the father learning how to style his seven-year-old daughter’s hair during his wife’s chemotherapy treatment. Cherry stated on his website that the short came from “seeing a lack of representation in mainstream animated projects, and also wanting to promote hair love amongst young men and women of color.” Hair Love can be seen in its entirety below:
Young Love will pick up on the story of the Young household and will include the lives of the daughter Zuri, millennial parents of Stephen and Angela, and the family’s cat Rocky during times where they are stuck with balancing parenthood, social, and marriage issues. Cherry will be joined by animator Carl Jones (The Boondocks) to act as the series’ showrunners. The series will be executive produced by Monica A. Young (Modern Family, Community, Mom), Carl Reed (Popzilla), and David Steward II (Hair Love). This new HBO Max series order comes in the aftermath of Cherry’s signing first-look deal with Warner Bros. TV in June of 2020. In addition to Cherry’s work on Hair Love, Cherry has also directed a few television episodes for series such as The Last O.G., mixed-ish, and black-ish following his career as an NFL Wide Receiver for the Baltimore Ravens and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The upcoming animated series Young Love will add to the long list of original content for HBO Max including the likes of Anna Kendrick’s (Up in the Air, Pitch Perfect) and Kaley Cuoco’s (The Big Bang Theory) The Flight Attendant. HBO Max starts its subscriptions at $14.99 per month with a 7-day free trial. Currently, there is no news on the announced voice cast for the series nor a premiere date for its launch on the streaming platform.