According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal Global Television is set to start building up many creative deals with Viola Davis (Waller, Creature Commandos) and Julius Tennon‘s (Get on Up, JuVee Productions, which has inked its first look deal with the studio. Their JuVee Productions deal was born in June as NBCUniversal combined UCP and Universal International Studios under Beatrice Springborn. Under the deal, JuVee will develop and produce a series for UGT.
As per The Hollywood Reporter, Davis and Tennon’s company follows UGT signing an overall deal with All Her Fault creator Megan Gallagher. JuVee’s initial project with UGT is Pawn a romantic series which follows a story based on a short story by Kennedy Ryan. The series will be adapted by hantelle M. Wells and will executive produce with Davis, Tennon, JuVee head of TV Andrew Wang and Ryan.
“From our first meeting together, we felt uniquely connected on how we plan to bring empowering and fearless voices to the screen,” Davis and Tennon said in a statement via The Hollywood Reporter. “We have long been fans of Kennedy Ryan since reading her simmering Before I Let Go, and Chantelle Wells has worked on some of the most iconic shows of the last decade, carving out her power as a storyteller who is willing to push the boundaries of expectations. To be able to work with these powerhouses to bring Pawn to life with UGT speaks directly as to why we created JuVee.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series follows a woman named Gina Jones, who “makes a deal to become a ‘pawn’ for a St. Louis crime family, the Rossis, in exchange for money to pay for her ailing grandmother’s medical treatments,” the show’s description reads. “The Rossis want to take down their rivals, the Norths, by targeting their heir apparent, Drayden, who is also Gina’s new boss. But when Gina and Drayden’s attraction to each other becomes undeniable, she has to navigate both families’ threats and secrets to go from pawn to queen.”
“Viola, Julius and Andrew have built JuVee into a home for dynamic and powerful stories a commitment we are proud to partner with them on, beginning with the excellent and gripping Pawn,” said Springborn, via The Hollywood Reporter.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that JuVee’s productions include the Showtime series The First Lady and feature films G20 and The Woman King.