Garcelle Beauvais to lead and executive produce Lifetime’s upcoming original movie, Black Girl Missing. Iyana Halley, Taylor Mosby, and Linda Park also star in the film which is inspired by actual stories of missing women of color.
Delmar Washington directs the film and Kale Futterman penned the script and a new PSA for the Black and Missing Foundation will be featured in promoting the film.
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Black Girl Missing tells the story of a mother named Cheryl (Beauvais) whose daughter Lauren (Iyana Halley) is nowhere to be found. Authorities and media dismiss Lauren as a runaway while focusing heavily on another missing girl, who is white. Cheryl and her 15-year-old daughter Marley (Taylor Mosby) enlist the help of a dedicated community of amateur internet sleuths to try to find Lauren.
Cheryl also discovers the Black and Missing Foundation and is horrified to discover the disparity in how missing persons of color cases are treated with significant lack of media attention and law enforcement resources.
The movie also stars Linda Park as Elise, a local reporter who tries to help Cheryl against the orders of the news director.
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Black Girl Missing is as part of the network’s Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
Derrica and Natalie Wilson founded the Black and Missing Foundation Inc., a non-profit organization that brings awareness to the Black missing person cases that are marginalized by law enforcement and national media. The two will serve as consultants on the film.
Johnson Production Group in association with Motion Content Group is producing Black Girl Missing. Tim Johnson, Stacy Mandelberg, Gordon Gilbertson, Jason Egenberg, Richard Foster and Chet Fenster, are also executive producers alongside Beauvais.
Lifetime will also debut the special, Beyond the Headlines: Black Girl Missing. The special follows true stories of Black and missing women featuring interviews with their families and Black and Missing Foundation’s involvement in the cases. Produced by AMS, Andy Streitfeld serves as EP and Kim Clemons is the showrunner. Natalie and Derrica Wilson of Black and Missing Foundation are also consultants.