Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions has inked a first-look deal with Universal Global Television, the newly formed studio born in June when NBCUniversal combined UCP and Universal International Studios under president Beatrice Springborn. Under the deal, JuVee will develop and produce series for UGT.
The first project under the partnership is Pawn, a romantic drama based on a short story by Kennedy Ryan, author of Before I Let Go. Chantelle M. Wells, known for her work on Daredevil: Born Again and Yellowjackets, is attached to adapt and will executive produce alongside Davis, Tennon, JuVee head of TV Andrew Wang and Ryan.
Pawn follows Gina Jones, who makes a deal to become a pawn for the St. Louis crime family the Rossis in exchange for money to cover her ailing grandmother’s medical treatments. The Rossis want to take down their rivals, the Norths, by targeting their heir apparent, Drayden, who also happens to be Gina’s new boss. When Gina and Drayden’s attraction becomes undeniable, she must navigate both families’ threats and secrets to go from pawn to queen.
“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. “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. To be able to work with these powerhouses to bring Pawn to life with UGT speaks directly as to why we created JuVee.”
“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.
The first-look pact follows UGT signing an overall deal with All Her Fault creator Megan Gallagher, who has two projects currently in development at the studio. JuVee’s previous productions include the Showtime series The First Lady and feature films G20 and The Woman King, all of which starred Davis.