Amazon Studios is expanding its relationship with Barry Jenkins, signing a first-look TV deal with the “Moonlight” director’s company, Pastel.
“Barry is clearly a master of groundbreaking, authentically emotional storytelling and we are so proud to have him share that gift with us,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios. “We are incredibly fortunate to have also secured his directorial vision for the entire limited series ‘The Underground Railroad.’”
Jenkins will direct all 11 episodes of the streamer’s adaption of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning and bestselling novel.
“The Underground Railroad” centers on a young slave named Cora and her journey as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. After escaping her Georgia plantation for the rumored Underground Railroad, Cora discovers no mere metaphor, but an actual railroad full of engineers and conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. “The Underground Railroad” is being produced by Pastel andBrad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment.
“We at Pastel are excited to continue our Amazon relationship begun on ‘Underground Railroad’ and look forward to growing that partnership on projects near and beyond,” said Jenkins.
Jenkins, along with playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, received an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for “Moonlight,” which also won Best Picture. Jenkins’ next film, “If Beale Street Could Talk,” is set to hit theaters Nov. 30.