Tim Story is finalizing a deal to direct ABC Family’s Nicki Minaj comedy. The project, from Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment, has a series commitment and will film a pilot episode in New York in the winter.
Minaj will executive produce and will appear in the half-hour comedy based on her family’s immigration to the U.S. from Trinidad in the early 1990s. Written by Kate Angelo, the show focuses on Minaj’s childhood in Queens with her animated clan and the personal and musical evolution that led to her eventual rise to stardom. ABCF recently announced an open casting call for a tween girl to play a younger version of Minaj. Story had been involved in the casting process for the project and has been scouting locations.
Minaj, Kaplan and Angelo executive produce with Stella Bulochnikov and Brian Sher, as well as Gee Roberson.
Story, repped by UTA and Matt Johnson, is the highest-grossing African-American director, with six movies opening at No.1 — Ride Along (2014), Think Like a Man Too (2014), Think Like a Man (2012), Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer(2007), Fantastic Four (2005) and Barbershop (2002). His next film, Ride Along 2, opens in January.
In TV, Story is attached to direct and executive produce Fox’s comedy series adaptation of Think Like a Man. He also has a first-look deal at HBO, where he directed the pilot for the upcoming comedy series Brothers In Atlanta.
Source: Deadline
