- Today, Amazon MGM Studios announced that Kelly Rowland and Cliff “Method Man” Smith are set to star in Relationship Goals, for director Linda Mendoza and producer DeVon Franklin. Robin Thede and Annie Gonzalez have also joined the cast.
- The script was written by Laura Lekkos, with prior drafts written by Michael Elliot and Cory Tynan, and is based on Michael Todd’s New York Times bestseller Relationship Goals: How to Win at Dating, Marriage, and Sex. Kelly Rowland and Bart Lipton will executive produce.
- Relationship Goals is a funny and inspiring romantic comedy on how to find lasting love and sustain a healthy relationship at every stage of courtship. The book, which is based on Todd’s viral, multimillion-view sermon series about dating, marriage, and sex, spent 13 straight weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list and debuted at No. 1 on Amazon.
- Kelly Rowland recently starred in the #1 Netflix hit movie Tyler Perry’s Mea Culpa. She has also guest starred on several hit sitcoms including Girlfriends, Empire, American Soul, Being Mary Jane, and L.A.’s Finest. On the film side, Rowland appeared in Kevin Hart’s Think Like A Man, New Line Cinema’s Freddy vs. Jason, Netflix’s The Curse of Bridge Hollow, and produced and starred in Merry Liddle Christmas Baby. Rowland also executive produced her own docuseries Chasing Destiny and co-produced a digital series called Milk + Honey alongside Idris Elba and Issa Rae.
- Cliff “Method Man” Smith starred in all four seasons of the hit STARZ series Power Book II: Ghost, for which he won three NAACP Image Awards for “Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.” He can currently be seen in Carnegie Hill Entertainment’s feature Bad Shabbos, and the Paramount+’s feature film On the Come Up for which he earned an NAACP Image Award nomination for “Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture”. Smith will next be seen in Maude Apatow’s directorial debut Poetic License and as a guest star in Peacock’s Emmy Award-winning original series Poker Face. Cliff “Method Man” Smith is represented by Shauna Garr, CAA, imPRint, and Frankfurt Kernit Klein & Selz.
- Six-time Emmy nominee Robin Thede is the creator, showrunner, executive producer, writer, and star of HBO’s Emmy-winning sketch comedy series, A Black Lady Sketch Show. Thede also starred alongside Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross in the Amazon MGM Studios holiday feature, Candy Cane Lane. Previously, she was the creator, executive producer, writer and host of The Rundown with Robin Thede on BET where she made her mark as one of the only Black women to host a late-night talk show. Robin Thede is represented by WME and Johnson Shapiro Slewett & Kole LLP.
- Annie Gonzalez can be seen in films such as East of the Mountains directed by S.J. Chiro, Flamin’ Hot from Searchlight Pictures and Franklin Entertainment, Drive-Away Dolls directed by Ethan Coen, and Jenni, which Gonzalez stars in and produced. On the television side, credits include Netflix’s Gentefied, Showtime’s Shameless, FX’s American Horror Story, Netflix’s Good Girls, Starz’s Vida, and most recently, NBC’s Lopez vs Lopez. Annie Gonzalez is represented by Innovative, Neon Kite, and Granderson Des Rochers.
- Franklin serves as President and CEO of Franklin Entertainment, a production company dedicated to uplifting the human spirit through inspirational content. Franklin just wrapped production on R & B, a modern version of the Biblical love story of Ruth & Boaz. Franklin has also produced the inspirational hit films Flamin’ Hot directed by Eva Longoria, Breakthrough starring Chrissy Metz for Disney/Fox, Sony’s The Star and Miracles From Heaven starring Jennifer Garner. Franklin has a first look deal with Tyler Perry Studios and Netflix and with CBS Studios.
- Emmy Award-winning director, Linda Mendoza, directed the pilot of Survival of the Thickest for Netflix and was the producing director on the first two seasons of Harlem for Amazon MGM. Mendoza is best known for directing episodes of Never Have I Ever for Netflix, The Tick for Amazon MGM, Black-Ish for ABC, Brooklyn Nine-Nine for NBC, as well as 30 Rock, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, and Scrubs. Mendoza began her directing career as the house director on The Chris Rock Show for HBO where she was nominated for multiple awards. Linda Mendoza is represented by Independent Artist Group, Atlas Literary, and Del, Shaw, Bobb et al.
- Elliot and Tynan most recently wrote R&B, a script which Franklin produced for Tyler Perry Studios and Netflix. Lekkos recently wrote the script for Netflix’s Somewhere Only We Know. Michael Elliot and Cory Tynan are represented by Evoke Entertainment. Laura Lekkos is represented by Gersh and Felker Toczek.
