Photo courtesy of Open TV
Elle broke the news earlier this week that the locally based web series, “Brown Girls,” is going prime time. HBO has inked a developmental deal with the show’s creators, director Samantha Bailey and writer Fatimah Asghar, to produce an adaptation of the popular web series for television.
“Brown Girls” is filmed and takes place here in Chicago and focuses on the friendship between a queer Pakistani writer and black musician who navigate the inanities of modern life as they pursue love and their dreams. According to the Tribune, the show is loosely based on the real-life friendship between Asghar and local R&B singer, Jamila Woods, whose album HEAVN was one of the best things we heard last year. What's tremendous about “Brown Girls” though is that the show acted as a beacon of light that helped increase the visibility of the lives of young LGBTQ women of color in film rather significantly.
Asghar and Bailey aren’t the only Chicago filmmakers of color that are soon coming to TV. Last year, FX signed writer Samantha Irby to a developmental deal to create a show based on her popular blog, "Bitches Gotta Eat," and her subsequent memoir “Meaty.” Abbi Jacobson (“Broad City”) and Jessi Klein (lead writer, “Inside Amy Schumer”) were also signed by FX and will help Irby write and produce the show. We don’t have a release date or much information about the “Brown Girls” HBO show beyond that it’s happening. We will keep you updated as we learn more. In the meanwhile, watch the first episode of the web series below. https://vimeo.com/203924325thank ya'll for believing in us. we couldn't have done it without you.
— fatimah asghar. (@asgharthegrouch) June 5, 2017