Matthew A. Cherry’s Academy Award winning “Hair Love” short is getting adapted into an animated television series for HBO Max.
Cherry’s upcoming 12-episode show, titled “Young Love,” will be based on the characters from his short film. Cherry will serve as showrunner alongside animation veteran Carl Jones (“The Boondocks,” “Black Dynamite”). The series will be executive produced by Blue Key Entertainment’s Monica A. Young (producer of “Hair Love”) along with Lion Forge Animation’s David Steward II and Carl Reed. Dayna Lynne North (“Insecure”) will also serve as an executive producer and writer.
The upcoming series promises to expand upon the characters that made the original short an instant hit. Per WarnerMedia, “Hair Love” centered around the relationship between an African American father, his daughter Zuri, and the most daunting task a father could ever come across: doing his daughter’s hair for the first time. The upcoming “Young Love” animated series expands on the family introduced in “Hair Love.” Filled with comedy and heart, Young Love is an honest look into the world of the Young family – including millennial parents Stephen and Angela, their daughter Zuri, and her pet cat Rocky — as they juggle their careers, marriage, parenthood, social issues, and multi-generational dynamics all while striving to make a better life for themselves.
“I am beyond excited to continue telling the story of Stephen, Angela, and Zuri and further explore the family dynamics of a young Black millennial family we established in our short film ‘Hair Love’ as an animated series,” Cherry in a statement. “Couldn’t ask for better partners in Sony Pictures Animation and HBO Max in helping us get Young Love out to the world.”
“Hair Love” enjoyed strong support from Black artists in the entertainment industry and became the highest-funded short film in Kickstarter history, where it raised nearly $300,000. Cherry discussed his work on the short film in an interview with IndieWire earlier in the year.
“’Hair Love’ struck a chord that is still resonating deeply with audiences of all ages,” Billy Wee, HBO Max’s senior vice president of original animation, said in a statement. “Matthew and Sony Animation’s creative voices are a welcomed addition to the HBO Max family and we can’t wait to bring this joyous story to the world.”
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