’12 Years a Slave’ Filmmaker Steve McQueen Has a Drama in Development at HBO

It’s not news that HBO has become the foremost place to which filmmakers turn with a television venture, but the level of directors and writers that have projects in development at the premium network continues to be impressive.

The latest name to be associated with HBO is Steve McQueen, whose “12 Years A Slave” is one of the most talked-about films of the year, and who Deadline reports is working on a drama about a young African American man with a past that may not be as it seems entering New York high society — “‘“Six Degrees Of Separation’ meets ‘Shame.'”

The untitled drama is McQueen’s first foray into TV. Matthew Michael Carnahan (“World War Z”) co-wrote script with McQueen, and McQueen is set to direct. Carnahan will executive produce alongside Russell Simmons and Iain Canning and Emile Sherman (producers of “Shame” and “The King’s Speech”).

“12 Years a Slave” is McQueen’s third feature.