After collaborating with Oprah Winfrey‘s Harpo Films and Scott Sanders Productions on Warner Bros’ The Color Purple, in which she portrayed the character of Squeak, actress and musician H.E.R. is getting back into the business with the companies on a Majorettes-inspired project for 20th Century Studios that she’ll develop, produce and topline.
An untitled dance movie set at a fictional Historically Black College in Atlanta, pic’s story follows an introverted ballet dancer from L.A. who defies her parents by putting her thriving dance career on hold to go to college. There, she joins her HBCU’s struggling majorette team and attempts to overcome culture shock, her stuffy dance background and fierce rivals to help return the team to its former glory.
Beyond providing cultural connection and entertainment, the Majorettes have maintained a major presence on HBCU campuses for over 50 years. The majorette dance style, which combines elements of jazz, hip hop, ballet, burlesque, kick lines and more, has not only made waves on HBCU campuses but has influenced pop culture worldwide with artists bringing majorette-inspired choreography to their shows.
Emmy nominee Lauren Ashley Smith (A Black Lady Sketch Show) has been tapped to pen the script for the Majorettes project. In addition to H.E.R., Winfrey and Sanders, the film will be produced by Carla Gardini and Mara Jacobs, with Rashonda Joplin overseeing for 20th Century Studios.
The winner of an Oscar, Emmy and five Grammys, H.E.R. (aka Gabriella Wilson) is just a Tony away from achieving EGOT status at 26 years old. Most recently seen performing opposite Usher in the Super Bowl LVIII half-time show, H.E.R. is known for her Grammy-winning albums H.E.R. and I Used To Know H.E.R., having also won an Oscar for Best Original Song for for her single “Fight for You,” written for Judas and the Black Messiah.
Currently, Winfrey’s Harpo Films is producing a feature adaptation of Ta-Nehisi Coates’s The Water Dancer for MGM.
Other past projects from Scott Sanders Productions include In the Heights and The Odd Life of Timothy Green.
News of the Majorettes project was first reported by THR.
