‘Black Spartan’ director Ben Corey Jones signs with Cultivate Entertainment – Deadline

exclusive: film producer Ben Corey Jones (black spartan) with Cultivate entertainment partners to represent.

Jones is a writer, director and producer best known for co-producing HBO’s critically acclaimed Issa Rae series unsafe and co-create the BET series boomerang with Lena Waite.He also wrote a similar show games people play (bet), underground (OWN) and Ben Watkins hand of God (Amazon), currently gearing up to direct his first feature black spartanwhich will enter production in Atlanta this fall.

Explore the explosive era of the mid-1960s, when social unrest paved the way for a new order in college football, black spartan The story of the first fully integrated college football team will be told. Starring Neil McDonough and Casey Cotter, the film is inspired by the Michigan Spartans, coached by Duffy Daugherty, a team that changed the face of the sport forever. Jones will direct from his own script and will serve as a producer.

“Ben is an extraordinary writer with an extraordinary vision for stories told through the lens of underrepresented people of color and the LGBTQ+ community,” said Cultivate co-founders Sean Butler and Patrick Strom . “We are very excited that Jones is joining Team Cultivate as our company matches his clear and unique path forward in storytelling.”