Hollywood Film Executive DeVon Franklin, Kirk Franklin, Holly Carter and Michael Van Dyck land a development deal with NBC. With the deal NBC has put into development, Kingdom Business, a gospel music industry drama, according to Deadline.
Kingdom Business gives a behind the scenes look into the world of the gospel music industry along with all of its soul saving glory, glitz-glam, secrets, and conflicts. It will be produced by DeVon Franklin’s Franklin Entertainment, Holly Carter’s Releve’ Entertainment, Gospel music megastar Kirk Franklin’s Fo Yo Soul Entertainment, Michael Van Dyck’s Inspired Entertainment and Universal TV, a division of NBCUniversal Content Studios. The team also serves as executive producers along with writers John J. Sakmar and Kerry Lenhart (Reign, The Glades, Mr. & Mrs. Smith).
A former Sony Tri-Star Columbia pictures executive, DeVon Franklin has had a hand in producing faith-based movies that made Hollywood sit up and take notice of the growing appetite audiences have for faith based content, including Breakthrough (2019 – starring Chrissy Metz), Heaven Is For Real (2016 – starring Jennifer Garner and Queen Latifah), and Miracles From Heaven (2014 – starring Greg Kinnear).
Carter’s Releve’ Entertainment is best known for producing the controversial Oxygen network reality TV franchise Preachers Of…(LA, Atlanta, Detroit). As an artist manager, Carter has represented a diverse roster of well-known talent such as Usher, gospel artists Deitrick Haddon and Kierra Sheard, former Destiny’s Child member, singer/songwriter/actress, Michelle Williams, and Kingdom Business production partner, multi-Platinum selling gospel artist/producer and Fo Yo Soul Entertainment CEO, Kirk Franklin.
Van Dyck, a veteran literary agent who represents Kingdom Business writers Sakmar and Lenhart, and Kirk Franklin, comes to the deal after spending over a decade with Paradigm. In addition to repping writers, content writers, directors and various other talent, Van Dyck’s Inspired Entertainment develops and packages faith based content for mainstream consumption on multiple platforms.
Based upon some of the controversy the erupted around shows like Preachers of LA, I’m very interested to see what comes of the gospel drama, Kingdom Business. And if this sounds like you too, guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
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