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The
producers' dedication to children's television will be on display when
Miracle's Boys debuts on The N, the nighttime network for teens. The
six-part mini-series premieres February 18th at 9 p.m.
Miracle's Boys focuses on the Bailey brothers -
Lafayette (Julito McCullum), Charlie (Sean Nelson), and Ty'ree (Pooch
Hall) - as the teens struggle to survive as a family after the death
of their parents. The series features a slate of marquee directors
(Spike Lee, Bill Duke, Ernest Dickerson, Neema Barnette and LeVar
Burton) and stars Sean Nelson (Fresh, The Corner).
MOSAEC caught up with the executive producers of
the mini-series and asked them about the television adaptation of
Miracle's Boys.
What prompted
your decision to pitch The N?
Nikki Silver: We really wanted to do
something that was developed for teens. The N is one of the few
networks that is developing just for that age group. We knew that it
was one of the places that was taking a chance on good quality
material that may not fit the mold of the rest of the networks.
How was the
cast chosen?
Tonya Lewis Lee: Nikki and Orly did
the pilot a few years before and they cast Pooch, Julito and Sean.
When it came time to do the full series, we went on a casting call. We
canvassed New York City and LA and ended up with the same 3 actors as
our brothers.
How did Jorge
Posada get involved?
TLL: It's a New York show and we
wanted our New York support. We wanted to bring it! So, there's Jorge,
Tiki [Barber], Spike and Nas.
Jorge heard about the material, he's Puerto Rican and he was excited
about it.
How did Spike
Lee get involved with the mini-series?
TLL: At the time Nikki and Orly
brought the project to The N, I had been working on another project at
The N and they brought me on board. A pilot had been shot already. At
the point we brought Spike in, we already had the six episodes
written. We had hired a writer and we were looking for directors. Bill
Duke had signed on so we asked Spike as well as the others.
What prompted
the decision to employ a cadre of marquee directors to bring the
mini-series to life?
TLL: As executive producers, we made
that choice. We were very excited because the material is so strong.
We thought we had an opportunity to do something unique where we could
use film directors and have each episode of the mini-series be
mini-films instead of just television.
With the
directors, did you sit down as executive producers and determine how
conceptually you wanted the project to progress or did you let the
directors do their own thing?
TLL: As executive producers, we wanted
the show to have a consistency and feel like each show was a part of
something. At the same time, we did expect that each director would
leave his or her imprint on their own particular show.
NS: We also really wanted Spike to set
the tone and that's why his doing the first episode was very important
to us. We knew that his working with the talent and with that type of
video was going to be essential.
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