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Gina Prince-Bythewood, Reggie Rock Bythewood Ink First-Look Deal With Touchstone Television

Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood are moving into the Disney Television Studios fold with a first-look deal with the new Touchstone Television (formerly Fox 21 Television Studios). The multi-year writing and producing deal covers television projects for broadcast and streaming platforms via the duo’s Undisputed Cinema production company. The deal is the first for Touchstone following the Disney Television Studios rebrand announced earlier this week.

The duo previously worked with Twentieth Century Fox Television on their critically acclaimed limited series Shots Fired. The ten-hour series, produced by Undisputed Cinema and Imagine Television, aired on Fox in the spring of 2017 and examined the dangerous aftermath of two racially-charged shootings in a small Southern town.

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“We are dedicated to telling stories that show the breadth of our humanity, entertain and say something to the world, and we are incredibly excited to work with Touchstone to expand our reach,” said Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood. “We look forward to creating new content with Dana Walden and Bert Salke, and fostering the voices of artists who share our vision.”

Undisputed Cinema produces timely and timeless character-driven stories aimed to challenge audiences’ perspectives in different ways. The production banner’s stories show humanity on-screen and create deep connections driven to build empathy between their characters and their viewers. Bythewood and Prince-Bythewood are longtime advocates for equal representation in film and television on-screen and behind-the-scenes, with their mentorships of emerging writers and directors, Bythewood’s industry town-halls on systemic racism, and Prince-Bythewood’s funding a scholarship for African American students in the film program at UCLA, her alma mater.

“We have wanted to be in business with Reggie and Gina for a very long time, as it’s hard to think of any two multi-hyphenates who are as forward-thinking and talented as this gifted duo,” said Bert Salke, President of Touchstone Television. “Starting years ago, from New York Undercover to Love and Basketball to Shots Fired through Gina’s recent feature The Old Guard, their body of work is beyond impressive. Perhaps most importantly, they’re awesome people who have built a reputation of kindness and intelligence. We’re excited to partner with them to help build their legacy to even greater heights.”

Bythewood is creator of the upcoming Apple TV+ series Swagger inspired by NBA superstar Kevin Durant’s youth basketball experiences. Bythewood began his professional career writing for the hit comedy series, A Different World where he met his future wife, Prince-Bythewood. Among his credits, Bythewood was supervising producer on NY Undercover, wrote and directed the praised feature film Dancing in September, co-wrote Notorious and directed the 30-For-30 episode “One Night In Vegas” about the relationship between Mike Tyson and Tupac Shakur.

Prince-Bythewood most recently directed the action drama feature, The Old Guard, starring Charlize Theron and Kiki Layne. The pic has made the list of the Top 10 most popular Netflix films of all time with Prince-Bythewood becoming the first Black female director on the list. Her other feature credits include directing and writing Love & Basketball, The Secret Life of Bees and Beyond The Lights. Most recently for television, Prince-Bythewood directed the pilot for Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger.

Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood are repped by CAA and Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein & Lezcano.

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