Sunny Hostin, a legal analyst best known for her co-hosting duties on “The View,” has announced that she’s launched a social justice-focused production company.
Variety exclusively broke the story, and they revealed that the company — Roots & Wings Productions — will “spotlight characters neglected by Hollywood.” Roots & Wings will produce both films and television shows, and their stories will focus on social justice issues currently at the center of news stories in the United States.
“I want to make sure that someone watches and knows that seeing an Afro Latina journalist on screen is a possibility,” Hostin told Variety. “I’m humbled to have the backing of a company like Disney. We’re going to create really intentional premium and diverse content together that centers on women and people of color, as well as people in the LGBTQ+ community — stories that I think, will be fresh and that you haven’t seen before.”
Sunny Hostin also confirmed that the first production up for proffer by Roots & Wings will be a drama series based on her novel, “Summer on the Bluffs.”
The story focuses on a “life-changing summer” on Oak Bluffs, an exclusive Black beach community in Massachusetts. At the center of the story is three twenty-something Black women who work together to secure their inheritance rights to their godmother’s home in the ritzy neighborhood.
Oak Bluffs is steeped in Black history: first established in 1907, according to Town & Country, it was a town that was offered as a “safe” alternative to a more segregated and racist Martha’s Vineyard. President Barack Obama famously vacationed there in 2009, forever establishing its place in the modern consciousness.
It’s unclear who will star in the coming-of-age story. However, the series was created thanks to an exclusive partnership with ABC Signature and Octavia Spencer’s Orit Entertainment banner.
Sunny Hostin also said that another series, “The Counsel,” which is based on her life as a prosecutor, will be developed through the Roots & Wings production company in cooperation with Ridley Scott and his banner, Scott Free, and Universal Television at Fox.
