Spike Lee Brings New Orleans To NBC
Spike Lee is currently developing a scripted TV drama set in New Orleans for NBC.
The show, titled "NoLa," will follow the lives of a multi-cultural cast of New Orleans residents working to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. This latest project will revisit familiar territory for the director, who recently helmed HBO's critically acclaimed documentary "When the Levees Broke."
"It's our goal to make great cinema for television," Lee told the Associated Press. "It's a show about the city trying to rebuild itself and the people who are trying to put their lives together."
"NoLa" aims to include a diverse cast of characters from different social and economic backgrounds. In addition to casting actors, Lee will also include Phyllis Montana LeBlanc and other individuals from "When the Levees Broke," who will play supporting roles or fictional versions of themselves. Lee is planning to film the pilot on location in New Orleans.
"We don't have to build sets. Things there still look like the city's been bombed out," Lee said.
Lee and screenwriter Sid Quashie are traveling to New Orleans this week to meet with residents of the city. Lee says he plans to shoot the pilot in a style mirroring a movement that took place in Italian cinema between 1942-1952 called Italian neorealism; popular in the works of filmmakers like Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini.
If NBC picks up the series Spike Lee will serve as executive producer and director of "NoLa."
The show, titled "NoLa," will follow the lives of a multi-cultural cast of New Orleans residents working to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina. This latest project will revisit familiar territory for the director, who recently helmed HBO's critically acclaimed documentary "When the Levees Broke."
"It's our goal to make great cinema for television," Lee told the Associated Press. "It's a show about the city trying to rebuild itself and the people who are trying to put their lives together."
"NoLa" aims to include a diverse cast of characters from different social and economic backgrounds. In addition to casting actors, Lee will also include Phyllis Montana LeBlanc and other individuals from "When the Levees Broke," who will play supporting roles or fictional versions of themselves. Lee is planning to film the pilot on location in New Orleans.
"We don't have to build sets. Things there still look like the city's been bombed out," Lee said.
Lee and screenwriter Sid Quashie are traveling to New Orleans this week to meet with residents of the city. Lee says he plans to shoot the pilot in a style mirroring a movement that took place in Italian cinema between 1942-1952 called Italian neorealism; popular in the works of filmmakers like Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini.
If NBC picks up the series Spike Lee will serve as executive producer and director of "NoLa."
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