HBO Max has greenlit an animated series based on the Oscar-winning short “Hair Love,” the company announced Tuesday.
The streamer ordered a 12-episode season of “Young Love,” from “Hair Love” director Matthew A. Cherry and Sony Pictures Animation. Cherry will showrun the new series along with Carl Jones (“The Boondocks,” “Black Dynamite”). Blue Key Entertainment’s Monica A. Young (producer of “Hair Love”) along with Lion Forge Animation’s David Steward II and Carl Reed will executive produce.
“Young Love” will expand on the family introduced in “Hair Love,” which centers on an African-American father doing his daughter’s hair for the first time. It will feature the Young family – including millennial parents Stephen and Angela, their daughter Zuri and her pet cat Rocky – as they “juggle their careers, marriage, parenthood, social issues, and multi-generational dynamics all while striving to make a better life for themselves,” HBO Max said.
“‘Hair Love’ struck a chord that is still resonating deeply with audiences of all ages,” Billy Wee, SVP of original animation at HBO Max, said. “Matthew and Sony Animation’s creative voices are a welcomed addition to the HBO Max family and we can’t wait to bring this joyous story to the world.”
“Hair Love” won the 2020 Best Animated Short Film Oscar.
“I am beyond excited to continue telling the story of Stephen, Angela and Zuri and further explore the family dynamics of a young Black millennial family we established in our short film Hair Love as an animated series,” Cherry said. “Couldn’t ask for better partners in Sony Pictures Animation and HBO Max in helping us get Young Love out to the world.”
Last month, Cherry inked a multi-year first-look deal with Warner Brothers Television to develop new television programming for all platforms. His additional television credits include include directing episodes of “Black-ish,” “Mixed-ish,” “The Unicorn,” “Saved by the Bell” and “The Last O.G.”