TNT Taps Tony Award Winner Anika Noni Rose to Star and Co-Executive Produce Pilot for Beast Mode (wt)

TNT Taps Tony Award Winner Anika Noni Rose to Star
and Co-Executive Produce Pilot for Beast Mode (wt)

 Tina Mabry to Serve as Director 

Beast Mode is written and executive produced by David Schneiderman with 
executive producers Stefanie Huie and MACRO’s Charles D. King, Kim Roth and Poppy Hanks

Turner's TNT has set Anika Noni Rose (The Quad, Power) in the lead role of Marsha Blackstone in the pilot, Beast Mode (working title).

Inspired by the life of legendary boxing trainer Ann Wolfe, Beast Mode is written and executive produced by David Schneiderman and produced by Ann Wolfe and MACRO in association with Studio T, with executive producers Stefanie Huie (Triangle) and MACRO’s Charles D. King (Mudbound), Kim Roth (Inside Man) and Poppy Hanks (Fences). Rose will also serve as a co-executive producer. Tina Mabry (Pose) is attached to direct.

Pulling herself and her two daughters up from poverty, abuse, homelessness, and criminality, Marsha Blackstone reached the pinnacle of boxing as a fighter and has become equally as successful a trainer known for unconventional methods and a fiercely combative style. Driven by the belief that any step backward is a slippery slope to her former life, when the boxer Marsha trained to a world title fires her, this complex and inspiring woman is determined to find a new fighter to eclipse the one she lost, but her emotional baggage and militant style could be her undoing in her professional and personal life, especially with her two grown daughters, and a new baby on the way. 

Rose is an entertainment triple threat, appearing in film and television and on Broadway. She recently finished filming the feature Body Cam and was last seen on the big screen in Assassination Nation, which had its debut at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Additionally, she appeared in the film Everything, Everything and voiced the role of ‘Princess Tiana’ in The Princess and the Frog - becoming the first African-American Disney princess and the youngest person inducted into the Disney Hall of Fame. Other film credits include Dreamgirls, For Colored Girls and Half of a Yellow Sun. On Television, she recently appeared in The Quad, starred in the Emmy Award-nominated Roots as ‘Kizzy’ and was a fan favorite as ‘Jukebox’ in Power. Additional Television credits include The No. 1 Ladies Detective as well as The Good Wife and Private Practice. Finally, on stage, she received the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in Caroline, or Change, and she received a Tony Nomination for Best Featured Actress for her work in A Raisin In the Sun alongside Denzel Washington. This past summer she starred in the title role of ‘Carmen Jones’ in John Doyle’s production at the Classic Stage Company. 

Tina Mabry is a writer, director, and producer for television and film. She is currently a writer and producer for the upcoming series, Proven Innocent. She was a co-producer, writer, and director for season two of Queen of the South. Mabry was also a producer, writer, and director on Queen Sugar created by Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey. She produced and directed Melody 1963: Love has to Win, an American Girl special for Amazon Kids.The special earned her a DGA Award and a NAACP Award. Mabry’s other television directing credits include Dear White People, The Mayor, Insecure, Pose and Power. In film, Mabry began her career co-writing the feature screenplay Itty Bitty Titty Committee and went on to write and direct her first feature film, Mississippi Damned.

About TNT

TNT is basic cable's #1 network in primetime with young adults and is home to one of cable's most popular slates of original series, including The Alienist, Animal Kingdom, Claws, the upcoming I Am the Night, Snowpiercer, Tell Me Your Secrets and The Angel of Darkness. TNT also presents popular shows such as Arrow, Supernatural, Bones and Castle; primetime specials, such as the Screen Actors Guild Awards® and the iHeartRadio Music Awards; and championship sports coverage, including the NBA and the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship.

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