AMC has opened a writers rooms for “61st Street,” a potential new series executive produced by Michael B. Jordan’s Outlier Society.
The project will be considered for a greenlight under the cabler’s new “scripts-to-series” development model. Peter Moffett, who wrote the British drama “Criminal Justice,” which HBO adapted into “The Night Of,” will serve as showrunner and executive producer.
Set in present-day Chicago, “61st Street” follows Moses Johnson, a promising high school athlete, who is swept up into the infamously corrupt Chicago criminal justice system. Taken by the police as a gang member, he soon finds himself in the eye of the storm as police and prosecutors seek revenge for the death of an officer during a drug bust gone wrong.
A timely examination of the institutional racism plaguing cities nationwide, “61st Street” plumbs the depths of systemic abuse happening in some of the country’s most vulnerable communities.
“Award-winning writer Peter Moffat’s ’61st Street’ is a murder mystery, courtroom drama, and an examination of race in America wrapped up into one,” said David Madden, president of programming for AMC Networks and AMC Studios. “Peter justly won acclaim for ‘Criminal Justice,’ the British thriller which was remade by HBO as ‘The Night Of,’ and in this case he’s partnered with extraordinary producers, the Outlier Society team of Michael B. Jordan and Alana Mayo. This is an emotional and audacious piece of drama that is as timely as television gets, and we are excited to put it into a writers’ room and see where the team takes it.”
“61st Street” will be produced by AMC Studios with Jordan and Alana Mayo of Outlier Society on board as executive producers, along with Hilary Salmon of BBC Studios.