Ava Duvernay To Write, Direct & Executive Produce ‘Central Park Five’, Oprah Signs On

Ava Duverny, Oprah Winfrey

Ava Duvernay To Write, Direct & Executive Produce ‘Central Park Five’

Ava DuVernay is bringing a limited series about the Central Park Five case to Netflix. The streaming service has reportedly given the director the green light for the five-part scripted series for a 2019 debut. She created the project and will write and direct. DuVernay says,

I had an extraordinary experience working with Netflix on ’13th’ and am overjoyed to continue this exploration of the criminal justice system as a narrative project with Cindy Holland and the team there. The story of the men known as Central Park Five has riveted me for more than two decades. In their journey, we witness five innocent young men of color who were met with injustice at every turn — from coerced confessions to unjust incarceration to public calls for their execution by the man who would go on to be the President of the United States.

Participant Media, Tribeca Productions and Harpo Films are behind the limited series.

Ava DuVernay

Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Skoll, Jonathan King, Jane Rosenthal and Berry Welsh serving as executive producers along with DuVernay. Winfrey and DuVernay currently work together on OWN’s “Queen Sugar”.  DuVernay previously worked with Netflix for the 2016 documentary “13th.”

Based on the true story of the notorious Central Park Five case, each part of the limited series will focus on one of the five teenagers from Harlem — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise — who were wrongly convicted of raping Trisha Meili in Central Park. The series will span from the spring of 1989, when each were first questioned about the incident, to 2014 when they were exonerated and a settlement was reached with the city of New York.

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