After a successful partnership with Netflix last year on the Oscar-nominated documentary 13th, Ava DuVernay is now set to produce, write, and direct a mini-series about the case of the Central Park Five. “The story of the men known as Central Park Five has riveted me for more than two decades,” DuVernay said in a statement. “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.” Unlike 13th, the new limited series will be a scripted drama, and each of its five parts will focus on one of the Harlem teens at the center of the story: Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise. The timeline will begin in the spring of 1989, when they were first questioned about the rape of Trisha Meili in Central Park, all the way through 2014, when they were exonerated. The program will be co-produced in part by Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films.
