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Jay Z Nabs Deal to Create Docu-Series and Movie About Slain Teen Trayvon Martin

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

The Trayvon Martin memoir serving as source material for Jay Z’s (left) projects was released in January. (Facebook)

Jay Z’s film and TV efforts continue the political trend with a documentary series and feature film about Trayvon Martin, the Florida teen whose murder gave rise to the Black Lives Matter movement.

Jay Z and film studio The Weinstein Company nabbed the rights to two books about Martin after an intense bidding war, according to Variety. “Suspicion Nation: The Inside Story of the Trayvon Martin Injustice and Why We Continue to Repeat It” and “Rest in Power: The Enduring Life of Trayvon Martin” are two books that will be used as the focus of the big- and small-screen projects.

“Suspicion Nation” chronicles NBC News reporter Lisa Bloom’s experience covering the trial she says led prosecutors to lose a “winnable case.” In the 2013 trial, ex-neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman was found not guilty of fatally shooting the unarmed 17-year-old. “Rest in Power” was written by Trayvon’s parents, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, about their son’s life.

Jay Z will produce a six-part docu-series with TWC, which also will produce “a narrative feature film.” A release date has not been announced for either effort, but TWC confirmed the deal with no comment to Variety. Jay Z has not publicly spoken about the deal that closed last week but the showbiz website reported TWC’s Harvey Weinstein and David Glasser met with Jay Z and Martin’s parents in February, who noted they were “most concerned with seeing their son’s life and legacy honored.”

The projects are the latest in a line of TV efforts Jay Z has put in development as part of the production deal he landed with TWC in September. “Time: The Kalief Browder Story,” is a six-part docu-series currently airing on Spike examining the way the criminal justice system failed now-deceased Browder. Jay Z also is creating a mini-series about the first Black U.S. Army sniper, Nicholas Irving, that will star Emmy-winner Sterling K. Brown.

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