TBS plots Notorious B.I.G.-inspired drama

US basic cable channel TBS is developing a scripted series inspired by the lyrics of late hip hop legend Notorious B.I.G.

The series will be titled Think B.I.G., with the plotlines loosely based on the rhymes of the New York rapper, real name Christopher Wallace.

It will follow the misadventures of an inner-city teen desperately trying to create a better future for his daughter and infant son.

New York-based media and content organisation Mass Appeal created the project and is producing in partnership with Wayne Barrow of Bystorm Films and Voletta Wallace, B.I.G.’s mother, who runs Notorious B.I.G. Inc.

The series is a result of a new strategic partnership Turner-owned TBS has with Mass Appeal, a 20-year-old company that creates content that reflects the urban American landscape.

Mass Appeal is also working up a digital animation series, Storyville, which is being co-created with OkayPlayer.

Storyville will run to ten episodes and is already in production. It will feature “funny, absurd, weird, and sometimes just sheer joyful stories straight from the mouths of top celebrities”.

It will debut across TBS digital and social media platforms this autumn. A pilot is already available on YouTube.

“Storyville and Think B.I.G. speak to the types of projects we will cultivate with Mass Appeal moving forward,” said Brett Weitz, executive vice president of original programming for TBS. “Mass Appeal is a leader in developing unique stories with diverse voices. There’s no better partner for us to connect with this vibrant, impassioned audience.”

“The new direction that the good folks at TBS are taking is inspiring and totally akin to our position on popular culture,” said Sacha Jenkins, Mass Appeal partner and chief creative officer.

“In essence, Mass Appeal’s strength lies in our ability to articulate the innermost feelings of artists and revolutionaries who are in the throes of their most potent creative moments, in a manner that is true to the creators and the movements they help spawn.”