Tyler Perry and DeVon Franklin are teaming up to produce a series of faith-based films for Netflix.
These produced films will also be in conjunction with Tyler Perry Studios as part of Perry’s expansion deal with the streaming platform. “I’m so excited to be working with DeVon on this and future projects,” Perry said in a statement announcing the partnership. “I think in this polarizing world, and at a time where the world seems to be growing colder every day, we both share the common goal of wanting to spread some good. And there’s no better place than Netflix.”
Franklin added, “Tyler and I have been great friends for over 15 years, so when he called me to team up on movies that can uplift the human spirit, I jumped at the chance and we couldn’t have a better partner than Netflix to help us inspire the world.”
The first film under their production will be called “R&B” and it will be written by Mike Elliott and Cory Tynan. The movie will be based on Ruth and Boaz’s story from the Bible with a twist. It will be set in Tennessee and will focus on a woman who “escapes the Atlanta music scene to care for an elderly widowed woman and in the process finds the love of her life and gains the mother she never had.”
Niija Kuykendall, Netflix’s VP of film said in a statement, “Tyler and DeVon have created some of the most inspiring movies in the faith-based space, so they are perfect partners to help us bring even more of these stories to our members.”
Both Perry and Franklin have other projects that they are separately working on. There’s no word on when their joint project will be released.