LaToya Morgan to Adapt and Executive Produce Fictional Series Based on Lowery’s In-Depth Exploration of the Lives of the Activists Behind the Creation of the Black Lives Matter Movement

LOS ANGELES, CA – September 12th, 2017 – AMC is developing the series “They Can’t Kill Us All” from MAKEREADY, the new independent studio and financier for film, television and branded content. The fictional series, based on Washington Post journalist Wesley Lowery’s New York Times bestselling book, will be adapted and executive produced by LaToya Morgan (“TURN: Washington’s Spies,” “Into the Badlands,” CARRIED BY SIX). The announcement was made by MAKEREADY's creative heads Pam Abdy and Scott Nemes.

MAKEREADY acquired the rights to “They Can’t Kill Us All” in Fall 2016 when Abdy discovered the book and have been working with Morgan to develop the series, which uses the book as a launching point from which to tell the stories of those facing deeply-seeded and volatile race relations in America through the eyes of fictional characters. Lowery’s “They Can’t Kill Us All” chronicles the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement, providing historically informed and unparalleled insight into the cumulative effect of decades of racially biased police violence in America and an intimate portrayal of those working to end it. Conducting hundreds of interviews for his book, Lowery traveled from Ferguson, Missouri, to Cleveland, Ohio; Charleston, South Carolina; and Baltimore, Maryland; and then back to Ferguson to uncover life inside the most heavily policed, if otherwise neglected, corners of America today. MAKEREADY founder and CEO Brad Weston will executive produce alongside Abdy, Nemes and Morgan. The team will continue to develop the series to reflect current events and the realities of race in America.

Said LaToya Morgan: "Wesley Lowery's book is an incredibly powerful and deeply moving window into the lives of the families and activists who birthed a movement. Unarmed police shootings have become almost epidemic. Like many people across the country, I was gripped by the stories coming out of Ferguson and Baltimore. As a former community organizer, I’ve always been passionate about social justice. We need the voices of Black Lives Matter, and people of conscience, now more than ever if we’re ever going to create real, lasting change.  This is a story about their enduring courage, humanity, strength and hope.”

"When I wrote ‘They Can't Kill Us All’ the aim was to tell the stories of the young black men and women who, at great personal sacrifice, had taken to the streets to fight for the value of black life,” said Lowery. “I couldn't be more excited for the opportunity to see these stories told further through this project. Her unique storytelling ability and personal background in community organizing makes LaToya Morgan the perfect person to champion this project."

“It is a grim reminder as our country continues to be deeply divided by racism and hatred, the necessity of telling the stories of those who risk their lives raising awareness about the continued racial divide and the desperate need for solutions and unification. We consider ourselves lucky to be in a business where we can support creators who are shining a spotlight on the issues we are facing,” said Abdy. “AMC’s broad audience make it the perfect home for this series and we are proud to be working with LaToya to bring Wesley’s riveting story to television audiences.”

LaToya Morgan was recently a Co-Executive Producer on AMC’s “TURN: Washington’s Spies,” for which she was nominated for two NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Writing in a Dramatic Series, and penned the series penultimate episode. She is currently writing on AMC’s hit show “Into the Badlands” in addition to developing “The Can’t Kill Us All” for the network under her two-year overall deal. Morgan is just as busy in features as she is in television, with three features in various stages of development and production. Her original thriller CARRIED BY SIX is being produced by Barry Josephson with Matt Ruskin (CROWN HEIGHTS) attached to direct. Morgan serves on the WGA Diversity Advisory Group committee and is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She is repped by CAA, Echo Lake Entertainment and Rob Szymanski.

Wesley Lowery is a Pulitzer Prize winning national correspondent covering law enforcement, race and justice for The Washington Post and an on-air contributor for CNN. He has been the paper's lead reporter covering police shootings and the Black Lives Matter protest movement. Lowery’s work has also appeared in The Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal and Sports Illustrated. His first book, the New York Times bestseller "They Can't Kill Us All," was awarded the 2017 Christopher Isherwood prize for autobiographical prose by the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.  Lowery is represented by CSE Talent and Foundry Literary + Media.

MAKEREADY’S television business funds development and deficit finances its shows, with Entertainment One (eOne) handling the international distribution of television content. “They Can’t Kill Us All” joins a roster of projects already in development, including “Rocket Men,” based on New York Times Bestselling author Robert Kurson’s  highly-anticipated novel that provides an inside account of Apollo 8, NASA’s boldest and riskiest mission; “In Country,” a David James Kelly project with Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson’s Appian Way, which will star and be executive produced by Jamie Dornan (“The Fall”); “Old City Blues”, a pilot by screenwriter Arash Amel, based on the Boom graphic novel; “Catching Out”, which is being developed with writer/executive producer Amy Harris (“Sex in the City”, “The Carrie Diaries”) and executive producer Chloe Grace Moretz to take a genuine look at very specific lifestyles of late teens and early twenty-somethings; and a manuscript by journalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio called “Undocumented America” (to be published by Spiegel & Grau, Fall 2018) about undocumented immigrants across America.