Creator of the critically-acclaimed Dear White People film and Netflix series, Justin Simien, has been tapped to write and direct the upcoming film, Bad Hair.
This move sees him reunite with Dear White People producers Julia Lebedev and Angel Lopez. Lebedev and Lopez produced the film and Lebedev is an executive producer of the Netflix series. Lopez and Lebedev are a part of Sight Unseen, a production group with Lebedev, Eddie Vaisman and Oren Moverman. Lopez is the group’s VP of development.
According to Deadline, who broke the news, Simen teamed-up “with Sight Unseen in order to create work that both entertains and holds a mirror up to society. This will be both a love letter to black women and a critique of the cultural forces our society puts them through.”
The film’s description reads, “Paralleling the rise of New Jack Swing in 1989, Bad Hair is a horror satire that follows an ambitious young woman who gets a weave in order to survive the image obsessed world of music television. Her professional success comes at a higher cost than anticipated, however, when she discovers her new hair may have a mind of its own. Simien has retained the biting satirical commentary but added genre bending thrills. Sight Unseen VP of Development, Angel Lopez, will oversee the film for the company.”
A teaser website for the film is now live.