*NBC is calling on three principals from its production of “The Wiz Live!” for a new drama.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network picked up a script from the TV musical’s executive producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan that’s based on the life of its veteran choreographer, Fatima Robinson.
Inspired by Robinson’s life as a dancer-turned-choreographer, the untitled drama is set in Los Angeles with early plans to set it in the 1990s, as dance begins to dominate pop culture on the streets and clubs that gave birth to hip-hop.
The project is in the early stages of development, according to THR. A writer has yet to come aboard.
Zadan and Meron will executive produce alongside their Storyline Entertainment banner’s Mark Nicholson and Tasha Brown, with the latter duo set to produce. Robinson will exec produce and serve as choreographer.
The drama marks her third go-round with Zadan and Meron following their collaboration on the Academy Awards, which producers told THR inspired them to enlist her to help stage NBC’s “The Wiz Live!”
“We worked with her on the Oscars and knew she was special,” Zadan told THR last week when he singled out Robinson’s contributions to helping to make the live musical a critical success. “We hired Fatima Robinson, who is not a Broadway choreographer, to do authentic black dancing. She comes from hip-hop and a lot of her point of view on dance is very gritty and authentic and raw.”
Fatima was behind the telecast’s most-tweeted moment during the song, when Ne-Yo “hit the dab” during his “Slide Some Oil to Me” performance. The moment drew 15,218 tweets per minute.
Robinson’s choreography credits include features Dreamgirls, Ali, Collateral and Miami Vice. She’s also one of the top performance producers for NBC’s The Voice. Her work has been seen on Oscar telecasts, the Super Bowl, Grammys and music videos for performers including Pharrell Williams, Rihanna, Black-Eyed Peas, Sade and Brittany Spears.
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