From the Winners of the “New Normal Writing Contest” Through ColorCreative and Adaptive Studios
— UMC Also Adds Popular Canadian Drama Series 19-2 —
Los Angeles, CA — Following its new hit comedy summer series, UMC – Urban Movie Channel is excited to announce the premiere of MINIMUM WAGE, an amusing new six-episode workplace comedy that centers around a struggling Koreatown burger joint forced to make radical changes to keep its doors open. Minimum Wage is from the original web series Foodies, winner of the “New Normal Writing Contest,” a joint venture between Adaptive Studios and Issa Rae and Deniese Davis’ ColorCreative.
Written by Rebecca Hu, Arpita Kumar, Maya Houston, Sam Bailey and Julia Bales, co-directed by Aaron Covington (co-writer of Creed) and Julia Bales, and executive produced by Adaptive Studios, Minimum Wage follows the lives of its five employees as they adjust to changes in management and panic ensues among the staff members. In the first episode of the series, Mr. Lee appoints his son, Jordan (John Yuan), to the role of manager for his restaurant, Lee’s Burger Block. Meanwhile, Ayana (Halleta Alemu), disappointed by Mr. Lee’s decision, struggles to find contentment in her position at Lee’s. However, when her YouTube video goes viral, she gets the spark she desperately needs to see her current struggles in a different light. As the series progresses, each episode highlights the backstory of a different team member. Along with John Yuan and Halleta Alemu, the ensemble cast of up-and-comers also includes Gabriel Brown, Alma Delfina, and D’Lo.
“Our goal has always been to highlight emerging and diverse voices and Minimum Wage is the perfect showcase of that. We are thrilled for Rebecca, Arpita, Sam, Julia and Maya, who are all first-time TV writers, and excited the series has found a home on UMC,” says Deniese Davis, COO and Co-Founder of ColorCreative.
Perrin Chiles, CEO of Adaptive Studios adds, “We are always looking for diverse stories and unique points of view to bring to life — even better when you can bring those narratives to life with partners like ColorCreative and UMC.”
“We are proud to premiere Minimum Wage on UMC, and credit Adaptive and ColorCreative for cultivating this exciting project,” says Angela Northington, GM & SVP of Content Acquisitions for UMC. “Our aim is to provide a streaming platform for diverse talent and collaborative work such as this, and we could not be more elated to be a home for the series.”
In addition to Minimum Wage, UMC also adds another quality drama series this month with the UMC premiere of the award-winning police procedural, 19-2, from sister channel Acorn TV. Referred to as “One of the best cop dramas ever” (Tribune News Service), the Canadian series follows Adrian Holmes (Arrow, Elysium) and Jared Keeso (Elysium, Falling Skies) as partners in the Montreal Police Department who must put their differences aside as their lives intertwine professionally and personally. An English-language remake of a popular Quebec show, 19-2 has been nominated for several Canadian Screen Awards, among which the series picked up wins for Best Dramatic Series (2016), Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role (Adrian Holmes 2017, Jared Keeso 2015), and Best Direction. Catch the full first season now on UMC. Subsequent seasons of 19-2 will be added later this year and in 2018. Available at www.UMC.tv as well as on a variety of devices, UMC is the first premium subscription streaming service that showcases quality African American and urban entertainment across all genres from RLJ Entertainment (NASDAQ: RLJE).
About UMC
Created by Robert L. Johnson, Chairman of RLJ Entertainment and founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), Urban Movie Channel (UMC) is the first subscription streaming service created for African American and urban audiences in North America that features quality urban content and showcases feature films, documentaries, original series, stand-up comedy, and other exclusive content. UMC is Available on iOS, Apple TV, Amazon Channels, Roku, Amazon Fire TV & Fire TV Stick. At www.UMC.tv, UMC offers a free 7-day trial and thereafter is just $4.99/month or $49.99/year. Keep up with UMC on Facebook at Facebook.com/UrbanMovieChannel and on Twitter/Instagram @WatchUMC.
About Adaptive Studios
Adaptive Studios is an Emmy®-winning entertainment studio taking a story-first approach to creating premium content for emerging and traditional platforms. The company acquires undervalued intellectual property from the Hollywood system in addition to incubating fresh ideas from a community of passionate, emerging filmmakers. Adaptive reimagines how film, television and digital projects are developed, produced and distributed.
Adaptive’s partners include high profile collaborators and distributors including AMC Networks, HBO, Netflix, Verizon, Miramax, FX Networks, Fox Animation, 21 Laps, Lionsgate, blackpills and many more. Visit www.adaptivestudios.com for more information.
PRESS CONTACT:
Farah Noel
301-830-6247
fnoel@umc.tv