Cotton Club - Soapy Musical Drama in Development at FOX

Fox is developing Cotton Club, a soapy music series based in the hottest club in Harlem in the Roaring ‘20s. It comes from former Empire co-executive producer Ayanna Floyd, who serves as showrunner; Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, producers of NBC’s live musical franchise; Broadway director Kenny Leon; and music executive LA Reid.

Written by Floyd and to be directed by Leon, Cotton Club is about the interconnected lives of the black entertainers who performed there and the white gangsters who ran it.

Source:

Deadline

Ayanna Floyd, a co-exec producer on Fox's Empire whose credits also include Hannibal, Falling Skies andPrivate Practice, will pen the script and serve as showrunner should Cotton Club move forward. Floyd will exec produce alongside Zadan and Meron — whose credits include NBC's Smash and all of the network's live musicals including Hairspray and The Wiz. Kenny Leon is on board to direct the pilot, should the script move forward. He'll also exec produce and re-team with Zadan and Meron after helming The Wiz Live as well as Hairspray Live. The project also reteams Leon with Floyd, who worked together on ABC's Shondaland drama Private Practice.

Epic Records CEO Reid is also on board as an exec producer and will serve as the music supervisor after helping to shepherd acts including Bobby Brown, Boyz II Men, Outkast, Mariah Carey, Paula Abdul, Pink, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Kanye West and more. Cotton Club brings the former Island Def Jam CEO back to Fox after serving as a judge on the network's The X Factor.

Source:

The Hollywood Reporter