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Winfrey, ‘Selma’ filmmaker team on new drama series for OWN

FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2015 file photo, Ava DuVernay, director of "Selma," attends the National Board of Review awards gala in New York. DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey are creating a drama series for Winfrey's TV channel. The project is inspired by the Natalie Baszile novel "Queen Sugar," the OWN channel said Monday, Feb. 2. Winfrey will serve as executive producer and will play a recurring role _ the first time she's acted in a series for OWN, the network said. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2015 file photo, Ava DuVernay, director of "Selma," attends the National Board of Review awards gala in New York. DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey are creating a drama series for Winfrey's TV channel. The project is inspired by the Natalie Baszile novel "Queen Sugar," the OWN channel said Monday, Feb. 2. Winfrey will serve as executive producer and will play a recurring role _ the first time she's acted in a series for OWN, the network said. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

By Associated Press February 2, 2015 1 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Oprah Winfrey and the director of the Oscar-nominated movie “Selma” are creating a drama series for Winfrey’s TV channel.

The project from Winfrey and filmmaker Ava DuVernay is inspired by the Natalie Baszile novel “Queen Sugar,” the OWN channel said Monday.

Winfrey will serve as executive producer and will play a recurring role – the first time she’s acted in a series for OWN, the network said. DuVernay will write, direct and executive produce the drama, her first TV series.

Winfrey, whose film roles include “Lee Daniels’ The Butler,” appears in DuVernay’s film about the 1965 voting rights campaign led by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. “Selma” is a best-picture Academy Award nominee.