Oprah Spearheads Megachurch TV Drama About Pastoral Deception
Oprah Winfrey, with the help of Lost alum Craig Wright, is spearheading a new drama centered around the pastoral family of a megachurch.
Wright, who produced Dirty Sexy Money and Tyrant in addition to Lost, will write the scripts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The site reports Greenleaf will revolve around a Memphis megachurch “where scandalous secrets and lies are as numerous as the faithful.”
The description for the straight-to-TV drama the church, run by the Greenleaf family, as a home and the center of the community for its members.
“But beneath its steeple lies a den of iniquity—greed, adultery, sibling rivalry and conflicting values—a multigenerational matrix of deception that involves the church’s founding family, but also extends to the congregation and prominent members of the Memphis community and beyond,” according to TV Media Insights. “Yet, amid all of the mayhem and deception, the power of something greater persists, calling everyone to conscience for their sins.”
Oprah says she jumped on board with the project after falling in love with the characters and Wright’s vision for an “epic drama.”
And for his part, Wright seems as equally excited to join with the TV personality, whose other production roles have included Selma and Lee Daniels: The Butler.
“To tell this potentially explosive story with Oprah, a partner who has as much respect and affection for the church as I do, whose entire body of work is infused with what I would call a faith-based humanism, is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A blessing, even,” he tells THR.
