By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Thursday, September 24, 2015
Not all scripted shows on OWN will be from Atlanta's Tyler Perry. Another set of producers (including Oprah Winfrey herself) are creating a sprawling megachurch drama called "Greenleaf" that is scheduled to begin production in Atlanta next month. The show is set to air in 2016.
Although Atlanta has its share of megachurchs (see Creflo Dollar, Eddie Long), the show will fictionally be set in Memphis instead. So there won't be requisite shots of the Atlanta skyline between scenes.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Emmy Award winner Keith David ("Enlisted," "Community") portrays "Bishop James Greenleaf, the charming and charismatic but brilliantly manipulative leader of Greenleaf World Ministries," as the press release describes. Fellow Emmy winner Lynn Whitfield ("The Josephine Baker Story") plays "his imperious wife Lady Mae Greenleaf, a steely woman who loves money and power and will do absolutely anything to protect her position as the First Lady."
Oprah will have a recurring role as Mavis McCready, the sister of Lady Mae Greenleaf and a close confidante of Grace Greenleaf, the bishop's estranged daughter. Oprah shot the film "Selma" here so she is no stranger to producing programming in Atlanta.
Writer/producer Craig Wright has impressive credits including "Lost" and "Six Feet Under."
And the official description of "Greenleaf" sounds like a classic soap:
"Like so many megachurches in America, Greenleaf World Ministries is more than just a house of worship. It's a home. It's the center of the community for the thousands of predominantly African-American members who attend services there. 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. Yet, amidst all of the mayhem and deception, the power of something greater persists, calling everyone to conscience for their sins."
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