Kerry Washington's next project could be Facebook's first big hit
Facebook just scored a big win in its effort to rule Hollywood.
Kerry Washington, the star of Scandal, is among the executive producers for a new drama series in production for the social networking giant, Variety reported Tuesday. The news comes just a day after Netflix revealed its plan to release around 80 original movies in 2018.
The show will be a part of Facebook Watch, the company's initiative to host original shows (Mashable is a partner). The project formally launched in September. So far, media outlets like Group Nine, Tastemade, and Humans of New York have been debuting weekly episodes. The site's new video tab for Watch also hosts live videos of sports games and other events.
The series titled Five Points is about five high school students living on the South Side of Chicago. The cast includes Hayley Kiyoko of CSI: Cyber and former Disney Channel star Madison Pettis, according to Variety. Washington along with Jon Avnet and Jake Avnet of Indigenous Media will be executive producers.
“Five Points' unique format, designed to engage the community in social conversation, makes it a perfect fit for Facebook’s new Watch platform,” said Avnet, COO of Indigenous Media, in a statement.
Facebook has been after ambitious projects with star-studded casts and producers as it competes with the likes of HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and traditional cable networks. These younger entertainment networks have been making a significant dent in Hollywood. Amazon has earned Emmy awards for Transparent. Hulu has won for The Handmaid's Tale. Netflix has Stranger Things and The Crown among others.
Now, Facebook wants its own hit. The company reportedly plans to spend up to $1 billion on original content this year. Apple made a similar size commitment of $1 billion.
There's no premiere date for Five Points, yet. The series is going into production now, according to a Facebook spokesperson.
Kerry Flynn is a business reporter for Mashable covering the tech industry. She previously reported on social media companies, mobile apps and startups for International Business Times. She has also written for The Huffington Post, Forbes and Money magazine. Kerry studied environmental science and economics at Harvard College, where she led The Harvard Crimson's metro news and design teams and played mellophone in the Band. When not listening to startup pitches, she runs half-marathons, plays with puppies and pretends to like craft beer.
