FX Ramps Up Non-Fiction Slate With Docuseries On Tupac Shakur, LGBTQ Rights & Zodiac Killer – TCA

Docuseries about Tupac Shakur and his mother, the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in America and the man who possibly was the Zodiac killer lead FX’s latest documentary slate.

FX is ramping up its non-fiction slate with five new docuseries and one feature documentary, building on its latest series The Weekly, with The New York Times.

The news was revealed by Nick Grad and Gina Balian, Presidents, Original Programming, FX Entertainment at the TCA summer press tour.

Outlaw: The Saga of Afeni and Tupac Shakur, from The Defiant Ones director Allen Hughes is a five-part series looking at the mother and son. Told through the eyes of the people who knew them best, the series explores their message of freedom, equality, persecution and justice.

Pride is a six-part docuseries chronicling the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in America through the lens of history, pop culture and politics. Produced by Christine Vachon’s Killer Films and Refinery 29, each episode will be directed by a different LGBTQ director and will be exec produced by Vachon and Sydney Foos of Killer Films, and Refinery29’s Amy Emmerich, Stone Roberts and Alex Stapleton.

The Most Dangerous Animal of All, based on the book written by Gary Stewart, will explore one man’s search for the father who abandoned him, only to uncover the worst: he believes his father is the Zodiac killer, one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. The four-part series is produced by Ross Dinerstein (The Innocent Man) and director Kief Davidson (The Ivory Game) with both exec producing.

Another book adaptation is Errol Morris’ A Wilderness of Error from The Jinx producer and Blumhouse Television. The six-part series tells the story of Army Surgeon Jeffrey MacDonald, who is sent to prison for killing his family, but who may be innocent. Smerling directs and executive produces the series alongside Blumhouse Television and Wilshire Studios with Jason Blum, Marci Wiseman, Jeremy Gold, Mary Lisio, Dawn Olmstead, Jessica Grimshaw, Rachel Horovitz and Michael Jackson. Brian Murphy is co-executive producer.

Lightbox is producing Hip Hop Untold, a six-part series of the power brokers who operate from the shadows of hip hop. It will look at the paradox of America’s criminalization of the genre and fascination with the street culture that exists within it and is told from the view of the streets. Jonathan Chinn and Simon Chinn exec produce alongside Eugene “Big U” Henley, Jimmy Chriss, Malcolm Spellman, Douglas Banker and Rashidi Natara Harper.

Finally, FX is launching a feature doc about female stand-up comedians. Women In Comedy, from Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie director Andrea Nevins, will examine the changing landscape for women in stand up through intimate interviews and will also explore the form in the post #MeToo world. Ross Dinerstein, Jim Serpico and Nevins exec produce, with Jessica Kirson serving as producer.

“FX has long sought to give artists a platform to showcase their individual, uncompromising vision and its new docuseries and features are an opportunity to extend that ambition in our collaboration with non-fiction talent,” said Grad. “It’s been tremendously rewarding to partner with The New York Times and Hulu on The Weekly, which has excelled creatively and is hitting series-high ratings. Under the guidance of FX’s Jonathan Frank and J.J. Klein, we are now honored to partner with these new teams to create docuseries and features that will join FX’s legacy of fearless and groundbreaking programming.”

View this article at Deadline.