The Book Emmett Till Optioned for ABC Limited Series

Over the years, interest in the Emmett Till case has only increased, and Hollywood has taken notice as well. My book, Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement was optioned by Rosanna Grace and Nicole Tabs at Serendipity Group Inc. in early 2015. David B. Clark, Alex Foster, and John Powers Middleton soon came on board as executive producers. Independently that same year, Jay-Z, Jay Brown, Will Smith, Ty Ty Smith, James Lassiter, Aaron Kaplan, and Dana Honor made a deal for a six-part miniseries about the Till case, and soon the two groups merged their projects and Women of the Movement, season one of which is based primarily on this book, was born.

On the sixty-fifth anniversary of Emmett Till’s murder in 2020, ABC gave the official green light to the project. This limited series focuses on Mamie Till-Mobley, who devoted her life to seeking justice for her son following his brutal killing in the Jim Crow South. Filming of the series, which took place primarily in Greenwood, Mississippi, and Memphis, Tennessee, wrapped in April 2021. The series premiered on ABC on Thursday, January 6, 2022 with two back-to-back episodes. Two more episodes were shown on January 13, and January 20. The screenplay for the series was written by Marissa Jo Cerar, who serves as creator and showrunner, Erica L. Anderson, Christian Martinez, Sylvia Franklin, and Hayley Tyler. The episodes were individually directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, Tina Mabry, Julie Dash, and Kasi Lemmons. Cast includes Adrienne Warren, Cedric Joe, Glynn Turman, Tonya Pinkins, Ray Fisher, Timothy Hutton, Gil Bellows, Chris Coy, Carter Jenkins, Julia McDermott, and Amanda Jaros.

At the end of August 2021, four and a half months into post production and after the episodes were for the most part edited, Kapital Entertainment also optioned Mamie Till-Mobley’s book, Death of Innocence, and thus it became part of the project at this point. This move was made after a few family members, through their attorney, contacted Kaptial in April 2021 through a “cease and desist” letter. Because there was no legal ground for this request, Kapital did not comply with the demands, but months later, when contact between these parties resumed, the family renewed their hopes that the studio allow them to be involved with the series. After some negotiations, Kapital allowed the three family members on board, and contracts were signed, as mentioned above, in late August 2021, four months before the series premiered. Three family members became “consultants” at this point, even though all filming had wrapped and the episodes were mostly edited. That being the case, the consultant role of the family barely affected the script or content of the series, if at all, but appears to have focused primarily on marketing it. Despite some bad feeling between both sides during these early talks, the three family members seem pleased with the production and have appeared at several events promoting the series. Besides some casual conversations between the screenwriter and the late Airickca Gordon-Taylor shortly after the series was announced in the summer of 2019, there had been no Till family involvement in this project whatsoever prior to late August 2021. The foregoing is important to clear up confusion as to why all news stories prior to August 2021 (and most thereafter), only mention my book as the inspiration for the series, while the opening credits for each episode list both books having provided the basis for the series.

After a first run on ABC, each episode began streaming separately on Hulu, where they can still be seen. The series can also be purchased for streaming on Amazon Prime.

A recent book by a Till family member contains several falsehoods about me and other Till scholars and will be answered thoroughly in a second edition of my book.

Women of the Movement News

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