Essence magazine's origin story will be the subject of an HBO Max post-Civil Rights period drama series

Deadline

The groundbreaking lifestyle magazine for Black women, which launched in May 1970, will become the subject of an untitled TV series that Essence co-founder Edward Lewis is producing. Lewis is chairman and publisher emeritus of Essence Communications Inc., one of the largest African-American owned communications companies in the United States. "Set amid the changing social and cultural landscape of post-civil rights era America, the series is inspired by the relationships between the men who founded the iconic women’s magazine, Essence, and the women who were the creative force behind it, as they create something mainstream America has never seen before," per Deadline. "The show will tell the story of a Black startup before 'startup' was a term and explores universal themes of love, loss and the pursuit of the American Dream."