Big Beach to produce an untitled Nneka Onuorah project

Big Beach announced today that they are developing and will produce an untitled feature film from an original idea from Nneka Onuorah (MEGAN THEE STALLION: IN HER WORDS, LIZZO’S WATCH OUT FOR BIG GRRRLS, THE LEGEND OF THE UNDERGROUND ) with Christina Nieves (GENERATION, GREASE: RISE OF THE PINK LADIES) tapped to write the screenplay. Fresh off of the release of her feature doc about Megan Thee Stallion for Amazon Prime Video, Emmy-winner Onuorah has identified her first narrative feature.

In a musical comedy set in the present-day South, a young woman’s reality is turned inside out when a school project unveils a powerful history of magic and sorcery in her family. Facing an ancient enemy bent on her destruction, she must learn to harness her own newly discovered mystical powers to protect her family.

“With Holiday films being my favorite growing up, I’m elated to embark on this directing endeavor with the amazing team at Big Beach,” Onuorah stated.

“Nneka came to us with a vision for a new kind of Halloween film – one that mashes up the power of identity, the legacy of our ancestors, and the energy of youth – all stirred with the same pop-driven brilliance that she brought to her work with Meg and Lizzo. For Nneka’s first narrative feature, it made perfect sense to pair her with Christina, whose writing we knew and loved from her work on our show VIDA. She has the exact sensibility – big ideas and biting wit – and background in the South – to complement Nneka.” Stated Michael B. Clark and Tim Foley, partners at Big Beach.

Nneka Onuorah is an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, producer, and activist of Nigerian-American descent who champions social justice in her projects. She is best known for her GLAAD award-nominated debut feature, THE SAME DIFFERENCE, a documentary about internalized homophobia within the US black lesbian community. Her features include HBO’s THE LEGEND OF THE UNDERGROUND and Amazon’s MEGAN THEE STALLION: IN HER WORDS. Her series projects include Amazon’s LIZZO’S WATCH OUT FOR BIG GRRRLS, Viceland’s MY HOUSE, Netflix’s FIRST AND LAST, Higher Ground’s THE G WORD, Lionsgate’s BLACK EQUALS BEAUTY, and TRUTH BE TOLD.

With a passion for writing intersectional stories that feature people of color, Christina most recently wrote and developed an adaptation of the novel WHAT HAPPENED TO RUTHY RAMIREZ? for Paramount TV. She previously wrote on the series GREASE: RISE OF THE PINK LADIES for Paramount+ and GENERATION for Max, in addition to developing her original comedy, DECKS, with Field Trip Productions, and a limited drama series for Showtime called MACHO that was based on the life of boxer Hector “Macho” Camacho.

Big Beach’s latest film OUT OF MY MIND released on Disney+ over Thanksgiving and was recently nominated for two Critics Choice Awards. Upcoming releases include BECOMING LED ZEPPLIN, out in February by Sony Pictures Classics, and Eva Victor’s SORRY, BABY which will premiere at Sundance 2025. They recently wrapped production on the adaptation of the popular novel by Jay Parini, BORGES AND ME directed by Marc Turteltaub and starring Fionn Whitehead, Luis Gnecco, and Alan Cumming. Alongside Walden, Big Beach is in development on the best-selling novel THE LAST ANIMAL by Ramona Ausubel with Ry Russo-Young set to direct. Sarah Rothschild will pen the script. In TV, they are behind the popular kid’s show PARK PLAYERS on Youtube and are currently developing a series based on Alexandra Tanner’s critically acclaimed novel, WORRY with Lesley Arfin showrunning.

Onuorah is repped by UTA, Ascend Artist Representation, and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz.

Nieves is repped by Verve and Priya Verma at Yorn Levine.

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