LOS ANGELES – May 26, 2022 – Village Roadshow Television is pleased to announce the development and production of a limited series that will chronicle the rise and impact of one of America’s foremost civil rights, religious and political figures, Reverend Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. The project will highlight, define, and provide context to the milestones that have made Reverend Jackson a leader in shaping movements for empowerment, peace, civil rights, gender equality, and economic and social justice for over six decades.
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group CEO, Steve Mosko in announcing the series stated, “Reverend Jackson has lived an extraordinary life, not only through his actions and deeds for America as a nation but also based on what he has personally witnessed and participated in around the world, from the best our country and the world has to offer to some of the lowest points in our history.”
“I have been blessed with a voice, calling and passion to work towards contributing to the greater good of humanity,” said Reverend Jackson. “Throughout my journey there have been great triumphs and disappointments, but we never lost sight of our goals or the tens of thousands of people who directly worked with us to try to make a positive impact on the world.”
Village Roadshow Television will work directly with Reverend Jackson, Jacqueline Jackson and their family to develop the project, preserve the integrity of the story and ensure an authentic perspective. The series is being developed and will be executive produced by Yusef D. Jackson and William F. Keys. The project was brought into Village Roadshow Television and the deal negotiated by Michael Linowes, EVP, Business Affairs. Plans currently call for the development of the show and casting of the lead that will play Reverend Jackson.
From abject poverty in Greenville, South Carolina, the site of the one of the south’s last recorded racial lynchings when Reverend Jackson was six years old, to working with Martin Luther King Jr., to two presidential runs, freeing hostages around the world, and engaging nearly every major world leader or religious figure of our time, Reverend Jackson has been a singular figure in the zeitgeist of the 20th century and beyond.
Reverend Jackson excelled in his civil rights work under Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and as his leadership grew, he transcended borders globally. In 1984, Reverend Jackson negotiated the release of a captured U.S. fighter pilot in Syria. Later that year, Jackson freed 22 Americans and 26 political prisoners from Cuba after negotiations with Fidel Castro. In 1990, Jackson secured the release of 200+ American, British and French hostages from Saddam Hussein prior to the Persian Gulf War. He also freed three U.S. soldiers during the Kosovo conflict. On August 9, 2000, President Bill Clinton awarded Reverend Jackson the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. For his work in human and civil rights and nonviolent social change, Reverend Jackson has received more than 40 honorary doctorate degrees. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Regents Park College at Oxford University in the UK in November 2007 and received an Honorary Fellowship from Edge Hill University in Liverpool, England. In March 2010, Reverend Jackson was inducted into England’s prestigious Cambridge Union Society. In April 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. In 2012, Jackson freed two American hostages from Gambia after meeting with President Yahya Jammeh. In 2021, Reverend Jackson was awarded France’s highest order of merit, Legion d’Honneur, by President Emmanuel Macron. Reverend Jackson is also a two-time Grammy award nominee and a one-time Grammy award winner.
A separate documentary on Reverend Jackson is also in the works.
About Village Roadshow Entertainment Group
Village Roadshow Entertainment Group is a leading global entertainment company building premier, content-rich businesses in the entertainment industry. VREG employs innovative strategies to produce, acquire and deliver intellectual properties with timeless appeal, while maximizing group-wide strategic and operational efficiencies. VREG is the holding company of Village Roadshow Pictures and Village Roadshow Television. Under its leadership by Vine Alternative Investments, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group diversified its portfolio to include financing and producing projects across multiple formats including film, television and digital.