Netflix Developing Hip Hop Musical with Will Smith and Queen Latifah Producing

Netflix has announced that it is developing a hip hop musical film with Solvan "Slick" Naim, a Brooklyn-native Algerian-American filmmaker and rapper, directing the film, from a script he co-wrote with Dave Broome.

The film will will be produced by David Broome and Yong Yam for 25/7 Productions and Shakim Compere and Queen Latifah for Flavor Unit Entertainment. Overbrook Entertainment's Will Smith, James Lassiter and Caleeb Pinkett will executive produce.

The film is described as a contemporary, musical take on Romeo and Juliet set against the urban rhythms of New York- the love story follows a young waitress from the streets of Brooklyn and an aspiring musician from a wealthy family whose unconventional romance forces them to confront their life choices.

Solvan "Slick" Naim is an award-winning Algerian-American writer, director, and rapper from Bushwick, Brooklyn. His debut feature, Full Circle (in which he wrote, co-directed, starred, edited and produced) won 5 festival awards including the Audience Award at the Urbanworld Festival and was acquired by EOne. At 22, he became the youngest feature film producer, with the lowest budget, registered with the New York Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting at the time.

His short film, Stanhope, which he wrote and directed, was one of five shorts selected by HBO for their HBO Short Film Competition and took home the grand prize for Best Film. The film won several other festivals including NBC Universal's Short Fest, receiving the Best Director and Audience Awards. Slick was selected by Sony Pictures, FOX, and NBC as a finalist in their Diverse Directors TV Program in 2015/2016 and has since directed on the Netflix series, THE GET DOWN with Baz Luhrmann, POWER on STARZ, SNOWFALL for FX, BLACKLIST on NBC as well as many others. His upcoming comedy series IT'S BRUNO which he wrote, directed and stars in premieres on Netflix May 17.