Director X & Andrew Burrows-Trotman Develop New Drama Series PRINCIPAL

Renowned music video director Julien Christian Lutz, better known as Director X, and burgeoning Canadian screenwriter Andrew Burrows-Trotman are announcing they are in development on PRINCIPAL a new original drama TV series.

Pitched as Scandal meets Dangerous Minds the hour-long serialized PRINCIPAL follows an ambitious young teacher who is given the opportunity of a lifetime to fast track his career by taking the job no one wants as the new Principal at a gentrifying inner city school. This new Principal soon realizes that he may be in way over his head trying to balance the agendas of a student body in flux, a repressive administration and an aggressive PTA, not to mention a very dysfunctional faculty.

When asked why his interest in this subject matter, X said, "My cousin is a Principal in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in the city. The stories she would tell me were mind blowing. Parents, students, teachers, administration, and the community. Wow! As I watch that neighborhood gentrify, and the projects are torn down for condos it dawned on me that there is a show here the world will love to see. The very real challenges of educating children, the personal lives of those who teach, and now the introduction of middle class families into what has long been a poor working class neighborhood present endless possibilities for stories. Principal is the show that tackles these challenges, holding a mirror to the school system and the transition that is happening to cities all over the world. When I thought of who to write this, Burrows was the first to come to mind. We are already friends and collaborators, he grew up in public housing and knows all too well the kinds of things that would go on in a school like this. I am very excited to work with him to create this world."

Lutz, a Toronto native, has directed more than 100 music videos for superstars such as Drake, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Justin Bieber, Beyonc, Kanye West, Usher and Rihanna. His music videos have won many MTV Video Music Awards and MuchMusic Video Awards. PRINCIPAL marks Lutz' second foray into directing for TV after recently directing an episode for the fourth season of the Syfy network's "Lost Girl".

Andrew Burrows-Trotman, an AFI protg, previously penned the screenplay for the Rockmond Dunbar directed Showtime TV movie, "The Great Commission," starring Obba Babatund, Adam Clark and Clint Howard. He also wrote and directed "Amma," a short drama that screened at the 2006 Reel World Film Festival.

Burrows-Trotman is elated to work with X on this project, "I sparked to the idea as soon as X pitched it". Deeply honored that Director X chose him as a collaborator, Burrows-Trotman said, "X's body of work is nothing less than legendary in my humble opinion. I am excited to see how his one-of-a-kind visual creativity translates to the small screen! PRINCIPAL is a grittier Boston Public. This show will be a suspenseful, melodramatic soap opera capturing how inner city schools are being rapidly transformed in urban centers throughout the nation."

PRINCIPAL is currently being developed as a pitch to take out to select broadcast and cable networks as well as studios.

For more information, visit directorxfilms.com

SOURCE Director X

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