NBA Legend Charles Barkley And RTG Features To Produce The Line Scripted Series

RTG Features, the newly established sister studio to basketball media leader SLAM, has announced that it is partnering with NBA legend Charles Barkley's Round Mound Media to produce the serialized one-hour scripted show "The Line," based on the bestselling book Scandals of '51 from author Charley Rosen. RTG will introduce the series to buyers at the virtual American Film Market, which is running this week.

Documenting the explosive real-life sports gambling crime saga that rocked the nation post-World War II, THE LINE is a serialized one-hour historical drama that examines America's loss of innocence through the eyes of two college basketball players. One who recognizes the hypocrisy of the system he's a part of and dares to use it to his advantage by point shaving; and another who strives to live up to the promise and ideal of sports by playing solely for the love of the game. The gambling scandal brought down the powerhouse team from City College of New York (CCNY), one of the most diverse and successful basketball programs of the era.

The show, which will be RTG's first foray into scripted episodic television, will be executive produced by Barkley and his Round Mound Media, with Marc Perman and Randy Becker producing, and Aron Phillips and Matt Aronson producing for RTG Features. Scandals of '51 was adapted by Branyon Davis and Kevin A. Garnett. Davis, who met Garnett while the two played Division I football together at Stanford University, wrote the pilot and will also produce.

The deal for the book rights was brokered by Michael Cendejas of the Lynn Pleshette Literary Agency.

"I'm a big fan of Charley Rosen's books, but Scandals of '51 is especially timely to turn into a television series," said Barkley, co-founder of Round Mound Media. "It's impossible to understand the present without knowing the past, and stories like this one - about cheating, racism and how easily amateur sports can be corrupted - are as true today as they were 70 years ago."

"Branyon has done an amazing job expanding on the world from Charley's iconic book into a captivating and timely pilot," said Phillips, COO at both RTG and SLAM. "We knew we wanted to go big with our first scripted television project, and we're excited to bring in a seasoned showrunner to pair with him and bring this story to life."

Barkley is an NBA legend and Hall of Famer who is currently an Emmy Award-winning analyst on TNT's "Inside the NBA." His latest project, Dreams, is a series of short films that unearth hidden pieces of Black history with director Sheldon Candis (ESPN 30 for 30's Baltimore Boys) and Jesse Dylan's Wondros. Barkley previously hosted "American Race" on TNT and founded Round Mound Media in 2018.

RTG is currently in post-production on an upcoming documentary on legendary basketball coach John Thompson and his Georgetown University program. They are co-financing and co-producing the film, which is directed and produced by Kirk Fraser (ESPN 30 for 30's Without Bias) and his May 3rd Films. Jimmy Jenkins (Showtime's Basketball County: In the Water) and Ronny Thompson, THE SON of Coach Thompson and former Hoyas basketball player and assistant coach, also produce.

RTG, along with indie distributor 1091 Pictures, previously acquired North American distribution rights to the Stephon Marbury feature documentary A KID FROM CONEY ISLAND following its 2019 Tribeca Film Festival premiere. The film was produced by Forest Whitaker and Nina Yang Bongiovi of Significant Productions, along with Jason Samuels. NBA superstar Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman of Thirty Five Ventures executive produced, with RTG and 1091 releasing the film in a short theatrical run earlier this year, before going to Netflix in an exclusive deal, where you can now stream RTG's debut project.

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