Colin Kaepernick is on his way toward becoming a media mogul. On Monday, the activist and former NFL star signed a first-look deal with Disney, according to Deadline. The development arrives on the heels of Kaepernick’s announcement that he’s working on a different show about his life with Ava DuVernay for Netflix.
Kaepernick’s Disney deal will be ushered in with an ESPN docuseries about his life, tracing his journey from star quarterback to political lightning rod in 2016, when he began protesting police brutality by taking a knee ahead of games during the national anthem. Kaepernick’s political stance essentially blacklisted him from the NFL, pushing the athlete to turn his attention to his nonprofit, Know Your Rights Camp, as well as a deal with Nike and a spot on Medium’s board of directors. Now Hollywood has formally come calling.
“I am excited to announce this historic partnership with Disney across all of its platforms to elevate Black and Brown directors, creators, storytellers, and producers, and to inspire the youth with compelling and authentic perspectives,” Kaepernick said in a statement, per Deadline. “I look forward to sharing the docuseries on my life story, in addition to many other culturally impactful projects we are developing.”
Kaepernick’s deal extends across Disney platforms, the outlet notes, including ESPN, Hulu, and Pixar. The docuseries, which will be produced by Jemele Hill, Libby Geist, Kevin Merida and Connor Schell, does not yet have a release date. It’s unclear if it will arrive before or after Colin in Black & White, the Netflix series Kaepernick created and will produce alongside DuVernay. That series will revolve around Kaepernick’s high school years and will be penned by Emmy-nominated When They See Us writer Michael Starrbury. It also does not yet have a reported production start date, but is likely one of dozens of newly announced Netflix projects execs will attempt to move forward in spite of the pandemic.
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