Stills from Brown Girls via Fatimah Asgar.

The web series Brown Girls, written by Fatimah Asghar and directed by Samantha Bailey, was released in February to a wildly enthusiastic reception. Now their story is jumping to cable.


Elle reports that Asghar and Bailey have signed a development deal with HBO to create an untitled series based on Brown Girls. In an interview, Bailey explained why the move is big, but necessary in a larger sense:

The web series world felt like a safe space where I could experiment and explore all the complexities of being a human. Black and brown people and queer folks don’t get that opportunity or rarely get that opportunity in TV. It’s been a really great space for me. But I do think that TV allows you to reach a larger audience. Representation is real and I think the more these shows get greenlit, the more creators get to show these different aspects of people. We’re so used to being pigeonholed and having these one-dimensional characters. The more these stories exist and the more we get to see them, the more we’ll be humanized.


The first season of Brown Girls is on Open TV now.