Lee Daniels is working on a new tv show for Fox. ‘Star’ is the story of three young Atlanta women who all dream of making it big as a girl group, and will showcase the allure and heartache of the cut-throat music industry, while also exploring cultural themes from a new perspective.
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Coming off the success of Empire, one must think what other stories need to be told. I personally think the following should be the common threads on the show.
1- Show the euphoria of the signing. Artists who get signed are generally over the moon when they sign. Show the three girls entering into their label home and how they are courted. Give play to that side. It will matter later.
2- Depict the factions of people that form around them accurately. Show the manager who can’t control a member. Show the best friend that hangs around the group awaiting the castoffs of jewelry, clothes etc. Show the snarky side of promotion. There will always be a joke or two there.
3- Show the men and women who take on the challenge of working a project from bolts and nuts with new artists. What happens on their first photo shoot. How do they handle their first press day? Have them sit down with a business manager and wonder what is going on. Teach the word recoup!
4- Show how the dynamic of a group changes when stardom comes-a- knocking. Don’t sugar coat the ride. Someone is bound to think they are better than the group as a whole. (Destiny’s Child anyone?) Show their crash course in music business 101. The world is filled with auto tune. Have them go into the studio and record something one way and have them listen to a final mix that is nothing like they envisioned.
5 – Finally, show what happens when a single stiffs. Give them the giant hit. Then give them the huge flop. Have them face the mortality of it. That would be a great ‘Empire‘ crossover episode. Surely, the girls on this show will be signed to Empire Records.
This is the first show to come out of Daniels’ overall development deal with 20th Century Fox Television. We shall see what will come next. Let’s see what is next.