Dave McNary/Variety:
Columbus Short, Evan Ross and newcomer Erica Peeples are starring in the love story “True to the Game,” Variety has learned exclusively.
Vivica A. Fox, Nelsan Ellis (“True Blood”) and Keith Robinson are also starring.
Short is also producing with Leah Daniels-Butler in association with Imani Films and Short’s Great Picture Show Productions. Manny Halley, CEO of Imani Entertainment Group, is exec producing.
Danny Green is directing from a script by Preston Whitmore (“This Christmas”), based on the Teri Woods novel and centered on the tumultuous relationship between a young woman who hails from the projects of Philadelphia and a crime-laden young millionaire who introduces her to his fast-paced and dangerous lifestyle. The story is set in ‘80s Philadelphia as the couple navigates through the unforgiving and cyclical world of sex, drugs and money.
Principal filming began recently in Los Angeles.
Short was a regular on ABC’s “Scandal.” Ross will be seen next in “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2.”
IEG has worked with Keyshia Cole and Shyne and on the TV movie “Truth Be Told” starring Regina King and Blair Underwood. Great Picture Show Productions exec produced “Stomp the Yard 2: Homecoming” and “Strange Fruit.”
Daniels-Butler was the casting director on “Empire.”
© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC