Young Love

**Young Love** is an American family animated sitcom web television series created by American film director-writer Matthew A. Cherry, based on his Academy Award® winning animated short film, *Hair Love*, exclusively for HBO Max as an advertised Original series.

## **Premise**

*Young Love* expands on the world and fleshes out the Young family – including millennial parents Stephen and Angela, their daughter Zuri and her pet cat Rocky – as they juggle careers, co-parenting, social issues and multi-generational dynamics while striving to make a better life for themselves.

## **Characters**

### Main

* Stephen Love
* Angela Young
* Zuri Young-Love

## **Production**

### Conception

In 2017, Cherry created a lone Kickstarter campaign for his animated short film titled "*Hair Love*". The campaign surpassed its initial goal of $75,000 and raised over $300,000. He co-directed the film with Everett Downing and Bruce W. Smith, with Peter Ramsey and Pixar animator Frank Abney serving as executive producers. On March 20, 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced that they had picked up Hair Love, which was released in theaters alongside *The Angry Birds Movie 2* on August 14, 2019. The film won him the 2020 Academy Award for Best Animated Short.

### Development

On June 17, 2020, Matthew A. Cherry, the writer and director of the Oscar-winning animated short *Hair Love*, signed a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television.

Under the multi-year deal, Cherry will create, develop, and produce new material for multiple platforms, including cable and streaming. He will produce the future series via his company, Cherry Lane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television, Warner Horizon Scripted Television, Warner Bros. Animation or Blue Ribbon Content, depending on the platform. Warner Bros. International Television Distribution will distribute the series outside the U.S.

### Release

On July 7, 2020, HBO Max has ordered a 12-episode season of “Young Love,” an animated series based on the characters from Matthew A. Cherry and Sony Pictures Animation’s Oscar-winning animated short, “Hair Love.”

“I am beyond excited to be joining the Warner Bros. Television family in this exciting new capacity,” Cherry said. “It’s an important time to be a Black creative working in this industry, and I look forward to creating impactful projects and partnering with other talented marginalized voices in our community.”

Creator Cherry will be the showrunner of the series with Carl Jones, the animation creative best known for “*The Boondocks*” and “*Black Dynamite*”; Blue Key Entertainment’s Monica A. Young, who produced “Hair Love,” will executive produce the streaming service’s new show alongside Lion Forge Animation’s David Steward II and Carl Reed.

“I am beyond excited to continue telling the story of Stephen, Angela and Zuri and further explore the family dynamics of a young Black millennial family we established in our short film Hair Love as an animated series,” said Cherry. “Couldn’t ask for better partners in Sony Pictures Animation and HBO Max in helping us get ‘Young Love’ out to the world.”

“’Hair Love’ struck a chord that is still resonating deeply with audiences of all ages,” said Billy Wee, HBO Max’s senior vice president of original animation. “Matthew and Sony Animation’s creative voices are a welcomed addition to the HBO Max family and we can’t wait to bring this joyous story to the world.”

Sony Pictures Animation executive VP of creative and “Hair Love” producer Karen Rupert Toliver called it a “privilege” to continue working with Cherry, adding that he has “gift for tapping into meaningful stories that touch our hearts. I personally can’t wait to collectively laugh and cry with the Young family.”

## Trivia

* Cherry has directed episodes of CBS’ *The Red Line* and ABC’s *Whiskey Cavalier*.
	+ Cherry’s additional television credits include directing episodes of “Black-ish,” “Mixed-ish,” “The Unicorn,” “Saved by the Bell” and “The Last O.G.,” as well as writing and directing the web series “Almost 30” and “Almost Home.”