AVA DuVERNAY’S CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED HIT DRAMA SERIES “QUEEN SUGAR” SCORES SEASON HIGH RATINGS
AMIRAH VANN JOINS CAST AS GUEST STAR, NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINEE AYOKA CHENZIRA SELECTED AS DIRECTOR OF SEASON FOUR FINALE EPISODE
July 18, 2019
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Los Angeles – OWN’s critically-acclaimed drama series “Queen Sugar,” (Wednesdays at 9 p.m.) from creator and executive producer Ava DuVernay (“When They See Us”), achieved a ratings high with the most recent episode (June 26) achieving a season high 1.59 rating in the key women 25-54 demo. In 2019 to date, “Queen Sugar” ranks among the Top 5 original scripted series on ad-supported cable in women 25-54, and among the Top 2 with African-American women. Through the first three episodes of season four, the series is averaging a 1.56 W25-54 rating with 1,656,000 total viewers.
Amirah Vann (“How To Get Away With Murder”) will make a special appearance in the season four finale. Vann is currently starring as 'Tegan Price' on the long-running series “How To Get Away With Murder” alongside Viola Davis. She previously starred as Ernestine in WGN America’s record-breaking TV show “Underground” for which she received an NAACP Image Award nomination for outstanding supporting actress.
Additionally, NAACP Nominated Director Ayoka Chenzira was hand selected by DuVernay to direct the season four finale. Chenzira joins the all-female directorial line-up marking 35 female filmmakers hired since the series’ debut to date.
Chenzira is an award-winning filmmaker and recognized pioneer in Black independent cinema, currently the Division Chair for the Arts at Spelman College and a graduate of New York University (B.F.A. Film), Columbia University/Teachers College (M.A. Education) and is the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in digital media from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her distinctive body of work spans fiction, documentary, animation, performance, experimental narratives, and interactive cinema. Her film work includes “Alma’s Rainbow,” one of the first 35mm independent films by an African American woman, along with “Hair Piece: A Film For Nappyheaded People” which was inducted into the 2018 National Film Registry, “Zajota and the Boogie Spirit,” “My Own TV" and "HERadventure.” She recently directed an episode of “Greenleaf” and made her television directorial debut on “Queen Sugar” Season Three, for which she was nominated for a NAACP Image Award as Best Director.
Chenzira joins the current ensemble of an all-female line-up including Cheryl Dunye, who also serves as season four producing director, Carmen Marrón, Numa Perrier, Heidi Saman, Bola Ogun, Tchaiko Omawale, Lacey Duke, C. Fitz, Pratibha Parmar, Deborah Kampmeier and Stacey Muhammad.
Catch up on the past three seasons of “Queen Sugar” now available to stream exclusively on Hulu.
Find the season four trailer here: http://www.oprah.com/own-queensugar/queen-sugar-season-4-trailer-video
About Queen Sugar
Queen Sugar was named Best Television Show Drama from the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) for the third consecutive year and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Best Drama Series.
In the series’ fourth season, the contemporary drama returns as the Bordelons find themselves continuing their fight to save their family farm and preserve their father’s legacy as they navigate their own personal journeys. Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) remains in the thick of the trials and tribulations in both her personal and professional life as she continues to battle the Landry family while also trying to ensure Micah’s (Nicholas Ashe) safety and future. Nova (Rutina Wesley) publishes her memoir and while she goes on a book tour around the country sharing her family secrets and shaking things up at home, she unexpectedly encounters significant relationships from her past along the way. Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) is managing fatherhood and his complicated relationship with ex-girlfriend Darla (Bianca Lawson) after learning he is not the biological father of his son, Blue (Ethan Hutchison), and is encouraged by an old friend to create opportunities for formerly incarcerated men.
The expansive cast also includes Tina Lifford as the siblings’ free-spirited Aunt Violet who revealed her Lupus diagnosis to her family along with plans to open her own pie shop; Omar J. Dorsey as Violet’s new husband Hollywood Desonier; and Henry G. Sanders as Prosper Denton, a farmer and longtime friend of the late Bordelon family patriarch, Ernest. Walter Perez plays Romero, Charley’s new romantic interest, while recurring guest star Timon Kyle Durrett portrays Charley’s estranged husband and pro basketball player Davis West. Guests stars include David Alan Grier, Cree Summer, Tevin Campbell, Erica Tazel, Bryan Terrell Clark, and Kendall Clark.
“Queen Sugar” is produced for OWN by Array Filmworks and Harpo Films in association with Warner Horizon Scripted Television. The executive producers are Ava DuVernay, Oprah Winfrey, Paul Garnes and Anthony Sparks. The series is based on the book by Natalie Baszile.
About OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network is the first and only network named for, and inspired by, a single iconic leader. Oprah Winfrey's heart and creative instincts inform the brand and the magnetism of the channel. OWN is a leading destination for premium scripted and unscripted programming from today's most innovative storytellers. OWN’s original scripted series include popular dramas “Queen Sugar,” “Greenleaf,” “The Haves and Have Nots, “If Loving You is Wrong” and upcoming drama series “David Makes Man” from Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney and family saga “Ambitions” from box office hit-maker Will Packer. OWN’s Saturday night unscripted programming lineup includes “Iyanla: Fix My Life,” “Ready to Love,” “Love & Marriage: Huntsville,” “Black Love” and “To Have & To Hold: Charlotte.” OWN connects with its audience wherever they are, inspiring conversation among a global community of like-minded viewers on social media and beyond. Launched on January 1, 2011, OWN is a joint venture between Harpo, Inc. and Discovery, Inc. The venture also includes the award-winning digital platform Oprah.com. Access OWN anytime, anywhere on WatchOWN.tv or across mobile devices and connected TVs. For more information, please visit www.oprah.com/own and https://press.discovery.com/us/own/.
About Warner Horizon Scripted Television
A division of the Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Horizon Scripted Television was founded in 2006 and is one of the entertainment industry’s leading producers of dramatic and comedic programming for the cable and subscription/on-demand marketplace. Series produced by Warner Horizon Scripted Television include Animal Kingdom and Claws for TNT; Cherish the Day, David Makes Man and Queen Sugar for OWN; Fuller House, Medical Police and You for Netflix; Krypton for SYFY; Pennyworth for EPIX; Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists for Freeform; and The Right Stuff for National Geographic.
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