Billy Porter to direct queer teen comedy from Gabrielle Union's production company for Amazon Studios

Gabrielle Union’s production company, I’ll Have Another, has sold a queer teen comedy film to Amazon Studios, tentatively titled To Be Real. Tony winner, previous Emmy winner, and current Emmy nominee Billy Porter is attached to direct the original script by Ryan Shiraki (On My Block) as a part of the deal.

The “edgy, laugh out loud comedy” has been described as an “LGBTQ Superbad crossed with Booksmart.” According to its logline, “To Be Real follows three queer friends who escape their hometown for Pride Weekend in New York City where they discover that life over the rainbow is an insane, raunchy, often divisive, but ultimately FIERCE non-stop party.”

Porter has spent the summer shooting his feature directorial debut, What If? for Orion Pictures. What If? is a queer coming-of-age drama, which focuses on “a high school senior posting on social media about his crush on Kelsa, a trans girl at his school, resulting in the internet encouraging him to pursue the relationship.” Porter is currently nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of Pray Tell in the final season of Netflix’s Pose, and will appear as the fairy godmother (Fab G) in Amazon’s forthcoming Cinderella adaptation.

Union will produce To Be Real, with Kian Gass, Porter, and Shiraki serving as executive producers. Other projects currently in development at Union’s I’ll Have Another include: Tamara Winfrey-Harris’ The Sisters Are Alright: Changing the Broken Narrative of Black Women In America, George M. Johnson’s All Boys Aren’t Blue, and a half-hour comedy called New Money for Showtime. The Bring It On star’s next film appearances will be in the romantic comedy The Perfect Find, and the Disney+ remake of Cheaper By The Dozen, where she will co-parent with Zach Braff.