Lifetime is entering the microdrama game with a series tied to one of its upcoming original movies.
The show is called Tides of Temptation, and it counts Taye Diggs among its executive producers. The microdrama will be a digital offshoot/world expansion for the cable network’s movie Terry McMillan Presents: Paradise With You, starring and exec produced by Diggs.
The microdrama and the movie — one of three coming to Lifetime’s “Love of a Lifetime” film franchise — were part of Lifetime’s announcements at A+E Global Media’s upfront presentation Wednesday.
Diggs is executive producing Tides of Temptation with Autumn Frederici, Shelby Stone and Jake Helgren of The Ninth House (which is also behind Paradise With You). The microdrama, shot for vertical video and with very short episodes, will follow a young woman (Mea Wilkerson) who falls for an athlete (Q Stenline, aka SwagBoyQ) on the Caribbean island of Nevis. Troy Brookins (who’s also a co-producer) and David John Craig also star. Gary and Edmund Entin direct, from a script by Nanea Miyata with a story by Ejay Jamison.
“When we first heard the pitch from Autumn and Taye for a micro drama connected to a movie, it felt like a smart, strategic way to enter the vertical space,” said Rob Sharenow, president of programming for A+E Global Media. “It allows us to expand the world of the film while meeting audiences wherever they are, without compromising on storytelling quality or production value.”
Said Diggs, “We approached this as a fully realized dramatic project, not just short-form content. It’s an opportunity to bring emotional depth and visual ambition into a format designed for today’s audiences.”
Lifetime also announced deals with Queen Latifah and Taraji P. Henson to produce original movies for the channel. The other two “Love of a Lifetime” films are Love, Again, starring Valerie Bertinelli, Henry Czerny and Eric McCormack, and When I Said I Do, executive produced by Clint and Lisa Hartman Black.
