The life of former Super Bowl quarterback and activist Colin Kaepernick is becoming a Netflix mini-series – and it comes with some Milwaukee connections.
Netflix today announced the six-episode limited series, executive produced by Kaepernick and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay ("Selma," "13th"). According to The Hollywood Reporter, the mini-series – titled "Colin in Black & White" – will hone in on the high school years of the future San Francisco 49ers star quarterback and Black Lives Matter activist, growing up and developing as a football player while discovering his identity as a young Black man growing up in a white adopted family. Kaepernick will serve as the narrator for the scripted show.
He would grow up to play in the Super Bowl and realize you never stop fighting for your dreams.
She would grow up to tell stories that matter to millions.
From @Kaepernick7 & @ava, the dramatic scripted series Colin In Black & White follows the H.S. years of Colin Kaepernick. pic.twitter.com/eb75RkuW2H — Netflix (@netflix) June 29, 2020
Kaepernick's life story already comes with a Wisconsin connection: He was born in Milwaukee in 1987 before he was placed for adoption at birth and taken in at five weeks old by Rick and Teresa Kaepernick. The family lived in Fond du Lac for four more years before the Kaepernicks moved from Wisconsin out to Turlock, California – but even though he left the state, he famously grew up as a Green Bay Packers fan.
It’s been a pleasure working with @ava, @StarrburyMike, and the entire writing team on this project for over a year now.
I look forward to sharing these moments of my life with all of you! https://t.co/IBYXQb69OH — Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) June 29, 2020
Kaepernick's childhood isn't the only way Milwaukee plays into "Colin in Black & White," however. The Netflix limited series comes written and executive produced by Michael Starrbury, a Milwaukee native who grew up in the Hillside housing projects and has now evolved into one of the hotter screenwriting names in Hollywood, making his feature film debut with the 2013 coming-of-age drama "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete" before earning an Emmy nomination for Netflix's acclaimed Central Park Five limited series drama "When They See Us" and now providing the screenplay for "The Come Up," a newly announced heist comedy directed by recent Oscar winner Matthew A. Cherry (the animated short film "Hair Love").
Here's the story of how I started working on "Colin in Black and White". (I'm paraphrasing a bit.)
*Phones rings. It's Ava.*
Me: Hey.
Ava: Hey. You're writing a show about Colin Kaepernick and running the room.
Me: �`�
*The end.* — MICHAEL �--��--��--"�--��--��--*�--��--��--� (@StarrburyMike) June 29, 2020
It's uncertain yet how much of Kaepernick's Wisconsin history will make it on screen, but we'll find out when the limited series hits Netflix. No release date has been announced yet.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
