New Scripted Series based on bestselling book by Tim Ballard, Penned by Remi Adeleke and Cody Newton

LOS ANGELES (August 19, 2020) — StoweAway Productions, in conjunction with the Founder and CEO of Operation Underground Railroad, Tim Ballard, multiple Emmy® award winning Director/Producer, Nick Nanton, and Producer, Brian Norton, are developing a show adapted from the bestselling book, Slave Stealers: True Accounts Of Slave Rescues Then & Now.

The first season, tentatively titled “Edenton,” will tell the story of Harriet Jacobs who serves as thecenterpiece of the book Slave Stealers.  Harriet was born into slavery in the early 1800s, fought her way to freedom in unbelievably death defying ways and became an abolitionist and the first known female slave to document the sexual harassment and abuse she faced while enslaved.

“Slave Stealers” will help bring Harriet’s story to life on the screen and elaborate on the seven years she spent in hiding as a fugitive slave, her escape to the north, and the work she did with Frederick Douglas and the abolitionist movement before and after the Civil War. The majority of the season is set in Edenton, North Carolina, the location of her captivity as a slave.

Remi Adeleke and Cody Newton have been tapped to write the pilot, which is currently in development. After serving as a Navy SEAL, Remi (a descendent of Edenton slaves) transitioned into the entertainment industry where he is best known for his work as a creative consultant on Transformers: The Last Knight, Ray James for Apple TV+ and the action blockbuster 6 Underground for Netflix. As a writer Remi personally penned his Harper Collins published memior, Transformed, which chronicles  his journey from Africa to the Bronx and beyond. Newton is an Oxford graduate and Black List Screenwriting Lab fellow. He has sold, developed and produced content for major brands such as HBO Films, Warner Bros. Television and MGM.

Both Adeleke and Newton are repped by APA’s David Saunders and Dan Black of Greenberg Traurig, LLP.

Tim Ballard is repped by WME.

While “SlaveStealers” Season 1: Edenton will tell the story of Harriet Jacobs in Edenton, NC, future seasons will be set up as anthologies, telling the incredible stories of other slaves and slave stealers from as early as the beginning of time to now.

StoweAway Productions is founded by Emmy winning producer Nick Nanton, CEO of the internationally acclaimed human trafficking organization, Tim Ballard and Nick Norton. The name Stowaway was named to pay homage to Harriet Beecher Stowe. In 1852, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a best-selling book that helped spark the abolitionist movement. According to legend, during a meeting between Stowe and President Lincoln, he said to her, “So, you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war.” StoweAway Productions uses her namesake in the title as a constant reminder of their mission… to continue fighting the war against slavery through media. It is the goal of StoweAway Productions to create media that changes the world, recognizes injustice, gives a voice to the oppressed, and empowers viewers with the knowledge needed to seek change.