David Makes Man


David Makes Man is an American coming-of-age drama television series that premiered on August 14, 2019 on OWN. In December 2019, OWN renewed the series for a second season.

Premise

David Makes Man follows a 14 year old named David "from the projects who is haunted by the death of his friend and relied on by his hardworking mother to find a way out of poverty."

Cast and characters

Main

Production

Development

On August 16, 2017, it was reported that Oprah Winfrey Network had given the production a straight-to-series order created by Tarell Alvin McCraney.
On June 26, 2018, it was announced that Dee Harris-Lawrence will be the showrunner and set to serve as an executive producer alongside with Tarell Alvin McCraney, Mike Kelley, Melissa Loy, Michael B. Jordan, and Oprah Winfrey. Production companies involved with the series were slated to include Warner Horizon Scripted Television, Page Fright, and Outlier Productions. The series is set to premiere in August 14, 2019. The pilot episode was premiered at South by Southwest on March 10, 2019. On December 19, 2019, OWN renewed the series for a second season. On June 29, 2020, HBO Max acquired the streaming rights for the series which was debuted on July 16, 2020.

Casting

In June 2018, it was announced that Akili McDowell, Phylicia Rashad, Nathaniel Logan McIntyre, Isaiah Johnson, Ade Chike Torbert, Jordan Bolger, Cayden K. Williams, and Travis Coles are cast as series regulars. In August 2018, Alana Arenas has been cast as a series regular while Gillian Williams, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Elvis Nolasco, and Randy Gonzalez are cast in recurring roles. On October 25, 2018, Lela Rochon, Trace Lysette, Liza Colón-Zayas, Juanita Jennings, Lindsey Blackwell, Solomon Valdez, Teshi Thomas, and newcomers Nick Creegan, Kimaya Naomi and Logan Rozos have joined the series in recurring roles.

Filming

Production began in the summer of 2018 in Orlando, Florida.

Reception

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the series holds an approval rating of 100% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 8.78/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Powerful, beautiful, and like nothing else on TV, David Makes Man blends dreamy aesthetics with an empathetically crafted story to create a truly unique viewing experience." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Accolades