Courtney A. Kemp Turned Starz’s 'Power' Into a Hit Franchise—and Now She’s Netflix-Bound

After juggling 4 spinoffs, Adweek’s TV Creator of the Year is reclaiming her voice

When Courtney A. Kemp created Power—about James “Ghost” St. Patrick’s dual life as a nightclub owner and drug dealer—a decade ago, her strategy was simple.

“I was trying to make basically a Black Sopranos, with some Homicide: Life on the Street pieces, just cobbling it together from the things that I loved growing up,” she says of the hit series, which debuted on Starz in 2014 and ran for six seasons, drawing more than 10 million viewers a week at its peak.

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This story first appeared in the Oct. 25, 2021, issue of Adweek magazine. Click here to subscribe.