At today’s TCA virtual press tour presentation, ABC’s Robin Roberts announced the second of four films she’s executive producing for Lifetime as part of her development deal with the network. Roberts is producing these Lifetime originals under her production banner, Rock’n Robin Productions.
This second biopic, titled Mahalia, is about the legendary American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, and it will debut April 3 on Lifetime.
The first Robin Roberts Presents Lifetime original movie was The Clark Sisters: First Ladies Of Gospel. It debuted in May 2020 and ended up being Lifetime’s highest-rated original movie in four years.
“I love saying Good Morning America. I love setting the tone for people in the morning and to be able to inform people, enlighten people,” she told session attendees Tuesday. “But I needed to stretch another creative muscle, and that’s what I am able to do under the ‘Robin Roberts Presents’ banner. This is content that’s important to me, not that the content I do on Good Morning America or ABC News is not important, but it doesn’t always speak to me. …When there’s so much uncertainty there are endless possibilities, and the Robin Roberts Presents banner, I believe, presents us so many possibilities.”
Roberts, who signed a development deal with Lifetime in July 2018, is executive producing Mahalia with Lincoln Square Productions’ Linda Berman.
Roberts launched Rock’n Robin Productions in Sept. 2014, and has produced a number of documentaries , including her debut In the Game With Robin Roberts, which spotlights defensive lineman Michael Sam, who was cut by the St. Louis Rams at around launch time. In May 2014, Sam became the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team.
Roberts also briefly touched on a new series she’s working on for Disney+ named Turning the Tables.
“I do have other projects in the works doing different things — a Disney+ program that I have, Turning the Tables, where I sit down with three women from various backgrounds and we just chat and talk during this time and look for …ways to connect with people, finding ways for people to understand that we have more in common than not,” she remarked.