ABC, Viola Davis & Lisa Takeuchi Cullen take on "Ohana"

A new hour long drama titled, “Ohana” based on Kiana Davenport’s novel Shark Dialogues is in development for ABC. The series will follow the story of four hapa women who reunite after their grandmother passes away and leaves them the family plantation.

Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, a former Times writer will write the adaptation. Cullen told the Hollywood Reporter “This is a story we’re passionate about telling from the point of view of native Hawaiians – Pacific Islanders, people of Asian descent and people of hapa heritage.”

The four main characters in Ohana will be of different mixed ethnicities including half white, half Japanese, half Filipino and half black. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “their unexpected shared inheritance will force them to overcome years of jealousies, misunderstandings, resentments and secrets.”  

Viola Davis and her husband Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions will be teaming up with ABC on the upcoming series.

Chrisa Hickey [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons