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Paramount+ debuting drama inspired by NYC construction boss

Cheryl McKissack Daniel executive producing streaming project “Construction”

Cheryl McKissack Daniel, chief executive officer, McKissack & McKissack (McKissack, Wikipedia/ViacomCBS, iStock/Illustration by Steven Dilakian for The Real Deal)
Cheryl McKissack Daniel, chief executive officer, McKissack & McKissack (McKissack, Wikipedia/ViacomCBS, iStock/Illustration by Steven Dilakian for The Real Deal)

A New York City construction magnate is serving as the inspiration for a forthcoming streaming series.

“Construction,” a new Paramount+ series, will follow a fifth-generation, Black and female construction leader in New York City as she navigates business and family, Deadline reported. The show’s premise closely echoes the life story of Cheryl McKissack Daniel, president and CEO of McKissack & McKissack.

McKissack Daniel helms the eponymous firm, which bills itself as the oldest minority and women-owned professional design and construction firm in the United States. She will serve as an executive producer on the streaming project, according to Deadline.

“If people don’t know Cheryl McKissack, they’re going to be in for a real treat,” said Sheila Ducksworth, the newly appointed president of a production partnership between CBS Studios and the NAACP. “She is really one of a kind.”

According to Deadline, the show will be written by Davita Scarlett, who serves as an executive producer for two of the network’s other hit shows, “The Good Fight” and “Evil.” It’s not clear when production on the series will begin.

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The show is part of a five-series slate by the joint venture. According to Deadline, other shows in the works include a reboot of the movie “Soapdish” starring Whoopi Goldberg, a limited series about the Little Rock Nine and an autobiographical series about the lives of comedians DL Hughley and Earthquake, respectively.

McKissack Daniel in 2020 earned a spot on Mayor Bill de Blasio’s real estate reopening council, created to guide the industry’s economic reboot in the wake of the pandemic.

The firm has helmed some of New York City’s most prominent construction projects in recent years, including the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and the Harlem Hospital. The group’s current projects include the renovation of Terminal 1 at John F. Kennedy Airport, which is expected to break ground in mid-2022 with a $9.6 billion price tag.

[Deadline] — Holden Walter-Warner

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Architecture And DesignCBSConstruction