HBO Picks Up Comedy From Calvin Harris, Will Smith and Jay Z

Credit: MTV.com

HBO is getting into electronic music.

Calvin Harris, one of the top DJs and producers in the world, will partner with Will Smith and Jay Z for Higher, a half-hour comedy series that is currently in development, to be written by Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh. Developed with the assistance of Harris, the comedy is centered in the eclectic, complex world of electronic music.

The project further develops the working relationship between Smith and Jay Z, who are also co-producing the upcoming big screen adaptation of the popular musical Annie. However, this will be the first foray into television/film producing for Harris, who is best known as a Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer, in addition to earning acclaim as the first DJ to win the Ivor Novello Songwriter Of The Year Award. He currently has two Grammy nominations under his belt for this year's ceremony: Best Dance Recording for "Sweet Nothing", and Best Dance/Electronica Album for 18 Months.

Higher comes from Overbrook Entertainment, Three Six Zero Group and Marcy Media, with Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Miguel Melendez, and Overbrook’s James Lassiter serving as executive producers alongside Three Six Zero Group’s Mark Gillespie and Dean Wilson, along with Marcy Media’s Shawn “Jay Z” Carter, Calvin Harris, Jay Brown, and Tyran “Ty Ty” Smith.

No word on when production is set to begin on the project, but it appears to have HBO's full backing, as the network is expanding its comedy lineup, most recently premiering Looking, the series about gay men living in San Francisco. The series premiered to critical acclaim, and it isn't that big of a leap to think HBO is aiming for the same level of success with Higher. Here's hoping.

Via: Deadline