Viola Davis and Julius Tennon’s JuVee Productions signs first-look deal with Universal Global Television, sets “Pawn” as inaugural project

Universal Global Television has signed a first-look deal with JuVee Productions, the company founded by Viola Davis and producer Julius Tennon, with JuVee set to develop and produce series for the studio across all platforms. The announcement, made July 7, names Davis and Tennon’s company as the first creative partner tied to the new studio’s slate strategy as UGT expands its relationships with outside producers.

JuVee’s first project under the agreement will be “Pawn,” a romantic drama drawn from an original short story by bestselling author Kennedy Ryan. According to the reports, the series will be adapted by Chantelle M. Wells, and Wells is also expected to serve as an executive producer on the project, alongside Davis and Tennon, JuVee head of TV Andrew Wang, and Ryan.

The Hollywood Reporter described the “Pawn” premise around a woman named Gina Jones, who “makes a deal” to become a pawn for a St. Louis crime family known as the Rossis, in exchange for money to pay for her ailing grandmother’s medical treatments. The reported concept places the story in a family-and-community context, with the central engine of the plot rooted in medical need and caregiving obligations.

UGT is the global television division recently formed when NBCUniversal combined UCP and Universal International Studios under Beatrice Springborn, a structural shift that indicates Universal’s effort to centralize scripted production and packaging under a single international-capable brand. The reports characterize the new creative partnerships as part of the studio’s broader build-out, including follow-on arrangements already announced with other show creators.

The statement attributed to Davis and Tennon framed their partnership as aligned with their approach to putting “empowering and fearless voices” on screen, and they cited their interest in Ryan’s writing, along with Wells’ track record on major television. In the same remarks, Davis and Tennon described “Pawn” as the first project that will bring the story to life in the deal’s development pipeline.

For Universal, the arrangement continues a common industry pattern in which major studios secure early access to scripts and series development through first-look agreements with established production companies. For JuVee, the pact extends its producing reach by tying its slate pipeline directly to UGT, including at the point where an initial adaptation project is already assigned and credited to named creative leadership.

As “Pawn” moves forward, the next measurable steps are expected to be development milestones at UGT under the first-look framework, including further creative packaging and the studio’s internal review of the series adaptation before any subsequent production orders. No premiere date, casting, or network or streamer placement was included in the initial reports, and the scope described centers on development and production rather than a committed series run at the time of announcement.