Kamala Avila-Salmon’s Kas Kas Productions Reveals Initial Development Slate, Including Project With John Legend (EXCLUSIVE)

A feature project with John Legend and Mike Jackson and a TV project from Chrissy Teigen and Tracy Stevens based on a kids’ podcast are among the projects that have been unveiled as part of Kas Kas Productions’ initial development slate. Founded by former Lionsgate executive Kamala Avila-Salmon, the film and television production company’s development includes a wide array of projects. TV shows currently in development from the production company include the fashion-world dramedy “The Bomb Life,” inspired by the life of Fashion Bomb Daily founder Claire Sulmers, and the crime drama “Mastermind,” about a Black MBA graduate who gets into the high-level scam industry after losing her dream job. Also in development is the sci-fi series “Blackstar Canyon,” which follows an unlikely duo investigating legends tied to Black Star Canyon. Barry O’Brien (the showrunner of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” and the creator of “Hannah Montana”) will serve as the showrunner. The film slate includes the indie romantic drama “Wouldn’t Mean Nuthin’ about a poet forced to confront love, ambition and responsibility; the horror film “Expulsion,” about a woman abducted by vigilante exorcists who believe she is possessed by a demon; and a currently untitled genre feature in development with QC Entertainment. Popular on Variety “The Gates,” the company’s first completed feature film, was recently released theatrically and debuted digitally on EST and VOD. The film stars Mason Gooding, Algee Smith, Keith Powers and the late James Van Der Beek. It will be available to stream this summer. “We are committed to fighting for the audience we know is out there – the people that saw ‘One of Them Days’ and ‘Sinners’ and ‘Michael’ and ‘Forever’ and want more fresh, fun, original stories about all kinds of characters. We are developing for those audiences because we are those audiences,” said Avila-Salmon in a statement. She also added: “When we are in times of change or uncertainty, I always say to myself ‘someone smart is building.’ The opportunity of this moment we’re in as an industry lies in listening to and believing the audience — they are telling us what they want to watch, where and how they want to watch, and showing us that there is room for all kinds of stories on all sizes of screens. And partnering with creatives who not only know what stories they want to tell but why they tell stories at all.” Avila-Salmon has held leadership roles across entertainment and technology companies including Universal Pictures, NBC Entertainment, Google, YouTube and Meta. She is a graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Business School. She currently serves on the board of the Blackhouse Foundation and previously served on the governing board of the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools. Avila-Salmon currently holds a first-look film deal with Lionsgate. “In Jamaica, ‘kas kas’ means controversy or disagreement. At Kas Kas, we take that seriously and seek to start ‘good trouble’ with every project we produce,” she added. “We think it’s possible to make art that is good for commerce and good for culture. Declaring that films and TV shows about women, people of color, queer people, or disabled people are not just for those communities is an act of dissent and rebellion against industry norms.”