Mathew Knowles, the prolific music manager and father to artists Beyoncé and Solange, is ready to take his life story to the screen.
Knowles has partnered with production company Say Unkel Entertainment to adapt his 2017 memoir “Racism From the Eyes of a Child” into both a feature film and a limited series, PvNew can report exclusively.
The film will cover the first half of his book and recount Knowles’ early years growing up at the epicenter of the race riots in early ‘60’s Alabama. He was one of six black students to attend an all-white school and participated in peaceful protests where he was burned with a cattle-prod and, on one occasion, arrested four times in one day.
His early struggles have been referenced and documented in numerous works by daughter Beyoncé, including the watershed music video “Formation” and in her various documentary films – most recently in the theatrical release “Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce.” The book covers how the giants of the fight for equality — Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Turner, Ralph Abernathy – shaped Knowles’ early manhood. It also discusses his father and mother (a classmate of Coretta Scott King).
“These are the men who made me proud and women who taught me to fight back,” Knowles tells PvNew.
Unkel, a former vice president of programming at 20th Century Fox, said the feature script based on Knowles’ book is complete and ready to take to market. The executive will oversee the project’s development with partner Howard Kazanjian, a producer on the original “Star Wars” trilogy.
In his career, Knowles has worked with Grammy-winners like Destiny’s Child, Solange, Chaka Khan and Earth Wind & Fire. He also holds two undergraduate degrees, an MBA, a PhD and Professional Development Certifications from Harvard University. Two of Knowles’ five books are Amazon best sellers. He is currently on the faculty at both London College of Contemporary Music and Pepperdine University.
Knowles is repped by Buchwald and manager Karon Tunis.
