'Young Love' Arrives This September

There aren't that many animated series that have their origin in an Oscar-winning short film (Creature Comforts and Bob and Margret spring to mind). But that's the story behind the upcoming series Young Love, which is based on 2019's Hair Love.

The short started life as a record-breaking Kickstarter, it went on to be picked up by Sony Pictures Animation, and on to Oscar glory.

Following the success of the short, creator and co-director Matthew A. Cherry was given an overall deal with Sony Pictures Animation. The first to be announced was a series based on the characters featured in the hugely popular short.

The short featured a young Black father struggling to fix his daughter's hair on his own for the first time. The film struck a chord with Black audiences who related to seeing much of their own experiences on screen for the first time. At the same time, its themes of family and love and relationships are universal and appeal to audiences of all kinds

Young Love will be hoping to do the same on a much bigger canvas. The series follows the Young family consisting of millennial parents Stephen and Angela and daughter Zuri, plus pet cat Rocky. It will follow them as they try to juggle their careers, marriage and parenthood all while they attempt to make a better life for themselves.

Matthew A Cherry is showrunner alongside animation veteran  Carl Jones (The Boondocks and Black Dynamite). Dayna Lynne North (Insecure) is an executive producer.  Monica A. Young, a producer on the short, is also an executive producer alongside David Steward II and Carl Reed. Rene Veilleux and Sahle Robinson are directors and Breannah Gibson and Willie Hunter are writers. Jeanine Daniels is Executive Story Editor.

Young Love features the voices of Kid Cudi, Issa Rae, Brooke Monroe Conaway, Tamar Braxton, Debra Wilson, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Michael Samarie George.

Young Love's first season streams on Max from September 21. Check out the trailer below.