Imagine Documentaries won an auction for the screen rights to Thomas Healy’s Soul City: Race, Equality, and the Lost Dream of an American Utopia, Deadline reports.
Healy’s book tells the true story of the development of Soul City, North Carolina, an intentional community focused on racial equality, which was founded by civil rights activist Floyd McKissick in 1969. The city never took off because of opposition from the press and Republican Sen. Jesse Helms.
In a starred review, a critic for Kirkus called Healy’s book “an engrossing and often heartbreaking look at a singular attempt to achieve some measure of racial equality in the U.S.”
“Imagine is honored to bring this important and forgotten story of Soul City to life for audiences,” said Imagine Documentaries President Justin Wilkes and Executive Vice President Sara Bernstein. “Its contemporary relevance is undeniable.”
Deadline reports that Imagine plans to “develop the book across multiple divisions at Imagine in scripted and unscripted formats.”
“Soul City was one of the most important projects to emerge from the civil rights era, yet it nearly vanished from our collective memory,” Healy said. “I’m thrilled that Imagine will bring this remarkable story to a wide audience, and I’m confident it will give Floyd McKissick’s unrealized dream the thoughtful and respectful treatment it deserves.”
Michael Schaub is a Texas-based journalist and regular contributor to NPR.
