HBO Max has green lit a full season of the animated series Young Love from Matthew A. Cherry. According to Variety, the 12 episode debut will feature the characters from the Oscar-winning animated short, Hair Love.

Cherry, who authored the children’s book Hair Love was adapted from, will serve as the series’ show runner. The book follows a Black father named Stephen Young and his seven-year-old daughter Zuri Young. The pair bond as they try to get her hair together without the help of mommy for the very first time.

Hair Love

This project could be the first of many for Cherry who signed a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television Group last month. 

“I am beyond excited to continue telling the story of Stephen, Angela and Zuri and further explore the family dynamics of a young Black millennial family we established in our short film Hair Love as an animated series,” said Cherry. “Couldn’t ask for better partners in Sony Pictures Animation and HBO Max in helping us get Young Love out to the world.”

Director Matthew A. Cherry poses with the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film for “Hair Love” as he attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 09, 2020 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Rich Fury/VF20/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

“’Hair Love’ struck a chord that is still resonating deeply with audiences of all ages,” said Billy Wee, HBO Max’s senior vice president of original animation. “Matthew and Sony Animation’s creative voices are a welcomed addition to the HBO Max family and we can’t wait to bring this joyous story to the world.”

Cherry will share the role of showrunner with Carl Jones, who worked on bringing The Boondocks and Black Dynamite to life. The series will be executive produced by Monica A. Young. Young produced Hair Love and has worked on videos for Blueface, Chloe and Halle, and Michelle Williams. 

The show is expected to go beyond Stephen and Zuri and introduce viewers to the rest of the Young family including mom Angela, and Rocky, the pet cat. The show will tackle careers, marriage, parenthood, multi-generational dynamics, social issues and other matters that impact the modern millennial family. 

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