With '1619,' 'Summer of Soul' and 'The Plot,' Disney's diverse storytelling brand is making waves

LOS ANGELES — When Oscar winner Mahershala Ali and his producing partners made the rounds last year, pitching an adaptation of Jean Hanff Korelitz's bestselling novel "The Plot," it sparked a bidding war.

The buzzy thriller about a failed author who engages in an "act of literary theft," forever changing his life, is primed for success. In addition to executive producing, Ali is starring in the series; . two years earlier, another Korelitz novel was adapted into the acclaimed HBO series "The Undoing."

"The response was overwhelming. Every single place we pitched made an offer," said Layne Eskridge, president of POV Entertainment, who along with Ali brought the project to six networks and streamers under her producing deal with Endeavor Content.

In the end, Onyx Collective — a relatively new brand focusing on creators of color and underrepresented voices — won out, ordering an eight-episode limited series to stream on Hulu.

Operating much like a mini studio and network, Onyx is a content arm for Disney, developing, producing