Straight Outta Compton’s Jason Mitchell Joins The Cast

LOS ANGELES – January 9, 2017 –  SHOWTIME has announced the pick-up of the new one-hour drama series, THE CHI,  created, executive produced and written by Lena Waithe (Master of None, Bones) and executive produced by Grammy^® and Academy Award^® winner Common (Selma, Smokin’ Aces). The announcement was made today by David Nevins, President and CEO, Showtime Networks Inc., at the 2017 Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour.

Produced by Fox 21 Television Studios, THE CHI is a relevant, timely and distinctive coming-of-age story and follows a half dozen interrelated characters in the South Side of Chicago. Joining the cast is Jason Mitchell (Straight Outta Compton) as “Brandon,” an ambitious and confident young man who dreams about opening a restaurant of his own someday, but is conflicted between the promise of a new life and his responsibility to his mother and teenage brother back in the South Side. Elwood Reid (The Bridge) will executive produce and serve as showrunner along with Waithe. Aaron Kaplan (Secrets and Lies, The Mysteries of Laura) will executive produce. Rick Famuyiwa (Dope) will executive produce and direct the premiere episode.

Showtime Networks Inc. (SNI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation, owns and operates the premium television networks SHOWTIME^®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ and FLIX^®, and also offers SHOWTIME ON DEMAND^®, THE MOVIE CHANNEL™ ON DEMAND and FLIX ON DEMAND^®, and the network's authentication service SHOWTIME ANYTIME^®. Showtime Digital Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNI, operates the stand-alone streaming service SHOWTIME^®. SHOWTIME is currently available to subscribers via cable, DBS and telco providers, and as a stand-alone streaming service through Apple^®, Roku^®, Amazon and Google. Consumers can also subscribe to SHOWTIME via Hulu, Sony PlayStation^® Vue and Amazon Channels. SNI also manages Smithsonian Networks^™, a joint venture between SNI and the Smithsonian Institution, which offers Smithsonian Channel^™, and offers Smithsonian Earth^™ through SN Digital LLC. SNI markets and distributes sports and entertainment events for exhibition to subscribers on a pay-per-view basis through SHOWTIME PPV. For more information, go to www.SHO.com.

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Contacts:

Amanda Cary                                               Nicole Elice                                      
212-708-1593                                               310-234-5218                                  
amanda.cary@showtime.net                            nicole.elice@showtime.net