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Carroll takes over US teen drama

All American is inspired by the life of football player Spencer Paysinger

Nigerian-American television producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll has taken over as the showrunner of recently launched US teen drama All American.

The show was created by April Blair and premiered on The CW on October 10. It is a coproduction between Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros TV and CBS TV Studios, and was inspired by the life of professional football player Spencer Paysinger.

Nkechi Okoro Carroll

“Nkechi Okoro Carroll has been elevated from co-executive producer to executive producer of All American and will work alongside Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter,” Warner Bros TV said in a statement to US website Deadline.

“Carroll will now serve as the new showrunner for the series. April Blair has left her position as executive producer/showrunner for personal reasons,” added the US studio, which jointly owns The CW with CBS.

With experience working on Fox’s Rosewood and The Resident and other pilots for Fox and NBC, Carroll will run All American’s storylines by dealing with issues such as gang violence and the NFL protests. She also intends promoting diverse voices and experiences in her work.

According to Carroll: “As the mother of two black boys, I want to see this show on television. So I’ve been involved since the start, and when April stepped down and Greg asked if I would be interested in stepping up into the showrunner position, I was happy and excited to do it.

“We’ve got an amazing creative team here and we look forward to continuing to tell these stories that I think haven’t really been told on network TV.”

All American is based on real events from the life of former pro football player Paysinger and follows an upcoming football star recruited by Beverly Hills High School.

Carroll grew up in Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire, the UK and the US, and speaks multiple languages. As well as Rosewood and The Resident, she worked as a writer-producer on Bones and staff writer on The Finder.

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