Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff’s Origin Story Heads to TV

Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios is developing 215, a scripted TV series about his early music career with DJ Jazzy Jeff. The project will return to Philadelphia, where the pair built their partnership before Smith became a television star. The series is the first project announced under a new film and television deal between Westbrook Studios and The Malar Group. Westbrook will develop and produce the projects, while Malar will provide funding, Deadline reports. The title refers to Philadelphia’s 215 area code. The story follows a teenage rapper and his DJ partner as they try to land a record deal in the city’s growing hip-hop scene. Their friendship faces pressure as success brings demands from the music business. The premise puts the focus on the work behind Smith’s rise rather than the wealthy household that defined The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It also gives DJ Jazzy Jeff a central place in the story that came before Smith’s acting career. “215 is especially meaningful to us because it draws from the rise of DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince and celebrates Philadelphia during such a defining era in the city’s late-’80s/early-’90s hip-hop scene,” said Terence Carter, president of...