Spike Lee, Robert De Niro and John Ridley Team on Showtime's "Alphaville"

Spike Lee, Robert De Niro and John Ridley have teamed to develop "Alphaville," an ensemble drama series about Manhattan's Alphabet City for Showtime. The series will be set in the 1980's and will focused on the gritty and troubled past of Alphabet City, which is now the newly regentrified East Village.  In the 80s, Alphabet City, the setting for the musical "Rent," was a mix of struggling artists and musicians who lived alongside black and Puerto Rican neighbors.  The community was plagued by racial tensions, illegal drug activity and violent crime.  The area is infamous for the Tompkins Square Park riot of 1988, which saw police clash with anarchists and homeless activists. John Ridley will write, with Lee on board to direct the pilot.  Ridley, Lee, De Niro and his producing partner Jane Rosenthal, are executive producing through DeNiro's Tribeca Prods. Lee and De Niro are repped by WME. Ridley, who is working with Lee on a feature about the L.A. riots, is with CAA. http://www.blacktalentnews.com/artman/publish/article_2554.shtml