Actress Roma Downey to Star in LightWorkers Faith-Based Series 'The Baxters'
"Touched by an Angel" actress Roma Downey and Ted McGinley are set to star in the forthcoming series "The Baxters," the family drama for Downey's LightWorkers Media platform based on the best-selling book series by Karen Kingsbury.
Production on six half-hour episodes of the streaming series begins this week in Los Angeles and will be available exclusively on LightWorkers later this year.
The series is an ensemble family drama based on the novels from #1 New York Times bestselling author Kingsbury, that follows Elizabeth and John Baxter (Downey and McGinley), and their adult children, as they "come together over love, loss, laughter and life in an epic, unforgettable drama that proves the strength of faith and family."
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The venture will be the first scripted series to come from Downey's streaming platform, which aims to offer uplifting news and information and faith- and family-centric entertainment content. LightWorkers is a joint venture of MGM TV, Downey and Mark Burnett ("Shark Tank," "Survivor"), Downey's husband and head of MGM TV and Digital.
"We have assembled a talented cast and creative team to lead 'The Baxters,' LightWorkers' first premium scripted digital series," said Downey, president of LightWorkers Media. "We look forward to bringing this beloved story to life for a whole new audience."
Kingsbury expressed her excitement at the forthcoming series and said millions of Baxter fans have waited years to see the Baxters hit the big screen.
"This is a dream come true for me and my devoted readers," Kingsbury said. "We all believe this is going to be huge."
The series is executive produced by Downey, Will Packer and Jaime Primak Sullivan of Will Packer Media, along with Kevin Mann and Brendan Bragg of Haven Entertainment. Katie Christian, vice president of Development and Digital & New Platforms for MGM, is overseeing the project.
Downey previously told CP she and Burnett started LightWorkers Media in 2011 to help bring positive content to this new generation of people who are constantly online and bombarded with negative media.
"With all the negative news in the world lately, I wanted to start a movement of love, kindness, and hope through LightWorkers.com to serve as a reminder that there are still good people in the world doing incredible things," she said.
The couple have seen a slew of past successes, including the Emmy-nominated miniseries "The Bible," which was watched by more than 100 million people in the U.S., and the feature film "Son of God," which was the second-highest grossing faith-based movie opening of all time.
Additionally, LWM produced the series "A.D." for NBC, "The Women of the Bible" for Lifetime, "The Dovekeepers" for CBS, "Answered Prayers" for TLC, the feature films "Little Boy" for Open Road Films, "Woodlawn" for Pure Flix, "Ben-Hur" for MGM and Paramount and the upcoming TV series "Messiah" for Netflix.
