EXCLUSIVE: Benny Boom (All Eyez on Me) is set to direct Greenlight, a music drama penned by Terence Paul Winter (The Rookie), for Manny Halley Productions and Quality Films.
Greenlight follows gifted young rapper Nico Jones as he navigates ambition, identity, and the dangerous pull of his surroundings. Told across two timelines, the story begins in South Central Los Angeles, where Nico’s early creative promise is shaped by family loss, a fractured home life, and the looming influence of local street figures. Even as a child, Nico’s poetic voice sets him apart, though his environment constantly threatens to define him.
Cut to the present day, and Nico is 20, still trapped in the projects, and chasing a breakthrough as a rapper. A single night changes his trajectory, blurring the line between artist and persona as others begin to shape his image for their own gain. When his music unexpectedly ignites attention, Nico is forced to confront who he’s becoming, and whether success is worth the cost.
Executive producer Manny Halley and his Manny Halley Productions banner, a division of Imani Media Group, is producing the project in partnership with Quality Films, a division of Quality Control Music. Halley is producing alongside Kevin “Coach K” Lee and Pierre “P” Thomas for Quality Films, as well as Manny Halley Jr and Rodney Turner.
Manny Halley told us, “Greenlight is a bold, emotionally charged story about ambition and the cost of chasing a dream. Benny Boom is an incredible visionary, shaping stories that feel immediate, layered, and unforgettable. Bringing this project to life alongside Coach and P has been extremely rewarding, and I’m eager for audiences to see it.”
Best known for directing the Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me, Boom has also worked a great deal in television, directing episodes of The Equalizer, CSI: Vegas, Empire, Chicago P.D., Black Lightning, NCIS: Los Angeles, All American, and City on a Hill. The recipient of an MTV Video Music Award, three BET Awards for Director of the Year, and three BET Hip Hop Awards for Director of the Year, he is represented by Paradigm, Artists First, and Del Shaw.
Winter is currently a co-executive producer on CBS’s Boston Blue and was recently a consulting producer on The Equalizer for the network. He was the co-creator and an executive producer/showrunner on ABC’s The Rookie: Feds and previously served as an executive producer on The Rookie. He was also co-executive producer on Marvel’s Luke Cage for Netflix. Winter spent eight seasons on ABC’s Castle, where he worked his way up from staff writer to executive producer/showrunner. He is repped by CAA and Lichter Grossman Nichols.
Imani Media Group most recently produced and released Aftershock: The Nicole P Bell Story, which opened in theaters nationwide in November 2025, timed to the anniversary of Sean Bell’s murder. The company also recently announced the projects Loving Venus and High Rollers.
