SXSW 2015: Snoop Dogg HBO Series Will Look At Los Angeles In The '80s

AUSTIN, Texas – After making his mizzark on the worlds of music and film, the Doggfather is about to enter the TV business. Snoop Dogg announced during Friday’s keynote at SXSW that he has partnered with filmmaker Allen Hughes on a series that's being developed for HBO. Set in the 1980s, the show will tell the story of what happens to one family living in inner-city Los Angeles as Reagan-era social policies and legislation begin to take effect.

Snoop, 43, whose real name is Cordozar Calvin Broadus Jr., told a packed ballroom Friday that he is excited to tell a story that is familiar to him and his collaborators. “Allen Hughes made one of my favorite movies ever,” Broadus said. In addition to direction from Hughes, the untitled series will be written by Rodney Barnes, whose credits include the TV series "Boondocks" and "Everybody Hates Chris." Ted Chung, Broadus’ longtime manager and a partner at Stampede Management, will be one of the executive producers.

The announcement also wraps up a very busy week in Austin for HBO, which spent lavishly to promote its hit shows "Game of Thrones" and "Silicon Valley," which are both returning to air in the next few weeks. It was also the newsiest moment in Broadus' keynote, which consisted of a conversation between Broadus and Chung that mostly amounted to plugs for the rapper’s various ventures, which include a youth football league, Snoop Youth Football, an independent streaming video platform called Trapflix, and a new Pharrell-produced album, “Bush,” due in May. Absent from the list of Broadus interests discussed was his recently launched venture capital fund, which will focus on developing cannabis-focused businesses. According to reports, Broadus has a net worth of more than $135 million.

Broadus has a broad array of film and TV credits to his name, ranging from cameos in films like "Training Day," "Soul Plane" and "Half Baked," to recurring roles on TV shows like "The Boondocks" and "The L Word" to various digital shorts. He was also the subject of a recent documentary made by Vice to tell the story of his visits to Jamaica to make "Reincarnated," a reggae album he recorded under the name Snoop Lion. On Friday, he indicated that he will approach the project with the same dedication he's brought to projects throughout his career.

"When I'm on it, I'm on it like I want it," Broadus said. "When I'm in it, I'm in it to win it."