Donald Glover finally shares the first trailer for his upcoming show, Swarm. The series was co-created by Glover alongside Atlanta writer Janine Nabers; it stars Dominique Fishback as Dre, “a young woman whose obsession with a pop star takes a dark turn,” according to the trailer’s YouTube caption.
The teaser shows clips of Fishback in a hospital, strip club, and bedroom, as a chilling voice repeatedly asks, “Who is your favorite artist?”
Fishback also serves as a producer on the show, and is cast alongside Damson Idris and Chlöe Bailey of Chloe x Halle fame. The show also credits Malia Obama as a writer.
Recently, Glover and Nabers spoke with Vanity Fair about their upcoming project.
“We just thought it’d be fun to make a post-truth Piano Teacher mixed with The King of Comedy,” Glover said to VF, referencing Michael Haneke’s 2001 drama and Martin Scorsese’s 1982 film.
Nabers, formerly a co-writer and producer on Atlanta, was tapped by Glover to co-create the Amazon Prime series, as she’s from Houston, TX.
“We were really interested in creating an antihero story,” said Nabers, also a showrunner for Swarm. The duo also looked to fictional characters, like Mad Men’s Don Draper and The Sopranos’ Tony Soprano to develop an updated version of the archetype “through the lens of a Black, modern-day woman.”
Bailey portrays Dre’s sister, Marissa, while Idris plays the role of Dre’s boyfriend. In the writers’ room was Malia Obama, eldest daughter of 44th United States President Barack Obama and a Harvard College Graduate.
“Dre and Marissa are in their 20s and Malia is in her 20s, so it was really great having someone like her in the room,” Nabers said. “She’s a very professional person. She’s an incredible writer and artist. We really wanted to give her the opportunity to get her feet wet in TV and see if this is something she wants to continue doing.”
Swarm is set to premiere at SXSW on March 10 and be available on-demand through Amazon Prime Video on March 17.
