Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff's early rise becomes series 215

Will Smith and DJ Jazzy Jeff's Philadelphia beginnings are becoming a television drama. The project is called 215, a scripted series — a show with actors performing from written scripts — inspired by their early life and career together, according to Deadline. It is the first title to emerge from a new slate, meaning a lined-up group of film and television projects, from Westbrook Studios and The Malar Group.

Under the arrangement, Westbrook Studios will develop and produce the shows and films. The money behind them comes from The Malar Group. That split is now common in television, where one company handles the creative work and the physical production while a financing partner pays for it. The two companies plan more than one project together, with 215 leading the way.

The financing partner is headed by a familiar name in Canadian business circles. The Malar Group was founded by Sayan Navaratnam, who serves as its chief executive. On the studio side, Terence Carter is President of Television at Westbrook Studios. The pair will sit at the top of the new pipeline, guiding ideas from development into production.

215 centres on Smith's rise alongside Jeff Townes, better known as DJ Jazzy Jeff. The pair performed as DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, described as one of hip-hop's first crossover acts. That is trade shorthand for a rap act that broke through to mainstream pop audiences. In their case, the breakthrough was commercial as well as cultural.

As a duo, they sold more than 5 million records. Their hits include "Parents Just Don't Understand" from 1989 and "Summertime" from 1991. Those two tracks, released two years apart, carried their names well beyond rap radio. The series takes its title from that era and that partnership.

Viewers have seen Smith's television past reworked before. Bel-Air, a reimagined version of the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, ran for four seasons on Peacock. That show took the old comedy premise in a dramatic direction. 215 starts the clock earlier, with the music career that came before the sitcom fame.

What makes this stand out is the focus. Bel-Air revisited a character audiences already knew from prime time. 215 returns to two teenagers learning to make records together. For anyone who only knows the sitcom, it is an earlier chapter from the same story.