Queens native Damien Douglas is making his mark on the small screen with “D.O.P.E. Unit,” an all-new crime drama series he co-wrote and serves as showrunner and lead producer for. The first episode of the eight-episode season premiered Aug. 6 on ALLBLK, and new episodes will air weekly on the AMC Networks streaming service, AMC+.
The show follows an off-the-books, elite undercover unit assigned to investigate the death of the Philadelphia police chief’s son after suspicion he was killed during a drug deal gone wrong. Their task is to disrupt and dismantle the city’s powerful criminal underworld and target the dangerous Roth crime family, blurring the lines between law enforcement and criminality.
It stars Erica Peoples (True to the Game), Robert Ri’chard (Coach Carter), Jhone Lucas (To Get Her), Supreme “Fre$h” Williams (RSVP), Johnell Young (Wu-Tang: An American Saga), Terayle Hill (All American) and Cornell Young IV (A Different World).
The cast also includes Trae Ireland (Hands), Casper Van Dien (Wednesday), Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Jeff Fahey (Fire Country), Brandon Quintin Adams (War Dawgz) and Ariday (Haus of Vicious).
The official trailer can be viewed here.
Thomas Walton (RSVP, Camp Pleasant Lake) directed the series from the script he co-wrote with Douglas. Executive producers include Matt Macur, Lenny Vitulli, Rebecca O’Hara, Brett Dismuke and Nikki Love.
Douglas said “D.O.P.E. Unit” represents another significant milestone in his growing career as a writer, producer and creative executive working across international markets. The show is his first co-writing credit on a television series and contributes to a year during which he has produced three feature films — Big Tiger, White Tide and Survive the Night — which were all filmed and produced in Asia.
From LeFrak City to Hollywood Soundstages
Damien Douglas grew up in LeFrak City, initially breaking into the music industry as a producer before moving to Los Angeles to produce films in Hollywood.Courtesy Damian Douglas
Douglas got his start in LeFrak City, coming up in the same complex that has long shaped generations of cultural voices. He began his career in the entertainment industry working with record labels Bad Boy and FB Entertainment, quickly gaining momentum during hip-hop and R&B’s golden era. That early run led to record deals with Universal and collaborations with artists such as Nas, Lil’ Kim, Pharrell Williams, Olivia, Eric Sermon and Ludacris.
Driven by a lifelong passion for film, Douglas eventually took the leap to Los Angeles. He described himself as “a subway rider from Queens who landed in Hollywood with just a dream and a pocketful of lint.”
Since then, Douglas has become an award-winning producer with nearly 30 film and television projects released since 2020 alone. Along the way, he’s worked alongside legendary talent including Danny Glover, Dennis Quaid, Meagan Good, Hilary Swank, Michael Beach, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Naomie Harris and many more.
Next up for Douglas is his most ambitious project yet — MOORS, a high-stakes, mythic sword-and-sandals drama that places Black heroes at the forefront of the Moorish conquest of Sicily. It’s a feature film he has been developing for nearly two decades and describes as “a sweeping epic where Black heroes stand at the center of their own legend, not on the margins of someone else’s story.”
For more information about Douglas and his film projects, visit IMDB.