NBC Orders 10-Episode Unscripted Series On Family Social Experiement “Home Sweet Home” From Ava DuVernay

NBC has ordered 10 episodes of the new, unscripted family social experiment “Home Sweet Home,” created by Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Ava DuVernay. Warner Horizon Unscripted Television will produce the hourlong series with DuVernay’s production company, ARRAY Filmworks. 

Each episode of “Home Sweet Home” taps two families who lead very different lives for a life-changing experience through this full-immersion cultural experiment. The show chronicles the fierce curiosity and sense of adventure it takes to walk a mile in another person’s shoes by challenging racial, religious, economic, geographic, gender and identity assumptions as participants exchange homes for a week and experience the life of someone unlike them in intimate and dynamic ways. 

“We are honored to partner with Ava for the first time to bring ‘Home Sweet Home’ to life at NBC,” said Meredith Ahr, President, Alternative and Reality Group, NBC Entertainment. “Led by Ava’s powerful and hopeful creative vision, these stories will reveal genuine moments of change that we hope will spark thought-provoking conversations and encourage compassion, empathy and understanding.”

“Ava is an extraordinarily gifted and thoughtful storyteller,” said Mike Darnell, President, Warner Bros. Unscripted & Alternative Television.

“This life-changing journey promises to be a rich experience affording families an opportunity to see life through a new lens.” Brooke Karzen, EVP and Head of Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, added, “It’s a pure joy to be collaborating with Ava on her first primetime unscripted project. Her voice is perfectly suited for this moment in time.

“The idea for ‘Home Sweet Home’ came to me during the strange and important times we’re all experiencing. The premise is that we are farther apart than ever, yet bound by what we have in common concerns with health, safety, justice and community. These notions manifest in each of us in different ways, but nowhere more striking than in the privacy of our own homes. I’m thrilled that NBC and Warner Horizon embraced the challenge of this moment to celebrate the specificity of our differences as we discover the many beautiful things that we have in common,” said DuVernay. 

Winner of BAFTA, Peabody and Emmy Awards, Academy Award nominee Ava DuVernay’s directorial work includes the Oscar-winning civil rights drama “Selma,” the Oscar-nominated social justice documentary “13th” and the Disney children’s adventure “A Wrinkle in Time,” which made her the highest-grossing Black woman director in American box office history. In 2019, she created, wrote, produced and directed the Emmy Award-winning limited series “When They See Us.” She is currently producing the fifth season of her acclaimed series, “Queen Sugar.” She is the winner of the 2012 Sundance Best Director Prize for her second independent film “Middle of Nowhere.”

“Home Sweet Home” is produced by Warner Horizon Unscripted Television in association with ARRAY Filmworks. Ava DuVernay is the series creator and will serve as executive producer, along with Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes of ARRAY.