Two of the most influential Black women in entertainment are bringing a long-overdue story to the screen — and they have found exactly the right person to help tell it. Oprah Winfrey and H.E.R. have tapped Baltimore-born director Sheldon Candis to helm The B-Side, their upcoming HBCU drama series, and the project is picking up serious momentum.
Oprah Winfrey and H.E.R. Develop ‘The B-Side’ HBCU Drama Series
The B-Side is being developed by Winfrey and H.E.R. as a producing duo — a pairing that immediately signals both cultural ambition and commercial reach. The series will center on students as they navigate life at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, exploring themes of identity, ambition, and the personal sacrifices required to build a life beyond graduation. It is exactly the kind of story that has been missing from mainstream television for far too long.
The show promises to go beyond surface-level campus life. Viewers can expect a widened lens on the culture, community, and challenges that define HBCU life — a world that is rich, complex, and deeply woven into the fabric of Black American history and identity. Since A Different World first aired in the 1990s, there has been a growing modern appetite for authentic HBCU storytelling, and The B-Side is positioned to meet that appetite head-on.
With Winfrey’s production expertise and H.E.R.’s cultural fluency driving the project, the series arrives with both the pedigree and the perspective to do the subject matter justice.
Why Sheldon Candis Is the Right Director for ‘The B-Side’
Candis brings a strong and relevant body of work to this project. A graduate of the USC Film School, he directed the 2012 feature Luv and the 2022 DC Comics superhero series Naomi — the latter demonstrating his ability to handle both intimate character work and larger-scale storytelling. He also directed an episode of Colin in Black & White, the 2021 limited series based on the life of Colin Kaepernick, which further demonstrated his comfort with narratives rooted in Black American experience and social consciousness.
That combination of credentials makes Candis a natural fit for a series that will need to balance personal coming-of-age storytelling with a broader cultural portrait of HBCU life. Directing a show about Black student identity requires more than technical skill — it requires a genuine understanding of the world being depicted, and Candis has shown that understanding across his career.
His appointment also gives the production the kind of directorial anchor that allows a show to move forward with casting and distribution conversations in earnest. With Candis now in the chair, The B-Side has all the momentum of a project ready to find its home.
‘The B-Side’ Enters a Growing Wave of HBCU Storytelling on Screen
The timing of The B-Side could not be more fitting. The series enters development alongside a Netflix reboot of the beloved Cosby Show spinoff, which will revisit the characters and community of the fictional Hillman College. Rather than competing, these two projects together signal something larger — a genuine cultural moment in which HBCU stories are finally receiving the screen time they have always deserved.
Additionally, news of The B-Side‘s progress comes alongside reports that another Winfrey and H.E.R. collaboration — a dance-related film titled Major — has signed director Jamal Sims. That two major projects from the same producing duo are advancing simultaneously speaks to the scale of their creative ambitions and the depth of their commitment to telling Black stories on screen.
Together, these projects represent a meaningful shift in the entertainment landscape — one where underrepresented stories are not treated as niche content, but as mainstream cultural events with broad, engaged audiences ready to receive them.
What ‘The B-Side’ Means for HBCU Culture and Black Representation on Television
HBCUs occupy a unique and irreplaceable place in Black American life. They have produced some of the most influential leaders, artists, and professionals in the country’s history, and the communities built around them carry a depth of tradition, excellence, and resilience that mainstream media has only ever scratched the surface of. The B-Side has an opportunity to change that — and to do so with the creative power of Winfrey, H.E.R., and Candis behind it.
For current and former HBCU students, a show like this represents something personal. It is a chance to see their experiences reflected back to them with authenticity, nuance, and the kind of storytelling investment that has too often been reserved for other communities and other institutions. Representation on this level matters not just culturally, but practically — it shapes how HBCUs are perceived, valued, and supported by the wider world.
As the project continues its search for cast members and a distribution network, anticipation is already building. The B-Side is not just another television series in development. It is a cultural statement — and with the team now assembled behind it, all signs suggest it is one worth watching for.