356: Duster HBO Max – LaToya Morgan and Rachel Hilson

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On this special episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with executive producer and showrunner Latoya Morgan and lead actress Rachel Hilson about DUSTER, the new TV series from JJ Abrams and Latoya Morgan now streaming on HBO Max.

Set in the 1970s Southwest, the show follows the first black female FBI agent as she takes on a crime syndicate by teaming up with a gutsy getaway driver. I am an FBI consultant on the show. DUSTER also stars Josh Holloway as the getaway driver Jim Ellis and Keith David as the boss of the crime syndicate.

Watch the official DUSTER trailer here.

The series was co-created and co-written by JJ Abrams and LaToya Morgan. The first season has eight episodes, the first three written by Abrams and LaToya. Naturally, I’m hoping DUSTER will be renewed for multiple seasons.

After my conversations with LaToya and Rachel, I talk briefly about the significance of accurate portrayals of the FBI in books, TV, and movies, a major theme of my mission.

Executive Producer and Showrunner

LaToya Morgan

Born and raised in Los Angeles, writer-producer LaToya Morgan is known for her work on Shameless, Parenthood, Turn: Washington’s Spies, Into the Badlands and The Walking Dead. Recently, she joined forces with J.J. Abrams to co-create, showrun and executive produce the MAX series DUSTER under her shingle TinkerToy Productions alongside Bad Robot for Warner Brothers Television. On the feature side, Morgan has projects at Universal, Paramount, and was tapped by MGM and horror grandmaster George Romero’s family to write a new sequel to the iconic film Night of the Living Dead.

Morgan is an advisor and mentor for the Sundance Institute, Film Independent, and Outfest Episodic Labs and the WGA’s Inclusion and Equity committee. She wrote, produced and directed the award-winning short film Team Marilyn, which was distributed on STARZ and is expanding into a feature film. Morgan’s best-selling genre-bending scifi comic book series Dark Blood was recently published by BOOM! Studios. She was enlisted by the company once again – this time along with Creed star Michael B. Jordan and his company Outlier Society – to write Creed: The Next Round, the first ever comic book tie-in for the franchise. Morgan holds an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute Conservatory, is a two-time NAACP Image Award nominee, and a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Photo credit is Jonny Marlow.

Lead Actress

Rachel Hilson

Rachel Hilson currently stars in the HBO MAX series DUSTER, from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan. She takes on the lead role of “Nina Hayes,” the first Black female FBI agent, who in 1972 heads to the Southwest and enlists a fearless getaway driver in a daring mission to dismantle a growing crime syndicate.

Hilson will also appear in the recently announced Amazon MGM Studios’ courtroom comedy JUDGEMENT DAY, directed by Nick Stoller and starring Will Ferrell and Zac Efron. The film follows a newly released convict (Efron) who hijacks a reality TV courtroom, blaming its egotistical host judge (Ferrell) for a life-altering ruling.

Hilson’s notable credits include the Emmy-nominated Amazon MGM film RED, WHITE & ROYAL BLUE, Hulu’s acclaimed series LOVE, VICTOR, and NBC’s beloved drama series, THIS IS US.

A proud graduate of the Baltimore School for the Arts’ theater program, Hilson later attended NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she graduated with a concentration in Writing and Performing Race. Her studies culminated in the writing and production of three original plays and extensive research into the societal constructs that have shaped—and often constrained—roles for actors of color.