Wall Street Journal Reveals How Will Smith Helped Bring Tatyana Ali's Buppies to BET.com

The Wall Street Journal recently featured my new web addiction Buppies in their "Speakeasy" blog. In the revealing read, series star and producer Tatyana Ali (Quinci) discusses what it was like for the child starlet  to return to Hollyweird after getting her Ivy League on at Harvard:

“I’d been gone for awhile,” says Ali, 30 years old, who co-starred with Will Smith in the sitcom “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” early in her career. “That difficulty is what prompted me to start the production company.

The article also details how The Young and the Restless actress and her sister/producing partner Anastasia contacted a screenwriter pal from Ali's Harvard days, Julian Breece (The Young and Evil), who had originally pitched a series idea to Ali which had been passed on by the major networks. The then trio opted to take Buppies to the web. The story also reveals how a certain Fresh Prince costar of Ali's helped get the dramedy on BET.com:

With a little help from Will Smith’s Overbrook Entertainment, Breece and Ali brought their show to BET. The result is “Buppies,” premiering Tuesday on BET.com. The show is BET’s first original Web series. It’s not the first Web series to feature a predominately black cast, but with BET’s promotion of the show online and on TV, it is arguably the most high-profile.

It's good to know Big Willy is still looking out for Cousin Ashley!  Be sure to check out the latest episode of Buppies today at 3 pm. EST. at BET.com You can also follow the addictive series on Facebook and Twitter.

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