From LeFrak City to Hollywood: Damien Douglas Readies Sweeping Historical Epic ‘MOORS’

A Queens-born producer with roots in LeFrak City is drawing renewed attention for a career that spans hip-hop’s golden era and today’s global film industry, culminating in an ambitious historical epic now in development.

Damien Douglas, who began his early career working with influential music industry labels including Bad Boy Entertainment and FB Entertainment, first made his mark behind the scenes during a defining period for hip-hop and R&B. His early work helped connect him to major artists such as Nas, Lil' Kim, Pharrell Williams, Ludacris, Eric Sermon, and singer Olivia Longott, establishing him as a key behind-the-scenes collaborator in the music industry.

“Coming up in LeFrak shaped everything about how I see storytelling and opportunity,” Douglas has said, describing his journey from Queens to Hollywood as “a subway rider from Queens who landed in Hollywood with just a dream and a pocketful of lint.”

That leap eventually brought him to Los Angeles, where Douglas transitioned into film production and has since built an extensive resume, with nearly 30 film and television projects released since 2020. His work has included collaborations with established talent such as Danny Glover, Dennis Quaid, Meagan Good, Hilary Swank, Michael Beach, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Naomie Harris.

Now, Douglas is preparing his most ambitious project to date: MOORS, a sword-and-sandal historical drama developed over nearly two decades. The film is based on an original story by Douglas and is being directed by Roel Reiné from a script by Emmy-nominated writer Chaz Hawkins.

Set during the Moorish conquest of Sicily beginning in 827 AD, MOORS follows an eager, young warrior named Tariq as he and a tight-knit band of black soldiers are lured into war by a beguiling, exiled general looking to settle the score against the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. To defeat the wretched Romans, Tariq and his friends must sacrifice themselves to change the face of Europe, forevermore bringing a new culture to the continent and beginning two centuries of Moorish rule in Sicily.

“With MOORS, we’re not just making a film—we’re opening the gates to a world that audiences have never been invited into at this scale. This is a sweeping, mythic, sword and sandals epic where Black heroes stand at the center of their own legend, not on the margins of someone else’s story,” said Douglas. “Our goal is to build a franchise that opens a window to a historic time that will embrace imagination, honor history, embrace imagination, and give a new generation of viewers characters who look like them leading the charge. We’re aiming for something bold, cinematic, and long overdue.”

Douglas is producing the film under his Movies By Misfits banner alongside Hawkins and Matt Macur. Casting is currently underway, with principal photography planned for Sicily and Tunisia in the third quarter of 2026.