NEW YORK, Oct 31 — The British director behind “12 Years a Slave” is developing a new drama series for HBO.

After making a name for himself as a video artist and feature film director, first achieving international critical acclaim with “Hunger” in 2008, Steve McQueen is now branching out into television. For HBO, the director is developing a drama series centred on an African American who covers up his background to better fit in on the New York social scene.

According to Deadline.com, the still untitled series will tie in themes from the John Guare play “Six Degrees of Separation” and from “Shame,” McQueen’s critically acclaimed film on one man’s struggle to hide a sex addiction.

McQueen will author the screenplay for the series in tandem with Matthew Michael Carnahan (“State of Play,” “World War Z”). HBO will then decide whether to move ahead with the project, for which producers are already considering their casting options. — AFP-Relaxnews