Andrew Haigh developing Keith Haring TV adaptation for Working Title Television

Working Title Television has acquired the rights to develop and produce a television series on the life of the iconic American pop artist, Keith Haring. Adapted from Brad Gooch’s biography Radiant: The Life and Line of Keith Haring, English filmmaker Andrew Haigh is roped in to direct and write for the adaptation.

Haring, a social activist and advocate for safe sex and AIDS awareness, died in 1990 (at the age of 31) due to AIDS-related complications. Working Title Television's latest series will adapt the life and impact of the famous artist on the 1980s New York pop art movement.

Discussing the artist's legacy, Andrew Haigh said in an interview with Deadline:

“Haring’s work, while profoundly personal, speaks to something deep in us all. His bold line defined a moment in time, yet his art resonates as powerfully today as it did in the 1980s.”

The untitled series will be executive-produced by Haigh, Gooch, and The Keith Haring Foundation, alongside Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, and Katy Rozelle.

The British Independent Film Award winner is best known for his 2023 romantic film All of Us Strangers, starring Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal. Andrew Haigh also earned a BAFTA nomination for the movie for Best Director. In addition, Haigh has also previously worked on HBO's comedy series Looking, its sequel Looking: The Movie, the BBC miniseries The North Water, and his 2017 coming-of-age film Lean on Pete.

More on this in our story.

Who is Keith Haring? All about the subject of Working Title Television's latest adaptation

Born in May 1958 in Pennsylvania, Keith Allen Haring emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture and eventually became one of the most iconic artists who popularized the pop culture movement in the 1980s. From an artist whose drawings were mostly found on New York subways, he gained public attention and went on to create large-scale murals, many of which were commissioned.

From chalk drawings of figures and dogs, Keith Haring's art grew exponentially between 1982 and 1989, when he created large public artworks, many of which were voluntarily produced for hospitals, day care centres, and schools. Andrew Haigh's upcoming series will focus on the emergence of a street artist whose art conveyed controversial themes of anti-crack, anti-apartheid, safe sex, homosexuality, and AIDS in his latter years.

Honoring two of Haring's most popular works, Andrew Haigh added in his interview with Deadline:

“Radiant is a joyful call to action, a celebration of life even in the midst of adversity and struggle. Keith’s story pulses with the unshakable belief that art can change the world. I can’t wait to join his Party of Life.”

The Keith Haring Foundation is also involved in the Working Title Television adaptation

While Haring left an impressive legacy through his iconography, he was also a social activist who established The Keith Haring Foundation in 1989. The nonprofit organization, which aims to provide funding to AIDS organizations and children's programs, also executive produces the upcoming series.

Announcing this partnership, Bevan said in a statement:

“We are honored to partner with the Keith Haring Foundation, Brad Gooch and Andrew Haigh to bring the brilliant story of Keith’s life to the screen.''

The foundation is a standing example that carries on Haring's artistic and philanthropic legacy by educating disadvantaged youths about HIV and AIDS and also funds exhibitions while circulating the artist's works and keeping them alive in the public memory.

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