Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett will make his directorial debut with B-Boy Blues, on BET +,  Variety reports. 

The film will be available on the streamer on June 9 during Pride Month. Multi-media mogul Mona Scott-Young is a producer on the film.

B-Boy Blues is a beautifully bold, funny, heartwarming bro-mance and I was thrilled to partner with Jussie to help this wonderful film gain greater exposure,” Young said. “Falling head over heels and fighting for love are universal emotions and experiences and we are so grateful to BET+ for shining a powerful spotlight on the still seriously underrepresented black LGBTQ+ community and bringing this impactful love story to an even greater audience.”

The film won the Narrative Feature Fan Favorite Award at the 2021 American Black Film Festival and was described as “a clash of class and culture when Mitchell Crawford, a college-educated journalist from Brooklyn, and Raheim Rivers, a bike messenger from Harlem, fall in love.”

“Through our content slate, we are intentional about representing the fullness of the Black experience, including that of the LGBTQ+ community,” said BET+ exec VP/GM Devin Griffin. “B-Boy Blues is an artful, heart-rending film about the complexity of love – something we all can relate to.”

B-Boy Blues is the first project that Smollett has been involved in since being found guilty of making false reports about what he alleged to be a hate crime in 2019. After his conviction, he was sentenced to 150 days in jail, 30 months of felony probation, and ordered to pay a fine for making false reports to police.

After a 6-day stint in jail, Smollett was released from jail when he posted a $150,000 bond when an Illinois Appellate Court granted a motion for a stay of his sentence.