Brandy And Diana Ross Team Up In TV Movie `Double Platinum'

Jet, May 10, 1999

Veteran and newcomer divas Diana Ross and Brandy team up for the first time in Double Platinum, a television drama about an intense, strained relationship between a mother and daughter.

In the film that airs on May 16 on ABC, Diana Ross is Olivia King, a talented Atlanta wife and mother who dreams of taking advantage of her strong and beautiful vocal chords. Her husband, Adam (Brian Stokes Mitchell), wants her to stay in Georgia and take care of their daughter, Kayla (Brandy). However, Olivia gets a chance for stardom and must make an instant decision. She knows that there are long-term consequences to whatever decision she makes. Should she stay at home with her husband and baby daughter and ignore her natural talent? Or should she risk alienating her husband and possibly losing her only child by pursuing a lifelong dream? She assumes that by taking the latter route, she can somehow still have it all.

Phenomenal success comes her way. But, as with many cases, there's a tremendous price. Her daughter grows up without her. The film details the barrier the two women must traverse to find a way to understand each other.

Olivia goes to numerous lengths to try to make amends for having abandoned her child. She introduces her to all of her music connections in the New York City music scene, including her longtime manager Gary Mill stein (Harvey Fierstein), her record label owner Marc Reckler (Roger Rees) and a young record executive Adam Harris (Allen Payne). Christine Ebersole is Peggy, the longtime assistant and confidante to Olivia.

There's plenty of drama as Kayla spends most of her time trying to make it in the world of her mother, the very same person she grew up wanting but hating.

The dramatic relationship is but one of the great aspects of the movie. Much to the delight of fans of both performers, the movie features a number of songs that feature the vocal talents of both, including a duet with the two of them entitled Love Is All That Matters. Both the duet and the solo numbers show the tremendous stage presence both women have. The two sing original songs from their respective albums.

Both Ross and Brandy served as executive producers of the movie.

In her first performance in a television movie last year, Brandy was in the hit ABC movie Cinderella. On a weekly basis, Brandy stars in the title role of the popular sitcom "Moesha." She made her big screen debut last year in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Her second album, Never S-A-Y Never, has sold more than 4 million copies.

Diana Ross has a little bit in common with the character she plays in the movie in that she, like Olivia, is a living musical legend. As the lead singer of The Supremes, she soared to the top of the charts with 12 No. 1 hit songs in six years before she went solo in 1970. Her movie credits include Lady Sings The Blues (for which she received an Academy Award nomination), Mahogany and The Wiz. She also won rave reviews for her role in the ABC Theater presentation of Out of Darkness.

As thorough and dramatic as the movie is, production officials also point out that the film was shot in only 20 days in New York City.

In addition to exploring some of those delicate questions about what many would do if confronted with such dramatic choices, the movie also provides a glimpse into how the music industry markets its superstars. And, rather than focus extensively on mother/daughter competition, Double Platinum explores how relationships are destroyed and how they heal.