The first episode of "Chase Street" will premier in October.
CAMDEN -- Thomas Freeman Jr. has already thrown the book at Camden. His published works tell tales of getting by in the so-called city invincible.
Now, Freeman and fellow producers hope to shock the television-watching world into realizing what's up in a place that once had the title of "most dangerous city in America" hung around its neck.
"Camden is a real unique place. It's a little city with big city problems without big city resources," Freeman said of "Chase Street," a six-episode series that he, director Derrick Hammond and others have shopped around to both local and national studios in hopes of finding it a home.
Sitting outside of The Victor lofts, Freeman, who lives in Burlington City, said he teamed up with Hammond -- whose cousin, Will Smith, helped him with getting on-set experience. Freeman and Denny Brown, the project's creator and executive producer, sat down to re-work the pilot episode.
The plot could easily be ripped from the headlines: An injured NBA player comes back to his native Camden after falling on hard times. He gets recruited into local politics but his home life is a mess, Freeman said, citing a drug-addicted family and drug-dealing brother.
Those involved in the production include Clifton Powell, who has starred in "Menace II Society" and "Dead Presidents," Philadelphia rapper Freeway and New Jersey native Jade Yorker, who played Willie Weathers in "Gridiron Gang."
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Charles Wilson, who grew up in Camden but currently lives in Carneys Point, had worked with Hammond before and said "Chase Street" will prove to be an "eye-opening" experience.
"The youth get to see," he said of filming on location throughout the city. "It gives them something to look forward to."
"Chase Street" will have a "Law & Order" feel, but it was shows like "The Wire" -- which did something not seen before or since, Freeman said -- that brought this style to the masses.
Freeman said he and fellow producers have been in talks with Netflix, Amazon and Suzanne de Passe, who began her career working with the Jackson 5 and Motown records. The first episode will be released by early October, Freeman said, but the entity that will carry it is still being worked out.
Freeman said Camden has been "welcoming" to production as the cast and crew filmed across the city, from the rooftop of The Victor luxury lofts building to inside local bars and almost inside the county jail.
"I wasn't sure if they were going to shut us down," he said. "There are characters that might resemble people from Camden."
In the vein of art imitating life, Freeman said he befriended a man from South Jersey while attending college at Fairleigh Dickinson University who told him that the mayor of Camden at the time, Milton Milan, was selling drugs.
Freeman could hardly believe it. Milan was sentenced in 2000 to seven years in prison on corruption charges. Freeman's friend, Darren Neugent was shot to death in Camden's Cramer Hill section on March 18, 2002.
"It's fiction," said Freeman, whose wallet contained a yellowed and battered "In Memoriam" clipping wishing Neugent a happy birthday. "But it's rooted in Camden."
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.