Chameleon is an electrifying story of Frank ‘Cheese’ Tate, and the Tate Family. Frank ’Cheese’ secretly became a hit man for the mayor of Chicago at 18 years old, in the late 1980’s. Frank is also a powerful defense attorney and the owner of Tate & Tate law firm. Frank’s firm represents the most elite people in Chicago, from politicians, celebrities, entertainers to drug lords. Through a dramatic series of events, Frank ends up being the Kingpin, controlling the south side of Chicago’s underworld, gangs, drugs, guns and nightclubs.
Frank lives a very upscale but conservative lifestyle. He marries his dream girl ‘Fancy’, she helps to create the sense of ‘family’ in their chaotic world, while helping him build a $200 million dollar dynasty. Back in 1998 they had to adopt Frank’s 12-year-old nephew Robert, and his best friend Toney. The boys were from a little town in the south, and had to deal with the tragic deaths of their parents. Frank and Fancy take them in as the sons they never could have. He eventually teaches them how to gain power through their ‘family businesses’. But more importantly he teaches them about loyalty to the Tate family.
Now it’s 2015, and the boys are 25 years old. Frank, Robert and Toney are engaged in the day-to-day criminal conglomerate operations, while socializing with The Chicago’s elite by night. They struggle to keep their identities a secret to appear like legitimate attorneys and businessmen while at the same time running a murder for hire operation. His sons get bolder and more ruthless on the streets increasing unwanted scrutiny on their family. In the midst of a case, Frank gets news that he has a biological son (Sonny) 26, who he decides to defend personally, for the murder of one of his family members. This will cause a violent bloody rift within the Kingpin’s family.
In this “captivating” drama the family of a Chameleon deals with relationships, love, hatred, friendships, betrayal, jealously, lies, deceit, death and sickness. Unlike most normal families the Tate’s have developed an appetite for power thru fear and violence.
The initial episodes will feature extensive use of flashbacks to give background on the characters as they are introduced, The pilot is set in 2015 but to get the depth of the character’s motivation and the twisted relationships clues will be shown in flashback style similar to “Person of Interest”, The main character Frank’s ‘Cheese’ alter ego will initially be shown in silhouette or heavy shading not revealing that Frank and ‘Cheese’ are the same person until much later in the season.
The market created by TV dramas such as “Empire”, “Power”, and “The Blacklist”, allows endless possibilities of scenarios, as “Chameleon” takes you inside the life of a high profile black family, willing to kill for the “American Dream” to become rich and powerful.