Angela Bassett is set to make her directorial debut with the indie feature United States, which she will produce with her Bassett/ Vance Prods. partner and husband Courtney B. Vance.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, United States is based on the novel "Erasure" by Percival Everett, and is a dramatic comedy about Monk Ellison, a prominent black literary figure who writes a faux autobiography from the perspective of a barely literate hoodlum to decry what is wrong with the glorification of "ghetto" culture. But when the book is lauded as a possible contender for the National Book Award, he must choose between pride and fame.

Dwayne Johnson-Cochran wrote the adaptation, which is being eyed for a summer start.