Spike Lee will follow his documentary on Hurricane Katrina with a scripted drama for NBC set in New Orleans.

Titled "NoLa," after the local slang for the Big Easy, the project is a multicultural ensemble exploring the post-Katrina lives of New Orleans residents from different social and economic backgrounds.

"It's a show about the city trying to rebuild itself and the people who are trying to put their lives together," Lee said.

He has recruited writer Sid Quashie to pen the script for "NoLa," which is being developed through Lee's deal with NBC Universal TV Studio. The two will travel to New Orleans this week to meet with residents.

"He is a very fine young writer," Lee said of Quashie. "We met and clicked immediately."

Lee began thinking about a TV series set in post-Katrina New Orleans while he was filming his documentary for HBO "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts."

Like the documentary, "NoLa" will be infused with humor. Lee is set to executive produce and direct the project if it goes to pilot.

"It's our goal to make great cinema for television," Lee said of his approach to the show.

Stylistically, he will pay homage to the great tradition of Italian neorealism, a 1942-52 movement in Italian cinema that involved such acclaimed filmmakers as Vittorio De Sica and Roberto Rossellini and spawned such films as De Sica's "The Bicycle Thief" and "Miracle in Milan."

Set among the poor and working class and filmed on location, Italian neorealist films contend mostly with the difficult economic and moral conditions of postwar Italy, reflecting the changes in the Italian psyche and the conditions of everyday life: defeat, poverty and desperation.

Lee is taking similar approach to the stories of Katrina survivors who are picking up the pieces of their shattered lives.

"NoLa" would be filmed on location in New Orleans.

"We don't have to build sets," Lee said with irony. "Things there still look like the city's been bombed out."

Taking another page from the book of Italian neorealism, Lee plans to add to the authentic feel of the show by having some of the most colorful people featured in the documentary -- like Phyllis Montana LeBlanc -- written into the script as supporting characters and appear as fictional versions of themselves.

Lee said his enthusiasm for the project is shared by NBC Uni TV Group president Jeff Zucker, NBC senior vp drama Katie O'Connell and NBC Uni TV senior vp drama Laura Lancaster, whom he acknowledged for their support.

Quashie said he had wanted to work with Lee for years.

"He has a point of view, and that is what I really appreciate in artists," Quashie said.

After submitting a couple of feature scripts to Lee, Quashie landed a meeting with the filmmaker and heard his idea for "NoLa."

"I thought it was a fantastic opportunity for a great television series," Quashie said. "This is such an important subject, and New Orleans is such a seminal American city."

Lee, whose recent directing credits include the feature "Inside Man" and the pilot for CBS' upcoming drama series "Shark," is repped by WMA.

Quashie's feature writing credits include "King of the Gods" for the Walt Disney Co. and a film about Liberian-born soccer star George Weah for Tollin/Robbins Prods. and Animus Films. He is repped by UTA and Principato-Young.