article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
Blair Underwood is set as the male lead in ABC’s untitled Meaghan Oppenheimer drama pilot, executive produced by Reese Witherspoon. Written by Oppenheimer, the project follows the personal and professional life of Gemma, a ruthless divorce attorney in Dallas, which begins to unravel when her emotionally damaged, love-addicted sister resurfaces, triggering self-destructive tendencies and exposing long-hidden family secrets.
Underwood will play James, Gemma’s boss and sometime-lover. Gemma’s law professor and mentor for years, who instilled in her a sense of cutthroat ambition, he is the one person unafraid to belittle her.
Underwood’s last turn starring in a television series was on NBC’s quickly-canceled remake of “Ironside.” His availability put Underwood in high demand this pilot season with multiple offers. He most recently worked with ABC and ABC Studios on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., where he had a recurring role. Underwood will next be seen in a guest stint on CBS’ The Good Wife.
To read more, go to: http://deadline.com/2016/03/blair-underwood-cast-abc-drama-pilot-reese-witherspoon-1201714769/
Posts tagged as “ABC Studios”
As pilot season kicks off, ABC is looking to stay in business with “American Crime” creator and Oscar winner John Ridley, giving his detective drama project “Presence” a formal pilot order.
In contention for the 2016-17 television season, “Presence” has been hot at ABC since the get-go, as the drama was the first pilot script order at the network this development season. “Presence” follows Presence Foster, a former Army veteran who finds herself navigating a widely divergent and highly colorful cross section of L.A., as she unintentionally begins a career as an unlicensed private investigator.
Hailing from ABC Studios, Ridley wrote the pilot script and will direct and executive produce through his International Famous Players Radio Picture Corporation with his fellow “American Crime” executive producer Michael McDonald, who will executive produce “Presence” by way of his ABC-based Stearns Castle banner.
Aside from “Presence” and “American Crime,” which debuts its second season on January 6, Ridley and McDonald have another drama set up in the early stages with ABC Studios — the duo optioned the rights to Kim Reid’s novel “No Place Safe: A Family Memoir” for a limited series.
Ridley also has a top-secret Marvel project in the works at ABC Studios, where he is under a producing deal.
article by Elizabeth Wagmeister via Variety.com
ABC has bought a Baghdad-set military drama project from “Grey’s Anatomy” veteran Zoanne Clack and Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland production company.
The untitled show is set circa 2004 among an U.S. Army Medevac team who work out of a base camp in the Iraqi capital. The series revolves around team members who “get on each other’s nerves, sleep with the wrong people, navigate ‘office’ politics and party like there’s no tomorrow.”
Clack is writing the script for ABC Studios and Shondaland. Clack, Rhimes and Shondaland’s Betsy Beers are exec producing for ABC Studios, where Shondaland is based.
Clack has worked her way up the ranks at “Grey’s Anatomy” since that show’s inception, rising from story editor to executive producer. She’s repped by CAA and manager Alan Rautbort at Circle of Confusion.
Shondaland has two comedy projects and another drama in the development pipeline this year at ABC.
article by Cynthia Littleton via variety.com
The untitled show is set circa 2004 among an U.S. Army Medevac team who work out of a base camp in the Iraqi capital. The series revolves around team members who “get on each other’s nerves, sleep with the wrong people, navigate ‘office’ politics and party like there’s no tomorrow.”
Clack is writing the script for ABC Studios and Shondaland. Clack, Rhimes and Shondaland’s Betsy Beers are exec producing for ABC Studios, where Shondaland is based.
Clack has worked her way up the ranks at “Grey’s Anatomy” since that show’s inception, rising from story editor to executive producer. She’s repped by CAA and manager Alan Rautbort at Circle of Confusion.
Shondaland has two comedy projects and another drama in the development pipeline this year at ABC.
article by Cynthia Littleton via variety.com
Paula Patton will star in ABC’s drama pilot “Runner”. Patton will play the lead, Lauren Marks, a woman whose perfect life is torn apart by one twist of fate. To uncover the truth, Lauren must follow a trail of lies that take her into the world of cartels and the illegal gun trade between the U.S. and Mexico.
Australian director Michael Offer (“How to Get Away With Murder,” “Longmire”) will direct the pilot from 20th Century Fox and ABC Studios. “Runner” was written by Michael Cooney, who will executive produce with Peter Horton, Ian Sander, Kim Moses and Jon Cowan, with Cowan as showrunner.
The project marks Patton’s first-ever TV series as a regular. She co-starred in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” with Tom Cruise, “Deja Vu” with Denzel Washington and “Precious.” Patton will also star in “Warcraft,” alongside Travis Fimmel and Dominic Cooper, set to hit theaters in 2016.
article by Elizabeth Wagmeister via Variety.com
Australian director Michael Offer (“How to Get Away With Murder,” “Longmire”) will direct the pilot from 20th Century Fox and ABC Studios. “Runner” was written by Michael Cooney, who will executive produce with Peter Horton, Ian Sander, Kim Moses and Jon Cowan, with Cowan as showrunner.
The project marks Patton’s first-ever TV series as a regular. She co-starred in “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol” with Tom Cruise, “Deja Vu” with Denzel Washington and “Precious.” Patton will also star in “Warcraft,” alongside Travis Fimmel and Dominic Cooper, set to hit theaters in 2016.
article by Elizabeth Wagmeister via Variety.com
According to Variety.com, ABC has picked another drama pilot for their 2015-16 season from “TGIT” queen Shonda Rhimes.
“The Catch” from Shondaland’s Rhimes and Betsy Beers follows a female forensic accountant whose career specialty is exposing fraud for a living. Much like the lead ladies of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How To Get Away With Murder,” the sure-to-be fierce woman at the forefront of the crime thriller has tumultuous love life with her fiancé, complete with cons and lies.
The pilot will be exec produced by Rhimes, Beers and Julie Anne Robinson, and co-produced by Helen Gregory and Kate Atkinson. Robinson is set to direct and Jennifer Schuur will write the pilot.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
“The Catch” from Shondaland’s Rhimes and Betsy Beers follows a female forensic accountant whose career specialty is exposing fraud for a living. Much like the lead ladies of “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How To Get Away With Murder,” the sure-to-be fierce woman at the forefront of the crime thriller has tumultuous love life with her fiancé, complete with cons and lies.
The pilot will be exec produced by Rhimes, Beers and Julie Anne Robinson, and co-produced by Helen Gregory and Kate Atkinson. Robinson is set to direct and Jennifer Schuur will write the pilot.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
According to Marvel Studios, Mike Colter has signed on to play Luke Cage in the upcoming Netflix series, “A.K.A. Jessica Jones,” starring Krysten Ritter, in 2015.
The all-new 13-episode series will follow private investigator Jessica Jones who encounters the enigmatic Luke Cage, during the course of an investigation in New York City. Cage is described as a man whose past has secrets that will dramatically alter Jessica in ways she could never have imagined. After a tragic ending to her short-lived super hero stint, Jessica Jones is rebuilding her personal life and career as a detective who gets pulled into cases involving people with extraordinary abilities in New York City.
“Mike embodies the strength, edge and depth of Luke Cage,” said Executive Producer/Showrunner Melissa Rosenberg. “We’re excited to have him bring this iconic Marvel character to life.”
“Fans have longed to see Luke Cage and in Mike we’ve found the perfect actor,” said Jeph Loeb, Executive Producer/Marvel’s Head of Television. “Viewers will get to meet Luke Cage in ‘Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones,’ and experience why he is such an important super hero in the Marvel mythos.”
Colter, who has appeared in the critically-acclaimed television series “The Good Wife” and “American Horror Story: Coven”, is currently starring in the XBox original series “Halo: Nightfall” as Jameson Locke.
“Marvel’s A.K.A. Jessica Jones” is produced by Marvel Television in association with ABC Studios for Netflix.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson (follow @lakinhutcherson)
”How To Get Away With Murder” star Viola Davis is about to step behind the camera for her next project… another ABC drama, about another powerful female lawyer.
Davis and her producing partner Julius Tennon have teamed with producer Debra Martin Chase (“Sparkle”) for “Conviction,” a legal drama inspired by the life of Kym Worthy, the chief prosecutor of Wayne County, MI, known as the toughest woman in Detroit, reports Deadline.com.
Worthy became the second African-American to serve as a county prosecutor in Michigan when she was appointed as chief prosecutor of Wayne County in 2004. She is known for a number of high-profile cases, like filing charges against Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and her campaign to clear a massive backlog of 11,000 unprocessed rape test kits in Detroit.
The script is being written by Jason Wilborn (“Damages”), with Jeff Melvoin (“Army Wives”) on board as show runner. Davis and Tennon are executive producing through their JuVee Productions, and Martin Chase through her Martin Chase Prods. ABC Studios, where Martin Chase Prods. has an overall deal, is the studio.
Also executive producing are Kim Swann and Leah Keith who brought Worthy’s story to Hollywood, and Melvoin, while Wilborn serves as co-executive producer and Martin Chase Prods.’ Charles Pugliese as producer. Worthy will serve as a consultant.
In addition to “Conviction,” Swann is developing several projects with Worthy as her producing partner. Keith is adapting her novel “A Rented Life” into a feature. At ABC and ABC Studios, Martin Chase Prods. also has a limited series in development based on the book Catherine The Great by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Massie with a script by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Michael Cristofer (“Gia”).
article via eurweb.com
According to Deadline.com, Viola Davis (The Help, Doubt) has been cast as the lead of ABC‘s drama pilot How To Get Away With Murder, from ABC Studios and Shonda Rhimes‘ (Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal) Shondaland. This marks the first series regular role in over a decade for the Oscar-nominated actress (her last was on CBS’ Century City). In making her foray into television pilot season, Davis joins The Help co-star Octavia Spencer, who recently signed to star in the Fox drama pilot The Red Band Society.
Written by Peter Nowalk, How To Get Away With Murder is described as a sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller that centers on ambitious law students and their brilliant and mysterious criminal defense professor (Davis) who become entangled in a murder plot that could rock their entire university and change the course of their lives. Nowalk is executive producing alongside Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers.
This is the second consecutive drama pilot in which Rhimes has booked an A-list black actress for the lead, following Scandal and Kerry Washington. Though primarily a feature film actress now, in the past few years, Davis had recurring roles on Law & Order and The United States Of Tara. She recently wrapped production on the independent film Lila & Eve opposite Jennifer Lopez, which was produced by Davis’ JuVee Prods. company.
article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson; story contributed by Becky Schonbrun
What do you do when you have a show about what it means to be black in today’s society that is in a need of a showrunner? You turn to an expert. ABC’s untitled Anthony Anderson/Kenya Barris comedy pilot (formerly Black-ish) has tapped The Daily Show’s senior black correspondent Larry Wilmore as executive producer/showrunner. Written by Barris and loosely based on his personal experiences, the project centers on an upper-middle-class black man (Anderson) who struggles to raise his children with some sense of cultural identity despite constant contradictions and obstacles coming from his liberal wife, old-school father, and his own assimilated, color-blind kids. Wilmore tackled similar issues on his Fox comedy series The Bernie Mac Show. The Anderson/Barris pilot hails from ABC Studios, Laurence Fishburne‘s Cinema Gypsy and Principato Young, with Wilmore executive producing alongside Anderson, Barris, Cinema Gypsy’s Fishburne, Helen Sugland and Tom Russo as well as PYE’s Peter Principato, Paul Young and Brian Dobbins. Fishburne may also guest star.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com
Criminal Minds executive producer Janine Sherman Barrois has closed a two-year overall deal with ABC Studios, the studio behind the veteran CBS crime drama. Under the pact, Barrois will continue on Criminal Minds, where she has been since 2010, and develop new projects. She just penned Criminal Minds‘ upcoming ninth-season premiere. Barrois previously was an executive producer on the final season of ER and a co-executive producer on Third Watch where she worked for five seasons. On the comedy side, she spent multiple seasons on The PJ’s and The Jamie Foxx Show.
article by Nellie Andreeva via deadline.com