TV SALES
ABC has given a script commitment with penalty to VAMP. The drama project centers around a young ballerina who moves to NYC with her mother and discovers that her mother’s past may prevent her from realizing her dreams. Looking for an escape, she then discovers “Vamp,” NYC’s hottest and most lavish nightclub, where she becomes a dancer. The series is written and executive produced by “The Carrie Diaries” executive producer Amy B. Harris for A.B. Baby Productions. Adam Shankman will direct and executive produce along with his sister Jennifer Gibgot for Offspring Entertainment. Warner Bros. TV will produce.
ABC is putting FOREVER 31 in development with Mark Gordon’s Mark Gordon Company. The comedy project, created by Iliza Shlesinger, will center on a 31-year-old comedian who struggles with the daily absurdities and indignities of life. Schelsinger will pen the script for the project, which is based on her real life, with Cindy Chupack supervising. Chupack, Gordon, and Andrea Shay will executive produce.
ABC has put GRANDMA DEAREST into development. The comedy spec penned by Todd Linden is being produced by Sony Pictures TV and FanFare Productions, with Moses Port on board to executive produce. The project centers on the world’s worst grandmother who loses all her money and is forced to move in with her daughter.
ABC is developing I LIKE YOU JUST THE WAY I AM with Sony Pictures TV and Fanfare Productions. The comedy, based on the novel by Jenny Mollen, cetners on Mollen’s life in LA with her friends and actor husband Jason Biggs. Mollen will adapt the project for ABC and will also star.
CBS is developing an UNTITLED CORREALE COMEDY, a romantic comedy based on the stand up of comedian Peter Correale. Aaron Kaplan and Tracy Katsky are producing the project with Marsh McAll showrunning. The project will focus on Correale’s married life in NYC adn the experiences of a blue collar couple in the big city.
Fox has given a put pilot commitment to an UNTITLED BRAUNSCHLAG PROJECT. The comedy, based on the Austrian series Braunschlag, stars Rob Riggle as the mayor of a small town who is prepared to do whatever it takes to save his struggling community. 20th Century Fox TV and Principato-Young Entertainment will produce the comedy, which is being developed by Steve Hely. Hely and Riggle will executive produce with Tariq Jalil, Peter Principato, and Paul Young.
Fox has given a pilot production commitment to GLOBAL FREQUENCY. Based on the graphic novel created by Warren Ellis, the Warner Bros. TV and Jerry Bruckheimer TV project will center on the inner workings of The Global Frequency, a privately funded crime fighting operation that taps into worldwide crowdsourcing to solve crimes. Jerry Bruckheimer, Jonathan Littman, Warren Ellis, and Rockne S. O’Bannon will executive produce.
FX is developing FROM HELL. The drama series, based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, tells the story of Jack the Ripper from the perspective of the notorious serial killer. It will center on the Whitechapel killings and the ensuing cover-up. David Arata will pen the adaptation, while Don Murphy will executive produce. FX Productions will co-produce with FtvS and Angry Films.
NBC has given a script commitment to PORT OF MIAMI. The comedy, from showrunners Matt Williams and David McFadzean, centers on an unmotivated bartender who works with a cruise line full of people trying desperately to achieve the American dream. Mark Perez is writing the script for Lionsgate Television, Televisa USA, and Wind Dancer Films. Williams and McFadzean will executive produce along with Judd Payne and Dete Meserve.
Nickelodeon is developing two comedy pilots, THE DUNES CLUB and FUTURE SHOCK. The Dunes Club, created by Heather Flanders, centers on the unlikely friendship between a sheltered, privledged boy and a street smart girl who takes a job at a high end beach club for the summer. Future Shock, created by Mitchel Katlin and Nat Bernstein, centers on two brothers whose lives are turned upside down when a girl from the future accidentally transports them to the year 2070.
HBO will develop the high-profile drama series CORTES. The series will focus on Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who brought down the Aztec empire. The drama will showcase both sides’ views on the man: the spanish who saw him as a hero and the indigenous people who viewed him as a mass murderer and destroyer of one of the greatest civilizations of the era. Chris Gerolmo will write and Martin Scorsese will direct, both also serving as executive producers along with Laura Bickford, Rick Yorn and Emma Tillinger Koskoff, for Scorsese’s Sikelia Prods. Benicio Del Toro will also executive produce and is interested in starring as the titular character.
HBO is developing THE LONG GRAY LINE, a drama project based on the bestselling book by Rick Atkinson. Art and John Linson will develop the project, which centers on the aftermath of soldiers’ service in Iraq and Afghanistan. Phil Klay is set to adapt the war drama.
TV RENEWALS
Disney Junior has ordered a second season of SHERIFF CALLIE’S WILD WEST. The animated series stars Mandy Moore as Callie, a calico cat sheriff who keeps the peace in her frontier town by ensuring everyone sticks to the rules of good morals, manners, and social ethics.
After being cancelled by A&E, Netflix has swooped in to save LONGMIRE. The drama series has been picked up for a fourth season by the digital distributor. The series centers on a dedicated sheriff in Wyoming whose tough exterior hides his grief over the loss of his wife.
TBS had renewed AMERICAN DAD for a twelfth season. The series rain for ten seasons on FOX before it was quietly cancelled and picked up by TBS, where it is now running its eleventh season of the series. The animated comedy explores the zany antics of an arrogant but dimwitted CIA agent and his ludicrous family.
Nickelodeon has renewed HENRY DANGER and NICKY, RICKY, DICKY & DAWN for second seasons.
TV CANCELLATIONS
CBS has cancelled the sophomore comedy THE MILLERS. The sitcom starred Will Arnett as a divorced news reporter whose divorce convinces his parents they should separate as well.
TBS has cancelled comedy series SULLIVAN & SON after three seasons. The series, created by Steve Byrne and Rob Long, centered on the son of a Pittsburgh bar owner who leaves his job as a corporate attorney to move home and take over running the bar.
TV Land is cancelling HOT IN CLEVELAND after its sixth season. The comedy, TV Land’s first scripted series, stars Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli, and Jane Leeves.
TV ATTACHMENTS
Charlotte Sieling is set to direct the pilot of USA’s QUEEN OF THE SOUTH. Based on the bestseller written by Arturo Perez-Reverte, the crime drama cetners on a woman whose drug-dealing boyfriend’s murder forces her to go on the run and team with a figure from her past who helps her take down the drug trafficking ring she’s running from. Sieling has previously directed episodes of The Strain and is directing part of the freshman season of Wayward Pines. She is repped by All That Management and Ragna Nervik Management.
Douglas Kennedy is set to adapt two of his bestselling novels THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS and A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP. The adaptations are being produced by VAB Productions. Happiness is set in post-WWII Manhattan and centers on the love story between an outspoken young woman and an Army journalist back from the war. Relationship follows an independent American journalist who falls in love with a British correspondent on assignment in Cairo but after falling in love and having his child, she eyes him with increasing suspicion and doubt.
Nathan Kress is set to direct an episode of HENRY DANGER. The new Nickelodeon series centers on a teen who moonlights as a crime-fighting sidekick to Ray, aka superhero Captain Man. Kress has appeared on series iCarly and Hawaii Five-0. He is repped by APA and Semler Entertainment.
Paris Barclay is set to direct and executive produce the pilot of THE BASTARD EXECUTIONER. Created by Kurt Sutter, the drama project tells the story of a warrior knight who vows to lay down his sword after being broken by the horrors of war but is forced to go back on his promise when violence finds him again. Barclay is repped by Paradigm and Steve Lovett.
TV GREENLIGHTS
BBC has greenlit THE A WORD, a drama series centering on a boy with autism and his family. Adapted from the Israeli series, the series is being produced by Fifty Fathoms Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions, and Keshet U.K. Keren Margalit is on board to adapt the series, which follows the Scott family, who quickly realize that if they want to communicate to their youngest son, they have to first learn to communicate themselves.
HBO has given the greenlight to WESTWORLD. Based on the 1973 Michael Crichton film, the series centers on an adult amusement park filled with lifelike robots. Anthony Hopkins, James Marsden, Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed Harris, and others will star in the series, which was written by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk will executive produce under their Bad Robot Productions banner, as will Jerry Weintraub, Nolan, and Joy.
Hulu has ordered DIFFICULT PEOPLE straight to series. The comedy, written and created by Julie Klausner, stars Klausner and Billy Eichner as best friends living in New York whose irreverent attitudes get them in trouble. Amy Poehler will executive produce the series along with Klausner and Dave Becky. 3 Arts Entertainment and Paper Kite Productions will produce.
ITV has ordered THE FRANKENSTEIN CHRONICLES to series. The six-part period crime drama will star Sean Bean as Inspector John Marlott who is recruited to apprehend a gang of opium smugglers. When a corpse washes up on shore, he realizes it’s a crude assembly of body parts and begins an investigation that leads him to deal with things more horrific than he could have imagined. The series is being produced by David Tanner for Rainmark Films and Carol Moorehead. Benjamin Ross is directing the series, which he wrote with Barry Langford.
Lifetime has given the greenlight to THE MICHELLE KNIGHT STORY, an original movie based on the life of the Ohio single mother who became the first victim of kidnapper Ariel Castro. Raymond Cruz will play Castro in the film, which is being written by Stephen Tolkin. Sony Pictures TV is producing with Judith Verno and Frank Von Zerneck executive producing.
TV DEALS
Jeff Eastin has inked an overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Studios. Under the deal, Eastin will develop broadcast shows for 20th TV and cable shows for Fox TV Studios. He will stay on as executive producer for the USA series Graceland. Eastin is repped by CAA.
Legendary Entertainment has signed a first look TV and digital production deal with Mosaic Media Group. The two companies will develop series programming for traditional network distribution, as well as cable and online distribution.
John Hamburg has launched Particular Pictures, which will develop projects for film and TV. The new company has signed a two-year overall deal with 20th Century Fox Television.
