It’s official: WE tv has picked up its first scripted series with a 10-episode order to The Divide, written by Richard LaGravenese (Behind the Candelabra) and co-created by LaGravenese and Tony Goldwyn (Conviction), for a 2014 premiere. Additionally, WE has closed development deals for three additional scripted drama projects from such auspices as Chris and Paul Weitz, RJ Cutler and Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson.
The Divide was originally developed and ordered as a pilot last year by WE sibling AMC, which didn’t pick it up to series but left it in contention. The project’s series order by WE tv had been contingent on finding a showrunner as David Manson, who ran the pilot at AMC, had moved to Netflix’s House Of Cards as executive producer. Veteran John Tinker (The Practice) has now been tapped for the job and will serve as executive producer alongside LaGravenese and Goldwyn. Andrew Sugerman (Shopgirl) will co-executive produce. The series will be produced by AMC Studios, which produced the pilot directed by Goldwyn.
The Divide is described an exploration of personal morality and probes how truth coexists in the modern justice system alongside ambition, ethics, politics and race. As an impassioned case worker with The Innocence Initiative, Christine Rosa (Marin Ireland) delves into the case of a death-row inmate she believes was wrongly convicted of a young family’s heinous murder 11 years earlier. She chases down new evidence in a search for the truth and confronts an equally passionate district attorney, Adam Page (Damon Gupton), whose view of justice is colored by shades of grey. The cast also includes Joe Anderson, Aunjanue Ellis, Clarke Peters and Paul Schneider. “The Divide is the kind of compelling, high-quality storytelling that we think will set the right tone for our entry into scripted drama, a significant step in our network’s evolution,” WE tv President and General Manager Kim Martin, said. “We are also very pleased to be following our first scripted series order with three projects in development being driven by an incredible array of award-winning creators.” Here are descriptions of WE’s scripted projects in development:
ALL AMERICAN WOMAN (wt)
America: 1964. 1988. 2013. Three years set in distinctive decades that changed the cultural landscape of the country forever. In All American Woman, the lives of three unique and compelling women unfold against the backdrop of one common thread – All American Woman magazine. All American Woman is executive produced by Chris and Paul Weitz (About a Boy) and Andrew Miano through Depth of Field productions, with executive producers/writers Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott and co-executive producer Jenni Ross. The project is from Fox Television Studios.
DIRTY
From writers Nancy Fichman and Jennifer Hoppe (Damages) and executive producer RJ Cutler (Nashville), Dirty pairs Lucy – a successful financier who has fallen on hard times and is forced to live and work with her former housekeeper, Maize, in an unexpected and clever enterprise. The project is from Fox Television Studios.
HEADHUNTERS
Executive produced by Tom Fontana (Copper) and Barry Levinson and written by Susanna Styron (Borgia). As generations of women are being encouraged to ‘lean in’ in new and innovative ways, Headhunters examines their attempts to confront the ambiguity and conflicting choices that surround their lives today.
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