CBS is wrapping its drama pilot orders with nods to Red Line, a racially-charged one-hour executive produced by Ava DuVernay and Greg Berlanti, Main Justice, inspired by and executive produced by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, with Jerry Bruckheimer also exec producing; L.A. Confidential, based on James Ellroy’s noir classic novel and executive produced by Arnon Milchan; and The Code, executive produced by Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman.
Red Line
Written by Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss, Red Line explores what happens after a white cop in Chicago mistakenly shoots and kills a black doctor. We follow three different families that all have connections with the case as the story is told from each perspective.
Ava DuVernay executive produces with Berlanti Productions’ Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter. Parrish and Weiss co-executive produce. Warner Bros. Television, where Berlanti Prods. is based, is the studio.
This is the fourth pilot order for Berlanti Prods. this season, joining Most Likely To at ABC, God Friended Me at CBS and Spencer at the CW.
Main Justice
Written by Sascha Penn (Survivor’s Remorse), Main Justice was inspired by Eric Holder’s life and work. Centered around the U.S. Attorney General, the show takes us into the tumultuous world of the 5th floor of the Department of Justice where he takes on the biggest legal and investigative cases in the country all while being the youngest person to ever hold such an esteemed position.
Executive producing alongside Holder, Penn and Bruckheimer are Jerry Bruckheimer TV’s Jonathan Littman and KristieAnne Reed. CBS TV is the studio on the project, which falls under the overall deal Jerry Bruckheimer TV inked there in July.
Holder was the 82nd Attorney General of the United States. Appointed by President Barack Obama, Holder served for six years, from 2009 to 2015 as the first African American to hold the position. He has since returned to private practice.
L.A. Confidential
From Arnon Milchan, who produced the acclaimed 1997 movie, L.A. Confidential gives James Ellroy’s classic novel a thoroughly 2018 treatment in terms of tone, music and style.
Written by Jordan Harper, it follows three homicide detectives, a female reporter and a Hollywood actress whose paths intersect as the detectives pursue a sadistic serial killer among the secrets and lies of gritty, glamorous 1950s Los Angeles. Harper executive produces with Milchan. The project hails from the TV venture New Regency forged with Lionsgate, designed to mine New Regency’s library.
CBS TV Studios co-produces with New Regency and Lionsgate Television.
The Code
Co-created and co-written by Limitless creator Craig Sweeny and Craig Turk, in The Code, the military’s brightest minds take on our country’s toughest challenges – inside the courtroom and out – where each attorney is trained as a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, an investigator – and a Marine.
Sweeny serves as executive producer/showrunner. Carl Beverly and Sarah Timberman executive produce via there Timberman/Beverly Prods. for CBS TV Studios.
Turk is writer, executive producer and showrunner of the new Dick Wolf CBS drama F.B.I. which has a 13-episode straight-to-series order.
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