Apple has given a straight-to-series order to Dickinson, a half-hour comedy starring Oscar-nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (Pitch Perfect 3, True Grit) in the title role of 1800s poet Emily Dickinson, from Paul Lee’s recently launched independent studio, wiip, Alex Goldstone for Anonymous Content, Michael Sugar and Ashley Zalta for Sugar23 Productions, David Gordon Green, Darlene Hunt and Alena Smith (The Affair, The Newsroom).
Written by Smith, Dickinson is set during Emily Dickinson’s era with a modern sensibility and tone. It takes viewers into the world of Emily (Steinfeld), audaciously exploring the constraints of society, gender, and family from the perspective of a budding writer who doesn’t fit in to her own time through her imaginative point of view. Dickinson is Emily’s coming-of-age story – one woman’s fight to get her voice heard.
Smith executive produces with David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express, Vice Principals), who also is set to direct, along with Sugar (Spotlight) and Zalta (Maniac) for Sugar23 Productions; Alex Goldstone for Anonymous Content; and Hunt (The Big C, I Heart Huckabees).
Born in 1830, Emily Dickinson is considered one of America’s greatest and most original poets of all time.
Steinfeld received a supporting actor Oscar nomination for her performance in 2010’s True Grit and a leading actress Golden Globe nom for 2016’s The Edge Of Seventeen. She also played Emily in Pitch Perfect 2 and 3. Also a successful artist with Republic Records, Steinfeld will next be seen as as the female lead in Bumble Bee, set for a December 21 theatrical release, and is currently in the studio writing and recording her first full-length album.
Dickinson joins Apple’s other upcoming series including three from Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine, a morning-show drama starring Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, Are You Sleeping starring Octavia Spencer and a comedy toplined by Kristen Wiig. Also on Apple’s slate are an Amazing Stories reboot from Steven Spielberg, a Ronald D. Moore space drama, a Damien Chazelle series, world-building drama See from Steven Knight and Francis Lawrence, as well as an M. Night Shyamalan psychological thriller.
This is the second straight-to-series order for the Lee-led wiip, since it was officially launched earlier this spring. It joins Queen America, starring Catherine Zeta Jones, at Facebook where the company also has a series commitment with penalty for a scripted drama from international soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo.
via Deadline