October 11, 2013 - 12:18 AMT
“Bright Young Things” bestseller to be developed into drama series

ABC has put in development Bright Young Things, a drama based on Alloy’s best-selling Bright Young Things book series written by Anna Godbersen, Deadline said.

Produced by John Wells Prods. and Alloy Entertainment through Warner Bros. TV, the adaptation will be written by playwright/screenwriter Sheila Callaghan.

It is set in 1929 and centers on two women who escape their small Midwestern town and end up in Manhattan. One discovers that the father she’s never known is the head of a crime ring, while the other struggles to become a singer.

John Wells Prods.’ Wells and Andrew Stearn and Alloy’s Leslie Morgenstein and Cheryl Dolins executive produce, with Callaghan co-executive producing.

The Bright Young Things book series was launched in 2010 with a novel by that name, followed by Beautiful Days and The Lucky Ones. This marks a rare collaboration of two of Warner Bros. TV’s biggest production companies on the same project: JWP, which is under a deal, and Alloy, which is owned by Warner Bros. It expands Callaghan’s relationship with Wells and WBTV — she is a writer/producer on their Showtime series Shameless.

On the feature side, Callaghan, Dan Halsted and Michael Schenkman and Greg Slewett, was hired to write an adaptation of I Dream of Jeannie for Sony. Bright Young Things joins another JWP drama project, Outbreak, based on the hit 1995 feature, which has a pilot production commitment at NBC.