Saturday, September 01, 2007

"Mafia Wives" TV Series in Development - Time for Activist Action - Now or Never

The ANNOTICO Report

 

NBC has picked up drama project, Mafia Wives, for development. Project  comes from BermanBraun and Universal Media Studios. Series will be about the women who take over the family business, from writer Lynda LaPlante.

 

For the activists out there, now is the time to try to kill this show.  'Mafia Wives' is only 'in development,' so not a lot of money has been spent.

However, once actors and other personnel are hired, and once a pilot is filmed, nothing can stop the train - millions of dollars will have been invested. It's now or never.

 

Appeals should be made to Ben Silverman, Co-Chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, Marc Graboff, Co-Chairman of NBC, and Vince Manze, President of NBC Program Planning (and an Italian American).

 

Silverman is a  young turk' type of executive --an enthusiastic man who loves television. 

Graboff is a lawyer who is very protective of NBC's reputation.

Manze is in his  late fifties or early sixties, and might be thinking about his legacy, so an appeal to him from the NIAF, OSIA, UNICO, IAOV  and from others will be necessary.

All three of these men work in NBC's Burbank offices 

 

 

NBC Goes Fishing with the Brits

Berman, Braun adding U.K. spice to projects

Daily Variety

By Josef Adalian

Mon., Aug. 27, 2007

 

Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun have set up a pair of projects at NBC, both with U.K. connections.

BermanBraun is teaming with "Prime Suspect" scribe Lynda LaPlante on "Mafia Wives," an hourlong drama script about mob wives who take over the family business. LaPlante will write the pilot and serve as exec producer, along with Braun and Berman.

While best known for the Helen Mirren starrer "Prime Suspect," U.K. scribe LaPlante also wrote "Bella Mafia," the novel that CBS turned into a hit miniseries a decade ago. More recently, she's had a Blighty hit with the "Trial and Retribution" series.

Berman and Braun are also in business with Jane Bussmann, a former columnist for London's Guardian newspaper who went on to work on a number of successful U.K. skeins, including "Smack the Pony" and "Jam." Bussmann has created a comedic project about a has-been hairdresser trying to raise his kids. She'll write and exec produce the pilot script, with Berman and Braun exec producing as well.

In addition to numerous U.K. projects, Bussmann is also a former writer for Comedy Central's "South Park."

Bussmann and LaPlante projects both will be produced by BermanBraun in association with Universal Media Studios, which has a rich first-look deal with Berman and Braun.

New NBC co-chief Ben Silverman and development head Teri Weinberg probably didn't need much introduction to Bussmann or LaPlante. Both execs are known for their strong international ties, having developed "The Office" and "Ugly Betty" from global formats.

BermanBraun projects rep the first confirmed network sales for the company, which is in the middle of its first full development season. It tapped Rachel Kaplan, an ex-Warner Bros. exec, to head scripted development last spring.

Earlier this summer, BermanBraun inked deals with a number of notable scribes, including Zak Penn ("X-Men: The Last Stand"), Blake Herron ("The Bourne Identity") and Tim & Tom Mullen.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117970976

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