Actors in Atlanta this month to shoot TV pilots include (clockwise from top left) Jeremy Sisto, Leighton Meester, Casey Wilson and Archie Panjabi. CREDIT: Getty Images
By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Sunday, March 13, 2016
It's been the most fruitful period in Atlanta for pilots at the same time time since Georgia passed amped-up tax credits in 2008.
The Georgia film office has a list of seven pilots in various stages of production now. (Fox has already shot a pilot about a girl group developed by "Empire" creator Lee Daniels here.)
It's unlikely all seven will get picked up. Typically, fewer than half of pilots actually make it to series. And of those, fewer than a third typically make it to a second season. TV is brutal that way.
And just because a show's pilot is shot here doesn't mean it stays here. Sometimes, shows that shot their pilot here are moved elsewhere for logistic, creative or personal reasons. Among those who made the switch: ABC's current "Quantico" (now in Montreal) and past shows such as NBC's "Revolution" (North Carolina), TNT's "Franklin & Bash" (Los Angeles) and ABC's "Detroit 1-8-7" (Detroit, of course).
Here are the seven shows and what we know so far, much of it gleaned from deadline.com, which does a thorough job tracking every detail of pilots.
Making History aka In Time pilot Fox
Leighton Meester("Gossip Girl") is returning to series TV as the female lead opposite Adam Pally in "Making History." Fox's time-travel single-camera comedy pilot revolves around three unlikely friends who find an even less likely way to travel through time, irreversibly complicating their personal lives in 2016. (I presume it isn't a hot tub.)
The Yard BET pilot
No details as of yet. This is all I could find online so far.
Hail Mary Sony pilot for ABC
This single camera comedy is based on the Australian TV series "Braunschlag," which would be a terrible name for a show in America. Brian Gallivan ("The McCarthys") is working on the show with Seth Gordon ("The Goldbergs) and Tariq Jalil ("Operation Repo").
'Hail Mary" centers on Mary Wolf (Casey Wilson), a young small-town mayor named who has dysfunctional siblings, a dying father, disgruntled citizens, a nearly bankrupt town and the mafia breathing down her neck. Only a miracle can help her. So … she fakes one. Baker will play Mary's older sister, Janice, an upbeat mess who doesn't realize she's a mess.
Notorious Sony pilot for ABC
The potential series is based on the true-life stories of famed criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos and cable news producer Wendy Walker, and explores the interplay of criminal law and the media. Daniel Sunjata ("Rescue Me") has been cast.
The Jury Sony pilot for ABC
Jeremy Sisto ("Law & Order," "Suburgatory") is set to co-star opposite Archie Panjabi ("The Good Wife") in ABC's murder trial drama pilot "The Jury," from Sony TV and ABC Studios. "The Jury" examines "the ultimate social experiment" that happens thousands of times a day in the U.S.: a person's fate is placed in the hands of 12 strangers.
Untitled Paranormal Pilot WB for CW
Information from Deadline.com:
STUDIO: Warner Bros TV/Outerbanks Entertainment
TEAM: Kevin Williamson (w, ep), David Nutter (d, ep), Lauren Wagner (p)
LOGLINE: A young woman seeks help from a parapsychologist when she begins to experience paranormal phenomena.
CAST: Megan West, Matt Passmore, Jessica Szohr
Passmore just shot a USA series in Atlanta "Satisfaction," which lasted two seasons but was cancelled recently.
When the Street Lights Go On Paramount for Hulu
The description: In the vein of "Stand By Me," "When The Street Lights Go On" is a coming-of-age thriller about a sleepy, suburban town that is rocked by the brutal murder of a high school girl and her teacher in the summer of 1983.
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