ABC has bought a
one-hour dramedy script inspired by the music of
songwriter Diane Warren from Touchstone Television and Craig
Zadan and Neil Meron's Storyline Entertainment. In
addition, Storyline has renewed its overall deal with
Touchstone for another two years to cover series and
TV movies.
The project, a
romantic comedy, will center on a fictional female
songwriter who is just finding success in her career as a
prolific writer of love songs but whose own love life
is amiss. The project will follow her as she reenters
the dating world while trying to maintain her career.
Zadan pointed out that it's not going to be a biographical
take on Warren's life, nor will it aim to be an inside
look at showbiz.
He added the show
will feature music from Warren's catalog--which
includes such songs as LeAnn Rimes's "How Do I Live,"
Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me," Toni Braxton's
"Unbreak My Heart," and Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to
Miss a Thing"--as well as new songs written by
her for the show. "We thought, Wouldn't it be great to
figure out a way that music is not obtrusive but
part of the show?" Zadan said. "Music is
organic to this show. It's not shoehorned in at all."
Zadan and Meron
worked with Warren on the 1999 ABC musical Double
Platinum--she wrote a song for stars Brandy
and Diana Ross titled "Love Is All That Matters"--and
Zadan said that they had been interested in
collaborating again. For her part, Warren said she's
looking forward to working with Zadan and Meron as well
as writers Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, who created the
project and are writing the pilot. "I've wanted to
find the right place for my music in the television
world, and joining forces with a team of their caliber
is a blessing," she said. "To top it off, Touchstone and
ABC have shown such excitement and energy behind this that
it feels like the perfect fit."
Zadan and Meron,
whose credits include the Oscar-winning feature
Chicago, also are working on the drama pilot
Filthy Gorgeous for Showtime, and they're
preparing to shoot the film version of the musical
Hairspray next summer. (Cynthia Littleton and
Kimberly Speight, via Reuters)