EXCLUSIVE: Independent television pilots made some noise in 2024 with series such as Mark Duplass’ Penelope landing at Netflix.
The team behind Books, a comedy pilot, hope this remains true next year.
The project is headlined by Spencer Grammer, who voices Summer Smith in Rick and Morty, and Ajay Naidu, who starred in Office Space.
Filmed at Market Block Books, an independent bookstore in Troy, New York this week, the pilot follows cancelled author Wren Wild (Grammer) as she leads a quirky crew willing to do anything to keep their bookstore alive. Naidu plays her silent partner Murry, a former book agent who has no idea what he’s doing.
The pilot comes from director Micah Khan, who recently made his feature directorial debut with The Zombie Wedding, producer Victoria Diana and cinematographer Adam Muro with Tim Cahill, Kristina Libby and Patrick Regan of 7th Draft Productions exec producing.
The cast also includes Deepti Menon, Ulisses Gonsalves, Melanie Brook and Henry Temple.
The pilot will be shopped to networks and streamers in the New Year.
“I love all those shows: Cheers, Friends, Wings, Taxi. But they’ve been out now for over thirty years. I wanted a fresh take,” said Cahill. “Books is that take. Like all those shows, it happens in a location where you want to spend all your time and with a cast of characters who feel like family.”
“We have a lot of ideas for how Books can be not just a great TV show but a really great way to introduce new audiences to new books. The hope is that with the right partner, we can even encourage reading and drive book sales,” added Libby. “The literary world needs a new tastemaker, the way Oprah used to make bestsellers happen. And world around this show can be so expansive and inclusive. As an author and a writer, I’m equally excited by what that means.”
Grammer is repped by Untitled Entertainment. Naidu is repped by CornerStone Talent and TMT Entertainment Group. Menon is repped by Pantera/Murphy and Seven Summits. Khan is repped by Candice Kreinbrink at ESE Management.