New production company Highwire Media, created by Tony-winning director Anna D. Shapiro (August: Osage County), Oscar-nominated producer Leelai Demoz (On Tip-Toe), Tony-nominated actor and writer Ian Barford (Linda Vista), and entrepreneur Brad Keywell, has revealed its debut slate.
Initial projects range across film, theatre, and television and include co-producing Masters of Sex's Matthew-Lee Erlbach's Broadway-aimed dramatic play Revelations with Seaview. The play follows two State Department employees and the sex scandal they reveal.
Barford's limited series This Land of Blood, about the bond between Frederick Douglass and John Brown, is also slated, alongside original drama series Bury the Lede from Joy Gregory (Madame Secretary). Gregory's show explores the life and career of the longest-serving White House press correspondent, Connie Lawn. Shapiro will direct the series, co-produced with Hyde Park Entertainment and West Madison Entertainment.
Two original comedy series have been announced: Kara, starring Chris Rock, to be directed by Shapiro, and Animals, written by Emmy winner Brendan Hunt (Ted Lasso) and Barford. Emmy winner Jane Lynch (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) will star and executive produce in the latter.
Rounding out the slate is The Oath, a feature film about the true story of Dr. Khassan Baiev, who had to stick to his Hippocratic oath while caught in the middle of Russia's wars in Chechnya.
In a joint statement, the founders explain, “Highwire Media is committed to an artist-centric model that disrupts how creative energy is harnessed and disseminated. We love artists. By rethinking the business of storytelling with artists at the core, we’ve designed a unique framework that is optimal for creating. Highwire Media engages with every aspect of the creative process to cultivate the medium best suited to each story. In founding Highwire Media, we are bound by our belief in collaboration and our reverence for exceptional audience experiences.”
