On the heels of the strong premiere of the Mark Gordon Co.-produced new ABC drama Quantico, Gordon has set up a new drama project at ABC. The network has given a put pilot commitment to Conviction, a legal drama from the now-independent Mark Gordon Co., which is backed by Entertainment One.
Conviction is co-created by Liz Friedman (Elementary, Marvel’s Jessica Jones), who will write the project, and Liz Friedlander (The Following), who will direct the potential pilot. It tells the story of Carter Morrison, the brilliant but rebellious daughter of a Clinton-like political family who is forced into taking a job as the head of Los Angeles’ newly created Conviction Integrity Unit. She, along with her team of lawyers, investigators and forensic experts, has two weeks to examine cases where there’s credible suspicion that the wrong person may have been convicted of a crime.
MGC’s Gordon and Nick Pepper will executive produce alongside Friedlander and Friedman. MGC will produce and finance the series, with international rights being sold by eOne. ABC Studios is in talks to join the project as a co-financier.
During Mark Gordon Co.’s stint as a pod based at ABC Studios, the company launched a number of series. It has several on the air — ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and Quantico, CBS’ Criminal Minds and the upcoming Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders as well as the Showtime drama series Ray Donovan outside of the ABC Studios deal.
Since becoming independent through the eOne deal, MGC has stepped in to finance and produce a limited series adaptation of Jennifer Steil’s novel The Ambassador’s Wife, with Oscar winner Anne Hathaway set to star and produce, and has teamed with Francis Lawrence for two drama projects..
Jessica Jones exec producer Friedman, recently tapped to write the feature based on Cornwell’s best-selling Scarpetta crime novels series, and Friedlander, who directed the pilots and multiple episodes of Stalker and The Secret Circle, are repped by CAA. Friedlander is also repped by Behr Abramson Levy, Friedman by attorney Jeanne Newman
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