Coming off his first pilot order last season for medical drama LFE at CBS, writer-playwright Paul Downs Colaizzo has sold two more drama projects to CBS, which he will write and executive produce. They fall under the overall deal he signed with CBS TV Studios in June. The Down Beat, executive produced by rapper-actor Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, hails from Ryan Seacrest Prods., while the untitled second project is from Timberman/Beverly Prods. (Elementary, Masters Of Sex) — both CBS TV Studios-based pods.
The Down Beat tells the story of a former business mogul on a warpath for personal retribution who is determined to take down two warring gangs in the mean streets of Atlanta by offering possible teen recruits an unlikely refuge: a high school marching band. Atlanta native Ludacris executive produces with Colaizzo and RSP’s Seacrest and Nina Wass.
The untitled project centers on a charismatic police officer who, after a tragic scandal, sets out to rebuild his personal life and rewrite the rules of policing in his Pittsburgh neighborhood. Colaizzo executive produces with Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly.
Colaizzo, a playwright who got his break when his play Really Really was staged off-Broadway in 2013 with Zosia Mamet starring, worked on Ryan Murphy’s HBO pilot Open and first developed for TV during the 2013-2014 season, writing a drama script for ABC and Shondaland. In his second attempt, he went to pilot with LFE at CBS. He is repped by ICM Partners.
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