EXCLUSIVE: Here’s another independently-financed TV pilot in production – and this one has a famous reality couple among its makers.
Writer-director Talia Light Rake and her Heavy Shovel Productions imprint have partnered with newly established production company Madhouse Films and The Bachelor couple Ashley Iaconetti and Jared Haibon on Too Romantic.
Rivkah Reyes (One of Them Days), Sam Vartholomeos (Bridge and Tunnel), and Ashley Ganger (Grand Army) have been tapped to star in the pilot, which is the latest example of financing models more routinely seen in the indie film space than television’s commission-centric business.
Set against “the backdrop of curated lives and hyper-visible relationships,” Too Romantic follows a young woman whose identity begins to unravel when her romantic life becomes inseparable from her online presence.
Producers say it draws on Erving Goffman’s performance theory – which centers on the idea social interaction as a theatrical performance – and is structured with references to The Wizard of Oz, examining the emotional cost of self-surveillance in the age of online influencers.
Iaconetti and Haibon – who met on ABC reality show Bachelor in Paradise in 2015 and are now married with children – are executive producers, alongside Gillian Kooper, Larry Furlong, Topcat and Becky Korman, Shai Korman and Lily Korman of K180 Studios.
MadHouse, which we revealed Katherine Romans and Charlie Traisman had launched in May, is helming the project. Writer-director Light Rake created the project, which is now in production in New York.
For Bachelor couple Iaconetti and Haibon, the pilot marks a move into scripted production. “We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to executive produce Too Romantic with Madhouse Films,” said Haibon.
“I have long been a film connoisseur and have always been interested in producing. Ashley met Talia Light Rake on a previous project and was immediately impressed by her talent behind the camera. After reading the script, we were drawn to the story, the characters, and the clarity of Talia’s vision. We felt we could offer meaningful insight through our experience with influencer culture and having a relationship in the public eye. We’re thrilled to be working with the entire cast and crew and can’t wait for audiences to see the final product.”
Too Romantic marks Light Rake’s debut TV project, though she has another original series in development with Girls co-showrunner Jenni Konner.
For Madhouse, the series joins a slate also comprising the Diablo Cody-produced Forbidden Fruits; Long Pork, which stars Lena Headey; Blood Boys, which includes Joseph Quinn among its cast; Emily Everhard’s FAWN; and Copy, Save, a short from Alyssa Loh
Further casting details on Too Romantic will follow in the fall.
