EXCLUSIVE: Writer-showrunner Emily Whitesell (Siren) has been tapped to adapt Bless Your Heart, Lindy Ryan’s debut novel for television in conjunction with Rain Productions and Boilermaker Entertainment.
Bless Your Heart is a horror-mystery novel set in a small Southeast Texas town where the dead have a habit of rising from their graves. The story revolves around four generations of Evans women who run the local funeral parlor and are tasked with making sure dead things stay buried. In book one of a series, family secrets come to light and the Evans women are forced to confront the truth that the biggest monster may be one of their own.
Boilermaker principal Louis Milito said “we are thrilled to partner with Emily who is the perfect writer to adapt Lindy’s incredible novel as she is exceptional at balancing serialized story telling with indelible characters. Having a strong female creator to bring the Evans women to the screen was a priority for us in honoring Ryan’s novel”.
Whitesell, who last executive produced multiple seasons of Siren, has extensive experience in both genre television and signature family dramas. “The beauty of well-formed horror, for me, is its nod to the fear and horror we all confront as human beings, along with our own shortcomings,” added Whitesell. “Lindy’s book not only created a new genre of horror but her characters embodied that deep well of emotional resonance”.
Whitesell is represented by Josh Hornstock and Mickey Berman at UTA.
Ryan is represented by Italia Gandolfo, Founder and CEO at Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management, and John Gatti at Loeb & Loeb.
Boilermaker Entertainment is an independent production company co-founded by Louis Milito and Phil Conserva (Mrs. Davis, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation).
Rain is a full-service management and production company located in Los Angeles. Founded in 2007, the company represents artists across all media forms and produces scripted and unscripted tv series, movies, digital content, and podcasts.