‘Happy Valley’ Producer Red To Adapt Rising British Political Star Jess Phillips’ Book ‘Everywoman’ For TV
Rising British political star Jess Phillips is to have her book Everywoman: One Woman’s Truth About Speaking the Truth turned into a TV drama by Happy Valley producer Red Production Company Company.
The Labour MP, an outspoken critic of Brexit, who has recently dealt with a torrent of rape threats on Twitter, published the book, a collection of empowering stories from her own life, told with honesty and hilarity, in 2017 via Random House. She is a self-described “gobby MP”, who “has a tendency to shout about the stuff I care about”.
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The series will be co-produced by Red, which also produces Netflix’s Safe and Emma Thompson-fronted BBC drama Years and Years, and Lucy Dyke, whose credits include Abi Morgan’s The Split, Black Mirror and Ripper Street.
The option deal was brokered by Yasmin McDonald and Laura Macdougall of United Agents.
Phillips said, “I’m utterly thrilled to be working with Red, a company based outside of London led by Nicola Shindler, and with Lucy Dyke co-producing. They make the kind of television that truly represents people and events as they are and that was deeply important to me. The story of women in politics is complex and nuanced and intriguing, and it’s a story that needs telling.”
Red CEO Nicola Shindler added, “Jess is an inspirational woman who fights for what she believes in and isn’t afraid to be honest and outspoken. Using her book as a source we’re excited to create a drama that explores how an engaged woman can make a difference in today’s very complicated world.”
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