Lisa Cholodenko To Direct Showtime Dramedy Pilot ‘Rita’ Starring Lena Headey

Denise Petski

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Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Lisa Cholodenko (Olive Kitteridge, The Kids Are All Right) has been tapped to direct the hourlong Showtime dramedy pilot Rita, starring and executive produced by Emmy and Golden Globe nominee Lena Headey (Game of Thrones). Rita, based on Christian Torpe’s award-winning Danish series, is a co-production of Showtime and Platform One Media.

In Rita, Headey will play the title character, a headstrong, unconventional teacher and single mother who takes on every kind of authority – as well as her family – in a messy and unfiltered way. Mille Denesen plays Rita in the Danish series.

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Cholodenko and Headey will executive produce the pilot, with creator/showrunner Torpe, who is writing the pilot based on his series, along with Elisa Ellis for Platform One Media, which is headed by Katie O’Connell Marsh.

In addition to winning an Emmy and DGA Award for her direction of the limited series Olive Kitteridge, Cholodenko won the Film Independent Spirit Award and was nominated for an Oscar, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for the screenplay of the Golden Globe-winning 2010 film The Kids Are All Right. Most recently, Cholodenko directed the first three episodes of the limited series Unbelievable. Cholodenko’s other notable film credits include Laurel Canyon and her debut feature High Art. She is repped by ICM Partners and attorney David Colden.

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