Natalie Portman, Sophie Mas Ink First-Look TV Deal at Apple

Natalie Portman and Sophie Mas’ MountainA production company has set a first-look TV deal at Apple.

News of the deal comes a week after it was reported that Portman had signed on to star in the Apple series “Lady in the Lake” with Lupita Nyong’o. Portman is also an executive producer on the series, as is Mas via MountainA. The show also represents Portman’s first television starring role.

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“We launched MountainA to support meaningful, timely projects and we couldn’t imagine a better partner to start this adventure with than the fantastic team at Apple, who in only a short time already have a track record of working with some of the world’s most inspiring filmmakers,” Portman and Mas said in a joint statement. “We are excited to create and develop daring stories together.”

Under the multi-year agreement, Apple will have a first look on television projects to be developed and produced by Portman and Mas through their newly formed production company. This marks the first producing deal for the pair.

“Lady in the Lake” takes place in 1960s Baltimore, where an unsolved murder pushes housewife and mother Maddie Schwartz (Portman) to reinvent her life as an investigative journalist and sets her on a collision course with Cleo Sherwood (Nyong’o), a hard-working woman juggling motherhood, many jobs and a passionate commitment to advancing Baltimore’s Black progressive agenda.

The series will be co-written by Alma Har’el and Dre Ryan, with Har’el writing the pilot and directing. Endeavor Content is the studio. Both Har’el and Ryan will executive produce, as will Portman, Mas, and Nyong’o. Har’el executive produces along with Christopher Leggett via Zusa. Crazyrose’s Jean-Marc Vallée and Nathan Ross will also serve as executive producers, along with Julie Gardner for Bad Wolf America. Lipmman is an executive producer on the project too.

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