MWM Studios Developing Emma Straub Novel ‘All Adults Here’ Into Series With ‘Girls’ Sarah Heyward

Anthony D'Alessandro
·3 min read

Click here to read the full article.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that MWM Studios is in development on a new untitled series based on Emma Straub’s novel All Adults Here from Riverhead Books.

Straub and Girls writer-producer Sarah Heyward are set to co-executive produce and co-write the series.

More from Deadline

All Adults Here follows the beautiful messiness of being a family—aging parents, adult siblings, high school boyfriends, middle school mean girls—and all the things that follow us into adulthood, whether we like it or not. Set in a Hudson Valley community populated with a quirky cast of characters spanning three generations, Straub’s novel takes her signature wit upstate, exploring the complexities of small-town life and what it’s like to live as an adult in the same place where you grew up. The novel tackles serious questions around parenting, mortality and regret as well as what it means to be in a family—gloriously flawed, endlessly frustrated, and unconditionally loved.

“We are thrilled to adapt All Adults Here into a television series with MWM Studios – a company with a history of empowering artists to create distinctive and award-winning content,” Straub and Heyward told Deadline. “It’s been incredibly exciting to explore the book anew and to expand the way we see these characters and their world. We cannot wait to bring this story to the screen.”

“Straub is one of the most exciting young voices in literature,” said Gigi Pritzker, MWM’s CEO and co-founder. “Her wit, storytelling, and unique perspective draw you in, and we look forward to working closely with her and Sarah to bring this project to the screen.”

Straub’s novels include the New York Times bestseller The Vacationers and Modern Lovers which NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Slate and the Washington Post all named a Best Book of 2016. In 2017, Straub opened Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn that has become a literary destination and community hub for readers.

Heyward won a 2013 WGA Award for new series for HBO’s Girls. As a writer and producer her other TV credits include SKAM Austin on Facebook Watch and Amazon’s Modern Love. She has sold feature screenplays to Universal, Good Universe and Netflix. Before becoming a screenwriter, Heyward received her M.F.A. in Fiction from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop where she was the recipient of the Maytag Fellowship and the Richard Yates Short Story Prize. She currently has television and film projects in development at Netflix, Amazon and FX.

MWM Studios, led by chief creative officer Rachel Shane, has projects in the works including the third season of the Emmy-winning television series Genius, following the life and work of Aretha Franklin starring Cynthia Erivo, and the upcoming action comedy film My Spy starring Dave Bautista soon streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime.

Heyward is repped by Gang, Tyre.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.