Writer-director Luke Greenfield (“The Girl Next Door”) has signed an exclusive network directing deal with ABC.
Greenfield’s production shingle WideAwake has been busy with two active feature projects, including new dramedy “The Last Bachelor,” which he is attached to direct and co-produce with Andrew Renzi (“Sympathy for Delicious”).
WideAwake is also developing an untitled action-comedy at 20th Century Fox that Greenfield is directing and co-producing with Simon Kinberg. Greenfield and Nicholas Thomas co-wrote the screenplay, and Oscar-nominated scribe Stuart Blumberg (“The Kids Are All Right”) has just signed on to polish the script before casting begins.
The ABC deal stems from Greenfield’s work earlier this year on the comedy pilot “Prairie Dogs,” starring Kal Penn and Dan Fogler. Six-figure pact is a guaranteed pilot-directing deal that Greenfield said “will also give WideAwake the opportunity to bring in and develop projects we’re passionate about and I intend to direct.”
As for “Last Bachelor,” story follows a single man in his late 30s who drops everything to seek out his soulmate. When he finally meets “the one,” he finds himself behaving as if he had a ticking biological clock. Greenfield co-wrote the script with Nicholas Thomas, Taylor Hamra and Jesse Sweet.
“We’ve never been so busy in film and television,” said Greenfield. “We’ve generated a lot of material through WideAwake. Now we’re looking to find new material out there. We’re looking for scripts, projects and ideas that I can personally invest in and bring to life as a filmmaker.”
Greenfield’s next project will be Fox’s untitled action-comedy, which reunites the helmer with Blumberg, who co-wrote Greenfield’s 2004 cult hit “The Girl Next Door,” which helped launch the careers of Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano, Timothy Olyphant and Olivia Wilde.
“This film is something I’ve been dying to see,” said Greenfield. “It’s a truly grounded action-comedy balancing comedy with serious danger. We’ve been writing it as a real character piece about two buddies who didn’t become the guys they wanted to be and now they have a chance to do so, but with extreme consequences.” Greenfield is repped by CAA and attorney Howard Abramson.
