Robia Rashid is staying put. Deadline reports that the “Atypical” creator and executive producer has signed a new overall deal with the studio behind the Netflix coming-of-age series, Sony Pictures TV.
Sony TV and Rashid first joined forces in 2013, when she signed her first-ever overall deal. The new pact sees her continuing to work on “Atypical,” which debuted on the streaming giant August 11. The dramedy about an 18-year-old on the autism spectrum (Keir Gilchrist, “United States of Tara”) was renewed for a second season in September. Jennifer Jason Leigh co-stars in the series.
“The Goldbergs” and “How I Met Your Mother” are among Rashid’s previous credits.
“After working in network TV for a while, I just wanted to do something for myself,” Rashid has said of creating “Atypical.” “I was very aware that more people were being diagnosed with autism, and it was interesting to me that a whole generation of kids were growing up knowing that they were on the spectrum and wanting independence. That point of view seemed so interesting to me — and such a cool way to tell a dating story. You’ve seen the story of somebody looking for independence and looking for love before, but not from that specific point of view. I really was drawn to that,” she explained. “I was a little annoyed because it sounded really hard! I had to do a lot of research.”
The writer and producer got her big break after enrolling in a writing class at NYU taught by former “Sex and the City” scribe Cindy Chuback. “She liked a spec I wrote and gave it to her agent,” Rashid recalled. The agent scored her an interview for “Will & Grace” and a few days later she found out she got the job.