Showtime is bringing playwright Fernanda Coppel’s “King Liz” from the stage to the screen. Coppel will adapt her off-Broadway play, centered on fictional sports agent Liz Reco, for the premium cable network.
Liz excels in her male-dominated field, but has to deal with sexism on a regular basis, oftentimes from her boss, who is in the midst of retiring. If Liz wants to take his place at the top, she’ll have to sign a talented but volatile high-school basketball player.
“King Liz” won’t mark the award-winning Latina playwright’s first foray into TV writing. Coppel’s previous television writing credits include FX’s “The Bridge” and DirecTV’s “Kingdom.” Of her experience working on “The Bridge,” where she was the only Latina on the writing staff, Coppel said, “As a writer, my job was to pitch compelling stories in the writers room. As a Latina I’m hyper-aware of all the Latino/a stereotypes on TV and in film, so I was constantly trying to pitch storylines that went against the popular narrative.”
We can hopefully look forward to seeing a diverse cast of characters that don’t perpetuate stereotypes — and hopefully a diverse writers room as well — working on “King Liz.”
[via Deadline]