“Hidden Figures” co-writer Allison Schroeder is on a roll. The Golden Globe-nominated NASA drama earned the top spot at the box office this weekend (as it did last weekend), and now there is word that Schroeder has sold “Inspiration,” a scripted drama, to E! Variety reports that the project centers on an aspiring songwriter.
In addition to penning the music-themed project, Schroeder is serving as one of its executive producers. “Inspiration” is currently in early development, and hails from SB Projects, Good Fear, and Universal Cable Productions.
The series follows Elise Moreno, an up and coming musician “who’s trying to make it in Los Angeles,” Variety writes. “Growing up in small-town Texas, the young songwriter has never met her rock star father until he falls into a coma and then she’s granted his Power of Attorney, entrusting his multi-million dollar music career in Beverly Hills to his illegitimate daughter, his best-kept secret and the one person he believes will have no ulterior motive. The last thing Elise wants from her father is his money or his name — she wants to make it on her own.”
Schroeder previously created “Side Effects,” a musical series on AwesomenessTV.
“I like to bring my take as a woman to all of my female characters,” Schroeder shared in a roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter. “That hopefully makes them a little more layered and complex.”
Inspired by a true story, “Hidden Figures” shines a well-deserved spotlight on Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe), brilliant African-American women who played an instrumental role in the space race. Schroeder’s work on the film’s script has led to WGA and BAFTA nods for the screenwriter. Nominations for the 2017 Academy Awards will be announced on January 24, and we’re hopeful “Hidden Figures” will be among the contenders for Best Adapted Screenplay — the script is based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s book “Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race.”
Check out Women and Hollywood’s podcast with Schroeder to hear why she was the right person to pen the script, how quickly the drama got made, and to learn about the work she’s doing with the WGA to create more opportunities for women.
