Hillary Clinton is bringing her passion for women’s rights to television. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the woman we wish were president will make her executive producing debut with a TV adaptation of Elaine Weiss’ “The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote.” Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television has optioned the rights to the non-fiction book and, alongside Clinton, will develop it as a limited series or TV movie.
Published this March, “The Woman’s Hour” centers on the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, as well as the activists who fought for it. “The book celebrates those who changed history and laid the foundation for the civil rights movement that came decades later,” THR details.
Reportedly, Weiss — after realizing the similarities between the suffrage movement and the 2016 election — became determined for Clinton to read her book. Clinton eventually did, “loved the contemporary and relevant issues the book tackled, and felt it would be an important story to tell on TV while also creating strong roles for women.” The former Secretary of State met with Weiss and then brought Amblin on board.
Clinton is expected to remain “actively involved” in making “The Woman’s Hour” TV project, including finding a writer and director, developing the script, and casting. Weiss will join her as exec producer. Amblin TV plans to shop the project to premium cable networks and streaming platforms.
“At the heart of democracy lies the ballot box, and Elaine Weiss’ unforgettable book tells the story of the female leaders who — in the face of towering economic, racial, and political opposition — fought for and won American women’s right to vote,” Clinton said. “Unfolding over six weeks in the summer of 1920, ‘The Woman’s Hour’ is both a page-turning drama and an inspiration for everyone, young and old, male and female, in these perilous times. So much could have gone wrong, but these American women would not take no for an answer: their triumph is our legacy to guard and emulate.” She added, “I am thrilled to be working with Elaine, Steven, and everyone at Amblin Television on bringing this important project to audiences everywhere.”
The story of the fight for women’s voting rights has previously been told in the Carey Mulligan-starrer “Suffragette” and the TV movie “Iron Jawed Angels.”
While “The Woman’s Hour” is her first producing role, Clinton has appeared on-screen as herself on “Broad City.” She, Madeleine Albright, and Colin Powell are set to guest star on the upcoming fifth season premiere of “Madam Secretary,” the CBS drama about the Secretary of State.
A film about Clinton’s 1969 gap year, Magdalena Zyzak and Zachary Cotler’s “When I’m a Moth,” is currently in post-production. Addison Timlin (“Californication”) stars as Clinton.