Susannah Grant scored an Oscar nod for penning “Erin Brockovich,” and now the writer has found inspiration in another true story. Deadline reports that Netflix has given an eight-episode order to her next project, “Unbelievable,” a drama based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning article and a “This American Life” episode about a teen charged with lying about having been raped. Grant will serve as showrunner.
“Unbelievable” follows 18-year-old Marie, who reported being raped by a man in her apartment. When police called her story into question by pointing out inconsistencies, she acknowledged it might have been a dream, and later admitted that she fabricated the events. She was charged with filing a false report and accepted a plea deal.
But that’s how the story starts — not how it ends. Another young woman reported being raped a couple of years later, and her account of what happened was strikingly similar to Marie’s experience. “Unbelievable” will explore what happened next: “two female detectives … followed a twisting path to arrive at the truth,” the source hints.
Grant is writing alongside Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon (“The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay”) and author and essayist Ayelet Waldman (“The Mommy-Track Mysteries”).
The project hails from CBS TV Studios, Sarah Timberman and Carl Beverly (“Masters of Sex”), and Katie Couric. Grant, Chabon, and Waldman are also set to executive produce.
Grant received her Oscar nomination for “Erin Brockovich” in 2001. The Julia Roberts-starrer tells the true story of a single mom and legal assistant who took down a California power company that was polluting a city’s water supply. Her other credits include Anita Hill biopic “Confirmation,” sci-fi “The 5th Wave,” and “Pocahontas.”
Check out a lecture from Grant about her approach to screenwriting below.