It came as no surprise when noted bookworm Reese Witherspoon went into business with Audible last year. The pact kicked off with a book club led by the Oscar winner and her female-focused media company Hello Sunshine highlighting books featuring female protagonists. Hello Sunshine and Audible have released details about the next chapter of their collaboration: “three audio memoirs they’re co-producing exclusively for the Audible platform.” Variety broke the news.
“Audible’s initial Hello Sunshine originals are first-person narratives from three women: music-industry veteran Sophia Chang, judge Rosemarie Aquilina, and comedian-activist Maysoon Zayid. The multi-hour audio memoirs will be available on Amazon-owned Audible in late 2019 and early 2020,” the source notes.
Charlotte Koh, Hello Sunshine’s head of digital media and unscripted, described Chang, Aquilina, and Zayid as “singular women” who have “pursued their dreams with conviction, achieved success in the face of improbable odds, and are redefining societal norms around female identity and power.” She said that Audible is “providing these women with a premium service that commands a wide and highly engaged audience.”
Chang’s “Baddest Bitch in the Room” sees the daughter of Korean immigrants recount “growing up in a suburb of Vancouver and forming her identity by defying expectations and challenging societal biases. As a young woman who fell in love with hip-hop in its formative years, she moved to New York, slipped into the underground music scene, and influenced the careers of prominent musical artists including the Wu-Tang Clan.”
In “Magnificent Things,” judge Aquilina will revisit presiding over the trial of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, and her decision to invite his victims to share their stories in her courtroom.
Zavid, a Muslim comedian with cerebral palsy, explores her work as an actor, activist, and writer in “Limping on the Edge.” The daughter of Palestinian immigrants shares memories of “spending childhood summers in Ramallah to competing for disabled roles against able-bodied actors — and explains how, through her work as a stand-up comedian, she elevates other diverse voices in her field.”
Witherspoon has brought adaptations of Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” and Cheryl Strayed’s “Wild” — among other titles — to the big screen as a producer. She starred in the latter, and received an Oscar nod for her performance. She’ll reprise her role as an exec producer and star on HBO’s adaptation of Liane Moriaty’s second season of “Big Little Lies,” set to premiere June 9.
Hello Sunshine’s upcoming slate includes a Hulu series based on Celeste Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” led by Witherspoon and Kerry Washington and “The Morning Show,” an Apple drama starring Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.
