Nellie Andreeva

Catherine Keener HBOEXCLUSIVE: Frequent feature collaborators Charlie Kaufman and Catherine Keener are teaming for a TV series project. In a competitive situation, a half-hour comedy starring Oscar nominee Keener and to be written and directed by Oscar winner Kaufman has landed at HBO, which has put it on fast-track development. The untitled comedy is described as an exploration of one day in a woman’s life and how the events leading up to it can affect, or not, the reality in which she lives. Kaufman is executive producing; Keener serves as producer.

Charlie Kaufman HBOOver the last decade, Keener had been frequently pursued to do TV series, something she had declined to do until now. For her first series starring vehicle, she opted to team with a writer-director whom she has worked with before and who knows her well. Keener starred in Kaufman’s feature directorial debut Synecdoche, New York. She appeared in two movies written by him – Synecdoche and Being John Malkovich – and also did a cameo in the Kaufman-penned Adaptation. Keener also is set to co-star in Kaufman’s next movie, Frank Or Francis, opposite Steve Carell and Jack Black. Both Keener and Kaufman earned Oscar nominations for Being John Malkovich. Gersh-repped Keener also was nominated for Capote; WME-repped Kaufman was nominated for Adaptation and won a best screenplay Oscar for Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Following a stint on the short-lived drama series Ohara early in her career, Keener has been focused on features for the past 25 years. She is filming Sony’s Captain Phillips opposite Tom Hanks for director Paul Greengrass and will next be seen in Peace, Love & Misunderstanding.

HBO has been building a slate of comedy series with female leads, including recent entries Enlightened starring Laura Dern and Veep starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

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