Nellie Andreeva

HBO has picked up People In New Jersey, a half-hour comedy pilot written and executive produced by Bruce Eric Kaplan, with Juno and Up In The Air helmer Jason Reitman set to executive produce and direct the pilot and Saturday Night Live chief Lorne Michaels on board to executive produce. People In New Jersey is described as a hilarious, poignant look at life today as seen through the prism of an adult brother and sister living in New Jersey. They each struggle to get through the day, asking themselves the big questions, the little questions, and everything in between. Kaplan wrote People In New Jersey on spec and took it to Reitman and his producer Helen Estabrook, who loved it and came on board. Kaplan, Reitman, Michaels and Estabrook executive produce with Andrew Singer.

Kaplan, who is also a well-known cartoonist, has strong ties to HBO — he spent four years as a writer-producer on the cable network’s drama Six Feet Under and now works on HBO’s hot new comedy Girls, serving as a co-executive producer on the first two seasons. He may scale his duties to consulting capacity in Season 3, which has not been formally greenlighted, to focus on New Jersey. This marks the first pilot directing gig for Oscar-nominated Reitman, who previously directed two episodes of NBC’s The Office. His latest movie, Labor Day, for Paramount, is now finishing post-production. Kaplan is with CAA and Management 360, Reitman is with WME. 

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