Laura Dern, Jayme Lemons’ Jaywalker Inks First-Look With Platform One Media

By Stewart Clarke

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Laura Dern and Jayme Lemons’ Jaywalker Pictures has inked a first-look deal with Platform One Media, and together the two banners have set an adaptation of Juliet McDaniel’s soon-to-be-released novel, “Mr. and Mrs American Pie,” as their first project.

Set in 1969, the book and series will incorporate elements of both drama and comedy as they follow the attempts of a woman to rebuild her identity after she is dismissed by her husband and her entire social set.

Dern, who was recently seen in the HBO film “The Tale” and will be in Season 2 of the premium cabler’s “Big Little Lies,” is expected to appear in the series. She and Lemons set up Jaywalker in 2017.

McDaniel is attached to write the adaptation of her debut novel, which comes out in August. She will executive produce alongside Dern, Lemons and Platform One’s Elisa Ellis. Publishing and rights management outfit Inkshares optioned the rights to “Mr. and Mrs. American Pie” to Platform One, and Inkshares’ founder, Adam Gomolin, will also exec produce.

“Jayme and I are thrilled to be working with ,” Dern said. “We feel so inspired by the passion Katie O’Connell [Marsh] and her amazing team brings to every creative conversation.”

Platform One CEO O’Connell Marsh’s credits include “Hannibal” and “Narcos.” The former Gaumont and DreamWorks executive told Variety that the deal with Jaywalker would span a range of projects, some of which will feature Dern on screen and others in a producing role. “We are looking at things for her and Jayme to produce, for things for her to star in post-‘Big Little Lies,’” O’Connell Marsh said.

She added: “Laura and Jayme are incredibly insightful when it comes to humanizing, celebrating and exploring characters that are marginalized. If you look at Laura’s body of work, she has celebrated that, and they gravitate to concepts and characters that are meaningful and saying something…things that are wildly entertaining but also have a depth of character and a messiness.”

Platform One was formed by  TPG Growth’s Evolution Media and Liberty Global . O’Connell Marsh has put together a seasoned team that includes her former Gaumont colleague Erik Pack; Courtney Conte, a former BBC Worldwide Productions exec who will be COO; and Ellis, formerly of DreamWorks.