‘Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence’ Series in Development at Amazon, Reed Morano to Direct (EXCLUSIVE)

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Amazon is developing a limited series based on the New York Magazine story “The Stolen Kids of Sarah Lawrence,” Variety has learned exclusively. In addition, Reed Morano is attached to direct.

The New York Magazine story, written by Ezra Marcus and James D. Walsh, told the true story of a group of students at Sarah Lawrence College who fell under the sway of Larry Ray, an ex-con and their classmate’s father, beginning in 2010. In February, Ray was indicted by federal prosecutors on charges of sex trafficking, extortion, conspiracy, forced labor, and more. Authorities began their investigation after the story first published.

Blumhouse Television acquired the rights to the project last year. Jason Blum, Marci Wiseman, and Jeremy Gold will executive produce for along with Scoop Wasserstein for New York Magazine and Vox Media Studios. No writer is currently attached.

Morano signed an overall deal with Studios back in 2018. She is attached as the pilot director and as an executive producer on the upcoming Amazon drama series “The Power.” She made history in 2017 as the first woman to win both an Emmy Award and a DGA Award for a dramatic series for her work on Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale.” She was also the first woman in 22 years to win an Emmy for directing a drama series.

Her other TV directing credits include “Billions” and “Halt and Catch Fire.” On the feature side,  she directed the film “I Think We’re Alone Now” starring Peter Dinklage and Elle Fanning. She made her feature debut with “Meadowland” starring Olivia Wilde and Luke Wilson. The former won the Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Filmmaking at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, where it debuted in Dramatic Competition. The film was also awarded the prestigious Dolby Atmos grant. In addition, Morano was honored with the 2011 Kodak Vision Award for Cinematography at the Women in Film Crystal + Lucy awards, and in past years has been named one of Variety’s “10 Cinematographers to Watch.”

She is repped by CAA and LBI Entertainment.

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