Crime drama in development at HBO Max as part of new strategy

HBO Max has put a law enforcement drama in development from Tomorrow Studios, Marty Adelstein's partnership with ITV Studios. The project, which is loosely inspired by Geraldine Hart's experiences as an FBI agent and police commissioner, stems from Tomorrow Studios' first-look deal with Story Syndicate, the media company founded by Oscar- and Emmy-winning documentary filmmakers Liz Garbus (photo) and Dan Cogan.



Eileen Myers (The Night Agent) will write the pilot for the self-titled series, which follows a legendary FBI agent who returns to her Long Island hometown to clean up the mafia's corruption and soon discovers that the rot is even deeper and darker. is than she thought. It isn't long before she finds herself battling nefarious entities from all sides.

Garbus, who has branched out into drama directing with episodic shows like The Handmaid's Tale, for which she received an Emmy nomination, and Yellowjackets, will direct the potential pilot. Myers and Hart are producing alongside Adelstein, Becky Clements and Alissa Bachner through Tomorrow Studios; Garbus, Dan Cogan and Nellie Reed for Story Syndicate; and Anne Beagan and Stacy Sherman through Anne Beagan Productions.

The project fits into the new original drama series strategy for HBO Max that kicked off with the upcoming medical drama The Pitt, while big-budget, IP-driven series such as The Penguin, Welcome to Derry and Harry Potter migrated to HBO.

“I think a good template for a Max drama would be what John Wells is doing with The Pitt which is, for lack of a better word, network drama, ongoing, close-end storytelling done at a price that is reasonable,” Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content, told in an interview Sunday.

Hart previously served as Commissioner of the Suffolk County Police Department, where she applied new scientific technology to solve unsolved cases and developed and implemented sweeping reforms. In her 22 years at the FBI, she oversaw the Long Island office, where she led investigations into organized crime, government corruption, terrorism and counterintelligence. She also headed the Long Island Gang Task Force, a multi-agency effort to target and dismantle violent gangs. She currently serves as Associate Vice President of Public Safety and Community Engagement at Hofstra University.