‘Heart Of Life’ Drama Inspired By John Mayer Song From Ben Queen Gets ABC Pilot Order
ABC has nabbed Heart of Life, a drama from Powerless and A to Z creator Ben Queen, director Paul Weitz, Fresh Off the Boat executive producer Melvin Mar and 20th Century Fox TV.
The project, inspired by singer-songwriter John Mayer’s song of the same name, had been developed internally at 20th TV for the past several months and written on spec by Queen. It stems from Mar’s friendship with Mayer. Mar’s longtime producing partner Jake Kasdan, was originally eyed to potentially direct but was not available as he is directing the Jumanji sequel. Weitz then joined to executive produce and potentially direct The package was taken out to broadcast, cable and streaming networks earlier this month.
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I hear Mar, who, along with Kasdan executive produces three comedy series on ABC — all from 20th TV where the duo have a deal — Fresh Off the Boat, Speechless and the upcoming Bless This Mess, played a key role in Heart o Life landing at the network. With ABC as a network, ABC Studios has come on board to co-produce with 20th TV.
Heart of Life follows two sets of adult siblings from wildly different worlds who discover they’re related and must reassess everything they thought they knew about their shared father. As they explore the mystery of their separate childhoods, they’ll experience the difficulty in overcoming the sins of the past, and learn the joys of reuniting with long-lost family.
Watch below Mayer performing Heart of Life, which was originally released as part of his 2006 album Continuum, followed by the song’s lyrics.
Related2019 ABC Pilots & Series Orders
Queen, Mayer, Mar, Kasdan and Weitz executive produce. A director will be named soon as Weitz is not available.
This is a rare broadcast spec sale in January which used to be a vibrant spec marketplace targeting broadcast networks when they have seen their development and may have needs as they are making pilot pickups. 20th TV has been among the most active taking out specs in January — its CBS comedy series Life In Pieces originated as a spec which was pitched in January 2015. Overall, this is the third pilot order for a spec from 20th TV this development cycle, joining comedy Happy Accident at ABC and drama Surveillance at CBS.
Dolly Parton songs have been used as basis for TV movies at NBC and now at Netflix. And there have been attempts to develop scripted TV series inspired by a number of other songs, including Carrie Underwood’s Two Black Cadillacs and Plain White’s Hey There Delilah.
Lyrics
I hate to see you cry
Laying there in that position
There’s things you need to hear
So turn off your tears and listen
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won’t all go the way, it should
But I know the heart of life is good
You know it’s nothing new
Bad news never had good timing
But then the circle of your friends
Will defend the silver lining
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
No, it won’t all go the way, it should
But I know the heart of life is good
Pain throws your heart to the ground
Love turns the whole thing around
Fear is a friend who’s misunderstood
But I know the heart of life is good
I know it’s good
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