Sonar studies Birth of the Pill

US producer and distributor Sonar Entertainment is developing a show about the contraceptive pill based on a book by Jonathan Eig.

The Birth of the Pill explores four people involved with the development of the birth control during a period of sweeping social change and scientific advances and will be exec produced by Denise DiNovi and RJ Cutler, who also directs.

The first episode is being written by Audrey Wells, who is also attached as exec producer along with Alison Grennspan. The project is based on Eig’s non-fiction book The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution.

Among the other projects on Sonar’s slate are the series Mr Mercedes, based on Stephen King’s novel, and The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story.

The company, known as RHI Entertainment until a rebrand in 2012, is also behind fantasy series The Shannara Chronicles, while Taboo, starring Tom Hardy and with Ridley Scott as executive producer, is currently shooting in London for BBC1 and FX.

The company recently hired former FremantleMedia International and Slingshot Global Media boss David Ellender as president of global distribution and coproduction.