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History Commands presidential anthology

US cablenet History has greenlit a scripted anthology series from A+E Studios focusing on key events in the lives of US presidents, as part of a raft of commissions from A+E Networks-owned channels.

Jana Bennett

The Commanders will be made up of limited series ranging from four to 10 hours in length covering pivotal moments in the presidencies of Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson.

Announcing the commission, History president and general manager Jana Bennett said projects tackling other presidents, including Washington, Lincoln and Eisenhower, were also being developed internally.

Hatfields & McCoys creator Leslie Greif, Stephen J Rivele (Ali, Nixon), Matthew Sand (Deepwater Horizon) and Michael Hirst (Vikings, The Tudors) are all working on the different series.

History has optioned several New York Times bestsellers as source material, including The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton, by Peter Baker, which will form the basis of The Breach: Inside the Impeachment of Bill Clinton from A+E Studios and RJ Cutler.

Other books, including Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris; Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates by Brian Kilmeade; and The Invisible Bridge: The Fall of Nixon and the Rise of Reagan by Rick Perlstein, have also been optioned.

A+E Studios is working on The Rise of Reagan, Theodore Rex, War of 1812, Alliance and Thomas Jefferson & the Tripoli Pirates.

The announcement comes during a busy week of commissioning for A+E Networks’ US cablenets.

Female-skewing Lifetime has greenlit two unscripted series and three new movies, including Flint. Starring Emmy winner Cher, the movie is based on the Time magazine cover story The Toxic Tap about the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. Sony Pictures Television is producing.

The other movies are Watcher in the Woods from Hartbreak Films, a reimagining of the 1980s cult-classic film, which is being executive produced and directed by Melissa Joan Hart; and I Am Elizabeth Smart, about the 2002 kidnapping of a 14-year-old in Salt Lake City, from Asylum Entertainment and Marwar Junction Productions.

The unscripted series are This Time Next Year from Twofour America, which see host Cat Deeley follow people on missions to change their lives over a 12-month period, and Model Moms (working title) from Hudsun Media. The latter features former model and Real Housewives star Yolanda Hadid coaching teen models to succeed on and off the catwalk, offering weekly $5,000 prizes.

A+E is also reviving its non-fiction Biography strand, with more than 40 hours of programming ordered for History, Lifetime, A&E and digital platforms.

Projects include The Notorious Life of Biggie Smalls (1×120’) for A&E, from Creature Films in association with Entertainment One. The show will look at the life, death and legacy of rapper Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G.

The End of America: Putin’s Master Plan (working title, 1×120’) will air on History. Produced by Lincoln Square Productions, it will profile Russian president Vladimir Putin and his quest to change the balance of world power.

Three further projects will air on A&E: Who Killed Tupac (6×60’), from Renegade 83 and FGW Productions; Mike Tyson: Autobiography (working title, 1×120’), from Asylum Entertainment in association with Marwar Junction Productions; and David Koresh & the Siege of Waco (working title, 1×120’), from Raw TV.

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