NBC puts A Word into development

The UK version of The A Word

US broadcast network NBC has put a local version of Israeli drama format The A Word into development.

The Keshet Broadcasting and July August Productions format first aired in Israel with the title Yellow Peppers, which was written and created by Keren Margalit. The story follows one family’s emotional journey after their young son is diagnosed with autism.

Created by Arika Mittman (Paradise Lost), Universal Television and Keshet Studios, the US version is being exec produced by Mittman, Margalit, Peter Traugott (Keshet Studios), Avi Nir (Keshet Media Group), Alon Shtruzman (Keshet International) and Karni Ziv (Keshet Broadcasting).

Distributed internationally by Keshet International, the format of The A Word has already been adapted in the UK for BBC1 by Tiger Aspect and Keshet Productions, in Greece for Alpha TV, and in the Netherlands for NPO by Fiction Valley.

Keshet International has also sold the English-language finished tape into more than 80 territories to date, including the US (Sundance TV, Amazon, iTunes), Australia and New Zealand (BBC Australia), Sweden (SVT) and Brazil (Globosat).

Mitmann most recently worked on La Brea, also for NBC and Keshet Studios, and was previously showrunner on Paradise Lost and co-showrunner on Timeless. She has also written for Dexter and Elementary.