Per Deadline, actress Spencer Grammer (Solar Opposites, Rick and Morty) will star alongside Ajay Naidu (Elsbeth, Extrapolations) in the independent television pilot Books. Filmed this week at Market Block Books, an independent bookstore in New York, the pilot follows canceled author Wren Wild, portrayed by Grammer, as she leads a quirky crew willing to do anything to keep their bookstore alive. Naidu will play her silent partner, Murry, a former book agent who has no idea what he’s doing.
The pilot comes from director Micah Khan (Meetcute on Danceworld, Safe House), who recently made his feature directorial debut with The Zombie Wedding, which was produced by Victoria Diana (Second Coming, The Cabinet) and shot by cinematographer Adam Muro (Winds of Change, Earworm). EPs for the Books project include Tim Cahill (The Tom and Jerry Show, Sherm!), Kristina Libby (Rat Czar, Meet Cute) and Patrick Regan (Family Matters, Flubber) of 7th Draft Productions. The cast also includes Deepti Menon (The Equalizer, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson), Ulisses Gonsalves (Average Joe, Will Trent), Melanie Brook (Modern Love, Dispatches from Elsewhere) and Henry Temple (Sleepyhead, Kill the Girl).
According to Deadline, the pilot will be shopped to networks and streamers “in the New Year.”
Executive producer Cahill praised Books in a statement with Deadline. “I love all those shows: Cheers, Friends, Wings, Taxi. But they’ve been out now for over thirty years. I wanted a fresh take. Books is that take. Like all those shows, it happens in a location where you want to spend all your time and with a cast of characters who feel like family.”
EP Libby added her own thoughts, telling Deadline that “we have a lot of ideas for how Books can be not just a great TV show but a really great way to introduce new audiences to new books. The hope is that with the right partner, we can even encourage reading and drive book sales. The literary world needs a new tastemaker, the way Oprah used to make bestsellers happen. And world around this show can be so expansive and inclusive. As an author and a writer, I’m equally excited by what that means.”
Grammer is represented by Untitled Entertainment. Naidu is represented by CornerStone Talent and TMT Entertainment Group. Menon is represented by Pantera/Murphy and Seven Summits. Khan is represented by Candice Kreinbrink at ESE Management.