A new project has been announced for Freeform.
The show New People will in typical Freeform fashion tackle current social issues, in this case being transgender. According to Entertainment Weekly, the plot will center around a transgender girl, her identical twin brother, and the rest of their family.
The series is being developed by some prolific Hollywood players. Joel Silver, who has over a hundred credits to his name including the cult- classic Veronica Mars, will be executive- producing. Don Roos (writer of three- hankie film Marley & Me and creator of Web Therapy) will be writing the script.
New People is based on the New York Times Best- Seller Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family. It chronicles the real- life Wyatt and Jonas Maines, twin boys who were adopted by conservative parents as they become Nicole and Jonas Maines. The book was written by established journalist (reporter at Sports Illustrated for years then the Pulitzer- prize winning science writer for The Washington Post) Amy Ellis Nutt.
Now, you may have stopped paying attention to any of this because you’re still scratching your head wondering what ‘Freeform’ is. The cable channel formerly known as ABC Family changed its name this year perhaps to embrace its increasingly eclectic stories. Transgender issues have already been examined in one of the channels recent forays into reality programming with Becoming Us, which follows two Illinois families with fathers who have come out as transgender and are connected via their respective dating teenagers.
Freeform’s other programming suggests it will continue in this direction. Its recent Recovery Road premiered last January and centers around teenagers living in a rehab facility. The theme of voice exploration is perhaps most evident in The Fosters, a show that examines the notions of family dynamics in nearly every way possible with the story of a lesbian couple, one biological child, and three adopted children. Additionally, the long- running Switched at Birth (whose end was recently reported) not only tackled family identity and culture but a subject rarely seen on television: what it’s like being deaf in the modern age.
New People has been given a script order by Freeform.