New Romantic Comedy-Drama from Playwright Kate Cortesi Coming to Disney+

A new series from acclaimed playwright Kate Cortesi is coming to Disney+.

What's Happening:

• Under the working title of Mad Love, a six-part romantic comedy-drama created and written by acclaimed playwright Kate Cortesi is coming to Disney+, according to Deadline.
• The new series is set to follow Maddy Caruso, a British wedding planner for an eclectic list of clients in the Italian countryside. Everyone wants Maddy for their events.
• But her personal life isn't so successful - back home in London, Maddy did something unforgivable with the first man she's ever had feelings for. She bolted to Italy in shame, leaving behind her entire life, including her sister and her best friend, Evie.
• Maddy can't run away forever, and her past comes crashing into her new Italian life in the most chaotic way imaginable.
• The new series marks the latest U.K. Original commission for the Disney-owned platform, joining the new comedy drama Dad and the acclaimed series Rivals.
• Currently, there is no production timeline or premiere date for the new series.

What They're Saying:

• Kate Cortesi: “What a dream to bring Mad Love to life with this team that is truly the best in the business. I can’t believe my good fortune to be working with Element, Sinestra, Fremantle, and Disney+, who have understood and supported the vision from the very beginning. And I can’t wait to introduce the world to Maddy Caruso, our wedding planner extraordinaire who is equal parts witty, wise, and wretched...Watching Maddy hurtle toward self-actualization through a string of self-destructive choices is a ride I hope will be funny, sad, and occasionally worrisome - but ultimately a celebration of how true community catches us when we fall and helps us grow up. This one is for the free spirits, the poor decision-makers, and the unapologetic lovers of life.”
• Lee Mason, vice president of scripted, Disney+ EMEA: “We’re thrilled to bring her refreshingly honest take on the romantic comedy-drama to Disney+. Together with the brilliant teams at Element and Sinestra, Mad Love is exactly the kind of bold, distinctive storytelling we want to champion as we continue to grow our U.K. Originals slate.”

A Piece from Cortesi:

• Kate Cortesi is an American playwright and screenwriter whose work tends to mix dark comedy with social commentary and psychological tension with highly theatrical storytelling.
• Her previous works include:
  • Is Edward Snowden Single? - Two actresses and a puppet play all 19 characters in a comedy about Edward Snowden, government secrecy, friendship and personal integrity. It received seven BroadwayWorld nominations, including Best New Play.
  • Love - A complicated #MeToo-era drama centered on a woman who is asked to join a group of women accusing her former boss of harassment. However, the accused man is also her former lover and someone she still considers a friend. The play won Marin Theatre Company's Sky Cooper New American Play Prize and appeared on the Kilroys List.
  • Ten Grand - In a Boston Goodwill, employees and customers form quiet alliances and rivalries while All My Children plays like gospel in the breakroom. But when an unexpected item turns up in the donation bin, ordinary drama takes on life-or-death stakes.
  • Animal - A darkly funny two-hander in which a child playing 20 Questions with a grown man gradually discovers that the man is actually a gun. It uses an absurd premise to examine power, fear, violence and memory.
• Cortesi has written and sold original television pilots to AMC, Fremantle, and Disney+ (EMEA), and developed series with Jax Media, Randall Einhorn, Greer Shephard, Joey King, Dianna Agron, and Robin Green, among others.