During this time, it might be hard to get a room full of Hollywood Execs together to start wheeling and dealing, but it wasn’t hard for actress Shiri Appleby, who took to Zoom to pitch Wouldn’t it be Nice for Disney+, according to the Hollywood Reporter:
What’s Happening:
- Shiri Appleby, who starred in shows Roswell and UnREAL has reportedly inked one of the first deals Hollywood has seen since the town locked down for concerns surrounding COVID-19.
- Appleby, who negotiated the deal over Zoom, is in talks to direct a feature for Disney+, Wouldn’t It Be Nice.
- The project, a body-switching romantic comedy where a star high school football player and brainy girl wake up twenty years in the future to find themselves married to each other, has been in the works at Disney since 2009. It has seen numerous drafts of a script, the latest having been written by Emma Fletcher who has previously written for Parks and Recreation, among other projects.
- Appleby used video conferencing software, Zoom to negotiate with Disney executives showcasing her take on the project and marking a new way Hollywood is still operating during the Coronavirus pandemic. While the negotiations are still in progress, if the deal is finalized she will be the first director Disney has hired in this fashion.
- She has recently directed episodes of the Roswell reboot on CW, Roswell, New Mexico, as well as episodes of the series, UnREAL. This project would be the first time she helmed a feature film.
- The project, Wouldn’t it be Nice, reportedly has yet to be greenlit and is still in development stages.
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