EXCLUSIVE: Disney+ is teaming with A24 UK for the first time on a comedy-drama series about grown-up siblings whose lives are changed forever when their father is accused of murder.
DAD comes from up-and-coming writer Clem Garritty, who created Showtime pilot Jonah Kills and is writing on Charlie Covell’s Life is Strange.
The straight-to-series order is understood to have attracted interest in a competitive situation from the BBC, ITV, Sky and others, but Disney+ won out and the show is now badged a Hulu Original. Casting is to come.
DAD follows Sammy, Ned and Jess, whose lives are irreversibly changed when their father is accused of a historic murder committed during their childhood. They are forced back together to uncover the secrets buried deep within their family’s past and in doing so, must confront the harsh and often uncomfortably hilarious realities of the present.
Following the likes of Rivals and Alice and Steve, the show is the latest big international bet from Disney+, which has upped EMEA spend of late, and represents the first time Disney+ has worked with A24 UK. In the U.S., Disney+ and A24 have teamed on the likes of Hulu’s Ramy and FX on Hulu’s upcoming The Marriage Plot with Sadie Sink.
Lee Mason, Disney+ EMEA’s VP of scripted, called DAD a “bold, brilliantly original series that takes a dark and emotionally complex premise and turns it into something deeply compassionate, surprising and sharply funny.” “At its heart, this is a story about family, identity and the unsettling question of how well we can ever really know the people who shape us. We are excited to work with Clem and the brilliant team at A24 to bring this unique story to Disney+ audiences,” he added.
In the UK, A24 is also working on the likes of Apple TV’s The Husbands with Juno Temple, Molly Manning Walker’s Major Players and Michaela Coel’s next project, First Day on Earth.
DAD was commissioned by Angela Jain, Head of Content, Disney+ EMEA, and Mason. It will be produced by A24 with Garritty as writer and creator. Garrity is repped by Lark, WME, and Kaplan/Perrone.
