Roughcut Television has acquired the rights to adapt Nina Millns’ dark comedy debut novel, Goddesses. The Stath Lets Flats indie plans to adapt the thriller/ social activism satire as a high-end TV drama.
The news follows Roughcut’s acquisition of the rights to Sarah Vaughan’s Little Disasters, now with a major UK broadcaster.
The creative team at Roughcut, headed by md Ash Atalla, Alex Smith, head of scripted and Marianna Abbotts, executive producer and head of drama development, announced their move into drama production in 2020. This latest deal builds on ambitions for a high-end drama slate with international appeal.
Roughcut recently appointed Sophia Rashid as drama development producer, as well as two new comedy-drama development producers, Inez Gordon and Ben Worsfield.
Goddesses is about Ayesha, a mixed-race stand-up comedian who finds herself entangled with a group of powerful feminist activists, and what happens when someone dares to challenge the status quo. It is set at a hen party in a remote mansion. It’s will be published by Simon & Schuster in June 2023.
Roughcut’s Marianna Abbotts said: “Nina Millns is a vibrant, fresh, new voice and we fell in love with her writing from the first page. The way she combines dark comedy with a compelling, exhilarating thriller makes Goddesses an exciting and relevant story for today.”
Writer, Nina Millns, added, “I was blown away by the scope of Roughcut’s vision for Goddesses and couldn’t get it out of my mind. The incredibly detailed depth of understanding for each character and their journey, as well as the themes and the message of the story, went beyond anything I could have envisioned and shows such potential and ambition.”
Hannah Weatherill, Northbank Talent Management / Simon & Schuster publisher said: “We’re so excited for the world to discover Nina and her glorious characters. Goddesses’s exploration of power and belonging in the world of activism – who’s invited into the circle, and the dark consequences of daring to challenge the status quo – is incisive, warm, and blisteringly funny. It was immediately clear that Roughcut really understood Nina’s vision for the book and had an ambitious plan to realise it.”
Roughcut TV is represented by CAA. Nina Millns is represented by Hannah Weatherill, Northbank Talent Management.
Millns has won several awards for her scripts, her work has been featured on BBC Radio 4, and she has recently written various episodes for the Dr Who audio drama, including an all-female International Women’s Day Special, as well as writing the BBC Sounds series Mortem. Her second play Service was placed in the top 2% of the BBC Scriptroom Drama 2021 and has just won the 2021 ETPEP Award. She is also one of twelve writers on this year’s Channel 4 Screenwriting Course. Nina is a Londoner of mixed heritage who speaks four languages.
Image: Nina Millns, photographer credit: Juliet Lemon
Pippa Considine
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