CBS Television Studios has signed an overall deal with Diary of a Future President creator Ilana Peña.
Under the deal, Peña (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) will continue to work on the Disney+ series, which has been renewed for a second season, and develop new projects.
“Since day one on Diary, CBS Studios has been so supportive of my vision and voice,” said Peña. “I am incredibly grateful to the team for giving me a creative home to tell meaningful, inclusive stories.”
Added Kate Adler, executive vp comedy development at CBS TV Studios, “We first got to know Ilana when she was working on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. She is exactly the kind of writer executives dream of: smart, funny, hard-working and inspired. We knew she had a lot to say and couldn’t wait to develop with her. Our suspicions were confirmed when we read her first draft of Diary of a Future President. Now we just need to figure out how to clone her.”
Diary of a Future President, inspired by Peña’s own childhood, follows a young Cuban-American girl as she navigates the ups and downs of middle school and her journey to becoming president of the United States.
Peña also wrote for Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and collaborated with Rachel Bloom on Her Shorts from Refinery29 and Planned Parenthood. Her plays have been produced at Chicago’s Goodman Theatre Latino Theater Festival and New York’s INTAR Theatre, and she co-founded the monthly workshop See What Sticks. Peña is repped by Kaplan/Perrone Entertainment and Hansen Jacobson.
Peña joins a slate of creatives with deals at CBS TV Studios that also includes Jennie Snyder Urman (Jane the Virgin), Robert and Michelle King (Evil, The Good Fight), Alex Kurtzman (the Star Trek franchise), Jerry Bruckheimer and Gina Rodriguez.
