Kate McKinnon to Star in TV Series Based on Podcast ‘Joe Exotic’

Universal Content Productions continues to turn to the podcast space for its next TV series.

The studio is teaming with Wondery to adapt the podcast Joe Exotic for television and has tapped Emmy-winning Saturday Night Live castmember Kate McKinnon to star. A network is not yet attached.

Joe Exotic revolves around what happens when big cat enthusiast Carole Baskin (McKinnon) learns that fellow exotic animal lover Joe “Exotic” Schreibvogel is breeding and using his big cats for profit. She sets out to shut down his venture, inciting a quickly escalating rivalry. But Carole has a checkered past of her own, and when the claws come out, Joe will stop at nothing to expose her hypocrisy. The results prove deadly.

In addition to starring, McKinnon will also executive produce Joe Exotic alongside Wondery’s Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy. A writer for the potential series has not yet been determined as the project is in the early stages of development.

Joe Exotic would be the fourth podcast UCP has adapted for television, joining Amazon’s Homecoming, Bravo-turned-USA Network’s Dirty John and Peacock’s Dr. Death. Wondery, the largest independent podcast publisher, is behind Dirty John, Dr. Death and several others. Seven of its podcasts have been adapted for TV, including the three for UCP.

Joe Exotic is McKinnon’s second TV project outside of SNL. She also is attached to star as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes in the Hulu limited series The Dropout, which is based on the ABC News podcast of the same name. The actress also will exec produce the project, which hails from Fox Searchlight’s year-old TV division.

McKinnon is repped by UTA, Artists First and Hansen Jacobson. Wondery is repped by UTA, who brokered the deal.