On the heels of the success of FX’s The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, former prosecutor Marcia Clark is getting a chance at her own show.
NBC has handed out a put pilot commitment to a legal drama based on Clark’s novel Blood Defense. She will co-write the series alongside writer-producers Elizabeth Craft and Sara Fain for ABC Studios and Mandeville TV.
The project centers on Samantha Brinkman, a relentless criminal defense attorney in Los Angeles whose world is turned upside down when she is hired to defend a police detective in a high-profile homicide. It thrusts her into the public spotlight, exposing dark secrets from her past.
The drama will be executive produced by Clark, Craft and Fain, along with Mandeville’s David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Laurie Zaks.
Clark, who first rose to fame as the lead prosecutor in the Simpson murder trial, was recently thrust back into the spotlight with Ryan Murphy’s acclaimed anthology series People vs. O.J. Simpson, in which Sarah Paulson’s portrayal as Clark earned the actress an Emmy nomination. The high-profile case remained in the conversation recently with ESPN documentary O.J.: Made In America, which premiered to rave reviews.
Clark eventually left law to focus on writing, and she penned a series of legal thrillers centering on prosecutor Rachel Knight. Among them: The Competition, Killer Ambition, Guilt by Degrees and Guilt by Association, which TNT developed as a drama. Despite going to pilot with Julia Stiles in the leading role, the series never moved forward. Blood Defense, which came out in May, is Clark’s latest book.
Clark is repped by UTA.
