The TV comedy pilot for Broadway Books will have its world premiere on June 21 during the 2025 Dances With Films fest at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. Written and directed by Carianne King, Broadway Books was developed in the Upright Citizens Brigade Pilot Writing Program and inspired by King's experiences as a bookseller on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Check out the trailer here.
Broadway Books takes place in "an aggressively gentrifying Manhattan, where a group of over-educated, under-employed bookstore workers struggle to keep their independent bookstore in business using increasingly desperate measures."
Synopsis for the pilot episode ("The Tipping Point"): "It's another day at Broadway Books when the team is confronted with a problem: the RSVPs for the evening's Malcolm Gladwell reading are really low. And Gladwell, it turns out, is known for ruining the livelihoods of indie businesses that don't meet his demands. 'Frenemies' Laurel and Anya take to the streets to hand out fliers, where they clash over differing work ethics while consistently being passed over for an energy drink giveaway nearby. Meanwhile, Nick and Pierre parse Gladwell's epic rider and argue about whether Nick's actually read his Staff Picks, which include some of literature's longest and most challenging works like Ulysses and Anna Karenina. Just in time, the team leverages wisdom from The Tipping Point to quickly find last-minute attendees--with the help of a clowncore influencer named Lord Giggles, thinking on their feet to keep their bookstore open."
Broadway Books stars comedians Ruby McCollister and Lauren Servideo; Carlos Dengler, founding member of the band Interpol; Eric Yates, Nick Naney, Joe Apollonio, and Rew Starr. The pilot was produced by Abbie Jones, along with Miranda Kahn of Mirmade Productions.
"I worked as a bookseller for a summer at Book Culture on the Upper West Side, at the very location where we shot the episode," King noted. "I had moved to New York for a writing degree, and selling books was my first job in the city. I helped with the back-to-school rush but mostly hung out and talked with the other booksellers."
While filming the pilot episode, "we camped out at Book Culture four nights in a row, which was the way we could afford to shoot at a bookstore in New York City on such a small budget," King recalled. "It was delirious and fun, and there was a lot of improvisation that made the script funnier!"