Dollhouse Pictures, the Australian production collective led by Rose Byrne, Krew Boylan, Shannon Murphy, and Jessica Carrera, has acquired the screen option on Bri Lee's novel The Work following a negotiation with rights holder UTA, Deadline reported. Screenwriter Hannah Lehmann (Two Sides) is creating the series, with Lee and Carerra the executive producers. Screen Australia is supporting development.
The Work "is set between New York, Brisbane and Sydney and follows Lally, an ambitious New York gallerist, and Patrick, a Sydney-based junior antiques appraiser, two young professionals, both desperately trying to establish themselves in the contemporary art world," Deadline noted.
"I've always admired Bri Lee's writing and her willingness to question power, privilege and the institutions that shape us," said Carrera. "What excites me about The Work is its seductive world, where everything has a value and the rules are constantly shifting. At its heart is a complicated relationship that asks what if the person you desire most is also the person who costs you the most. Hannah Lehmann brings a sharp and assured voice to the adaptation."
Lee said The Work had found "a production and writing team that are committed to making this show properly gutsy, hella sexy, and seriously funny," adding that her novel "was always so cinematic in my head, and Dollhouse Productions are going to take the words off the page and build a magnetic, can't-look-away spectacle. Hannah is a genius who understands these characters' deepest fears and desires."