In this day and age, screens everywhere are trying to capture people’s attention. That’s why SundanceTV is hoping to snag just 10 minutes’ worth of television viewers’ attention each week with its upcoming comedy State of the Union .
The first season of the short-form series, starring Rosamund Pike ( Gone Girl ) and Chris O’Dowd ( Bridesmaids ), will feature ten 10-minute episodes, reported Deadline and Variety .
Irish actor O’Dowd, 38, is also a star on the current Epix television series Get Shorty , and British actress Pike, 39, has never had a regular role in an American television program, but has appeared on TV programs in the United Kingdom
State of the Union tells the story of a married couple, Louise and Tom, who meet at a bar every week before they attend their marital therapy session. Each episode reveals a little bit more about how they fell in love, what their lives were like, and what is tearing them apart.
This unique series will begin shooting later this summer in London.
State of the Union is being written by Nick Hornby, the British author who has had many of his books turned into popular major motion pictures, including High Fidelity , About a Boy , and Fever Pitch , and also wrote the screenplays for Academy-Award-nominated films Wild and Brooklyn .
“I am so pleased to be working again with [director] Stephen [Frears], Rosamund, and Chris,” said Hornby.
“I first met Stephen when he directed High Fidelity, Rosamund when she revealed her wonderful comic talent in An Education , and Chris when he made the forthcoming Juliet, Naked , and I think they will make a tremendous team. State of the Union is an unusual project, so it’s all the more gratifying that we have managed to attract talent of this magnitude.”
“Sundance is thrilled to partner with our good friends at See-Saw Films on this short form original production,” stated Jan Diedrichsen, the general manager of SundanceTV and Sundance Now.
“We are fortunate to have a dream team in front of and behind the camera to bring to life Nick’s intimate, entertaining, and relatable story of a modern marriage to life.”
Jamie Laurenson and Hakan Kousetta, of production company See-Saw Films ( Lion , The King’s Speech ), said that State of the Union gives Hornby “the freedom to explore a marriage in crisis, which manages to be both funny and touching in equal measure.”
No word yet as to when State of the Union will premiere on SundanceTV.
