EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Shukert, fresh from writing and exec producing Peacock’s The Burbs, is staying in business with UCP.
Shukert, who also created Netflix’s The Baby‑Sitters Club, has struck an overall deal with the Universal Studio Group division, which is behind the Keke Palmer and Jack Whitehall-led comedy drama series that was renewed for a second season after becoming a hit on the NBCU streamer.
She has already set a number of projects with the studio. She will write and exec produce an adaptation of Amy Tintera’s Listen for the Lie, which is in the works at Peacock, and is developing a series based on Judy Blume’s classic novel Summer Sisters.
Listen for the Lie, which was published last year by Celadon Books, is a true-crime story.
It follows Lucy, who is found wandering the streets, covered in her best friend Savvy’s blood, making everyone think she is a murderer. Lucy and Savvy were the golden girls of their small Texas town: pretty, smart, and enviable. Lucy married a dream guy with a big ring and an even bigger new home. Savvy was the social butterfly loved by all, and if you believe the rumors, especially popular with the men in town. It’s been years since that horrible night, a night Lucy can’t remember anything about, and she has since moved to LA and started a new life. But now the phenomenally huge hit true crime podcast Listen for the Lie, and its too-good looking host Ben Owens, have decided to investigate Savvy’s murder for the show’s second season. Lucy is forced to return to the place she vowed never to set foot in again to solve her friend’s murder, even if she is the one that did it.
The project comes from Dinner Party Productions with Sue Naegle and Ali Krug executive producing, alongside Tintera.
Blume’s Summer Sisters was published in 1998. It is set in the summer of 1977 after Victoria Leonard’s world changes forever when Caitlin Somers chooses her as a friend. Dazzling, reckless Caitlin welcomes Vix into the heart of her sprawling, eccentric family, opening doors to a world of unimaginable privilege, sweeping her away to vacations on Martha’s Vineyard, an enchanting place where the two friends become summer sisters. Now, years later, Vix is working in New York City. Caitlin is getting married on the Vineyard. And the early magic of their long, complicated friendship has faded. But Caitlin begs Vix to come to her wedding, to be her maid of honor. And Vix knows that she will go—because she wants to understand what happened during that last shattering summer. And, after all these years, she needs to know why her best friend—her summer sister—still has the power to break her heart.
The project comes from Jenna Bush Hager and her Thousand Voices production banner. Last year, Bush Hager made the book her book club pick.
It was previously in the works at Hulu in 2020 from the now closed ABC Signature with Little Fires Everywhere’s Liz Tigelaar writing, and was in the works at Peacock in 2023. It does not currently have a network or streamer attached.
Bush Hager and Ben Spector are executive producing alongside Blume.
Shukert previously landed two Children’s & Family Emmy Awards for The Baby‑Sitters Club. She has also written and exec produced Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers and The Handmaid’s Tale and was a writer on Netflix’s Glow. She is repped by UTA, Kaplan-Perrone and Hansen Jacobson Teller Hoberman.
Shukert said, “The team at UCP is the best in the business: passionate, versatile, kind, and deeply committed to creating the kind of challenging, surprising — and fun — work I’ve tried to achieve throughout my career. Partnering with them and their world-class stable of collaborators is a dream come true. I’m so grateful for this opportunity and can’t wait for everything we make together.”
Beatrice Springborn, President of UCP & Universal International Studios, added, “I’ve been a fan of Rachel’s since she brought The Baby-Sitter’s Club to life. It’s been incredible to celebrate all she’s achieved since then, and collaborating with her on The ‘Burbs has only reinforced what an exceptional creative partner she is. We’re excited to make UCP her home and to continue to champion her.”