LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Television announced today that it has optioned the rights to Elaine Weiss’s critically-acclaimed book, The Woman’s Hour, and will develop it as a long-form project for premium cable or streaming platforms.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Elaine Weiss, as well as Amblin Television’s Co-Presidents, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, will serve as executive producers. The book follows the remarkable activists who led the decades-long fight to grant women the right to vote and sheds light on how close the battle to ratify the 19th Amendment really was. An inspiring story, The Woman’s Hour celebrates those who changed history and laid the foundation for the civil rights movement that came decades later.
Secretary Clinton said, “At the heart of democracy lies the ballot box, and Elaine Weiss’s unforgettable book tells the story of the female leaders who – in the face of towering economic, racial, and political opposition – fought for and won American women's right to vote. Unfolding over six-weeks in the summer of 1920, The Woman’s Hour is both a page-turning drama and an inspiration for everyone, young and old, male and female, in these perilous times. So much could have gone wrong, but these American women would not take no for an answer: their triumph is our legacy to guard and emulate.”
She continued, “I am thrilled to be working with Elaine, Steven and everyone at Amblin Television on bringing this important project to audiences everywhere.”
Elaine Weiss is an author and a journalist whose newest book, The Woman’s Hour, was recently released by Viking. It has received critical acclaim from The New York Times Book Review, Wall St. Journal, NPR, and the Christian Science Monitor. Critics hail the book as “important” and “timely,” “stirring” and “definitive” a “riveting” and “remarkably entertaining” “political thriller” which is “compulsory reading” for understanding our current historic moment.
Ms. Weiss’s work has appeared in many major national publications and on NPR. Her magazine feature writing has been recognized with prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and her long-form writing garnered a Pushcart Prize “Editor’s Choice” award; she is a MacDowell Colony Fellow.
Secretary Clinton is represented by Robert Barnett and Michael O’Connor at Williams & Connolly LLP and Steven Burkow at Ziffren Brittenham.
Elaine Weiss is represented by William Morris Endeavor.
About Amblin Television:
Amblin Television, a long-time leader in quality programming, is a division of Amblin Partners, a content creation company led by Steven Spielberg, with investment partners that include Participant Media, Reliance Entertainment, Entertainment One (eOne), Alibaba Pictures and Universal Pictures. Amblin Television’s co-presidents, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey, oversee all development, production and programming for the company.
Amblin Television’s Peabody Award-winning and Emmy-nominated drama "The Americans," on FX just completed its sixth and final season to great critical acclaim. With the addition of “The Women’s Hour,” it has 13 series in various stages of production including “Bull” for CBS, the dramatic thriller “Reverie" for NBC, “Roswell, New Mexico” for the CW, the adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s "The Haunting of Hill House” for Netflix, the Rev Run and Justine Simmons family sitcom “All About the Washingtons” premiering August 10th on Netflix, “Amazing Stories” for Apple, “Halo” for Showtime, “Cortes” for Amazon, “Animaniacs” for Hulu, “Days that Shaped America” for The History Channel, “Why We Hate” and “Cooper’s Treasure” for Discovery, and “Resident Alien” for SYFY. Some of Amblin Television’s previous credits include the Emmy-nominated HBO movie "All The Way” starring Bryan Cranston, “Smash” for NBC, "Under the Dome” for CBS, "Falling Skies” for TNT, "The Borgias” and "The United States of Tara,” and "Las Vegas” for NBC.
