Jesse Eisenberg is moving back to television. Off the back of his writer-director feature The Debut, he is prepping an untitled drama series for A24 that he wrote, will direct and is executive producing. Peter Rice, recently named Netflix’s Chief Content Officer, is also executive producing under his A24 deal.
The project is expected to be taken out to buyers in the coming weeks. Eisenberg told THR at the London Film Festival premiere of The Debut that the story is “about the beginning of the culture wars and follows an 18-year-old girl in the fall of 2002.” Sources said the young woman’s beliefs are tested by new ideas and relationships.
What A24 is selling
The series is based on a short story by Eisenberg. It is not yet confirmed which one, though Deadline notes one candidate is Harper Jablonski, a freshman struggling with college life from Eisenberg’s 2016 collection Bream Gives Me Hiccups. That ambiguity matters less than the package itself:
- An Oscar-winning writer-director attached as creator, director and executive producer.
- A24’s streaming credibility, built on Netflix’s Beef and other high-profile series.
- A fall 2002 setting that frames the show as a culture-wars origin story rather than a generic coming-of-age drama.
Why Netflix may anchor the bidding
Rice’s new role makes Netflix the obvious name, though he is not expected to be hands-on going forward and would likely retain his EP credit after development. Netflix already has A24 projects including Beef, an untitled Millie Bobby Brown and David Harbour spy series, and Trigger Point with Joel Edgerton.
Other platforms can still step in. But the set-up looks like a market test: will competitors force Netflix to pay a premium, or treat this as the streamer’s deal to lose? Deadline also points to precedent for keeping EP credits after an executive moves on—Dan Lin and Ori Marmur remain EPs on Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Boys, respectively.
What buyers should watch
Eisenberg has a long screen history: he started on Fox’s 1999 series Get Real, earned an Oscar nomination for The Social Network, won an Oscar for writing A Real Pain, and most recently starred in FX’s Fleishman Is In Trouble. He has tried TV development before, including a Bream Gives Me Hiccups adaptation for Amazon and A24 a decade ago. This package is more advanced: it has an A24 engine, a creator with awards heat, and a tight sales window.
For content buyers and media planners, the show’s hook is thematic rather than genre-led. That can cut through at the pitch stage, but it also needs sharp positioning to connect with audiences who remember 2002 and those who don’t. The next few weeks will show whether that positioning convinces platforms to compete.
Source: Deadline
