Filmmaker McG is teaming up with Jennifer Beals and Ilene Chaiken to produce a pilot for new telelvision series “Venice.” McG will direct. Beals has signed on as a leading actor and Ilene Chaiken ( “L Word” creator/executive producer) has joined as executive producer/showrunner.
“Venice,” written by Byron Balasco, is a soap about class struggles in California’s famed Venice neighborhood. It focuses on two rival families and a forbidden and dangerous romance emerging between them as the families battle for control of Venice. Beals plays Lisa Carver, the elegant bohemian matriarch of the Carver family, one of the two feuding clans.
McG, a former music video and record producer, brings his specialized film and television directoral chops to the mix. He rose to prominence with his first film , “Charlie’s Angels,” which had the highest-grossing opening weekend for a directorial debut at the time. Since then, he has directed other films of cult fame, including “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle“ and “Terminator Salvation.“ He has also executive produced wildly popular television series “The O.C.,” “Chuck,” and “Supernatural.”
MG’s “Venice” should not be confused with the popular web series “Venice: The Series,” co-produced by and starring Crystal Chappell. “Venice: The Series” loosely continues a plot on the daytime soap”Guiding Light,” where two female characters became lovers.