EXCLUSIVE: Universal Television has optioned Lights Out, the bestselling sports thriller by former national TV reporter-turned-author Elise Hart Kipness, for development as a series.
Executive producers on the project include Mary J. Blige, Bruce Miller and Milana Edwards-Brooks of Blue Butterfly Productions, as well as Debra Martin Chase of Martin Chase Productions, and Liz Friedlander, who will also direct. Kipness, Liza Fleissig and Ginger Harris-Dontzin will serve as consulting producers.
The first book in Kipness’ Kate Green series, Lights Out follows a former Olympic athlete and sports reporter who isn’t sure how much more tumultuous her life can get. She’s been put on temporary leave from her job, then NBA superstar Kurt Robbins is killed, and the prime suspect in his murder is none other than his wife…and Kate’s best friend. Kate knows that Yvette’s marriage wasn’t exactly stable, but her friend is no murderer, and Kate is determined to prove it with her own investigation. While she tries to salvage Yvette’s life, Kate’s own continues to unravel. Her career is in limbo. Gossip columns speculate about her future. Her children are battling their own demons. And her estranged father suddenly reenters her life as a detective assigned to Kurt’s homicide case.
Lights Out became an instant Amazon bestseller when it was released by Thomas & Mercer in 2023. The third installment in the series, Close Call, released last month and has spent four weeks on the USA Today Bestseller List, peaking at #18.
A Grammy and Emmy-winner and Academy Award nominee, Blige launched Blue Butterfly Productions back in 2019 amid an expansion from music into film and television. Since its launch, the company has signed a six-picture deal with Lifetime, creating hit films based on Blige’s song catalogue. Other credits include Blige’s talk show on BET+, a documentary focused on Blige’s album My Life for Amazon, and exec producing Chiwetel Ejiofor’s Rob Peace, in which Blige and Ejiofor starred. Blige is repped by IAG and LaPolt Law.
A four-time Tony-winner and three-time Emmy nominee, Chase was the first Black female producer to have a deal at any major studio and to produce a film that grossed over $100 million. Her movies have grossed over a half billion dollars at the box office. Under an overall deal at Universal Television, her production banner’s recent credits include CBS’s The Equalizer, docu Being Mary Tyler Moore, and the Academy Award-nominated Harriet, to name just a few. She is repped by CAA and Nina Shaw of Del, Shaw, Moonves.
Liz Friedlander has directed and executive produced multiple television pilots including The Equalizer, The Lincoln Lawyer, The Rookie, Conviction, and Tell Me a Story. She’s also directed multiple episodes of Amazon’s Fallout and The Boys, Apple TV’s Bad Monkey, and more, and is currently directing a block of Foundation for Apple TV. She is repped by CAA and Howard Abramson of Behr Abramson Levy Johnson.
Kipness is represented by IAG and Liza Royce Associates. Fleissig and Harris-Dontzin are also repped by IAG.
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