Oscar nominee Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and BAFTA nominee Chris O’Dowd (Moone Boy) have signed on to star in State of the Union, an original short form comedy series. The 10-minute 10-episode series is written by two-time Oscar nominee Nick Hornby (Brooklyn, An Education) and will be directed by two-time Oscar nominee Stephen Frears (The Queen, The Grifters).
Filming is expected to begin in London this summer. The short-form series is produced by See-Saw Films for SundanceTV.
“I am so pleased to be working again with Stephen, Rosamund, and Chris. I first met Stephen when he directed High Fidelity, Rosamund when she revealed her wonderful comic talent in An Education, and Chris when he made the forthcoming Juliet, Naked, and I think they will make a tremendous team. State of the Union is an unusual project, so it’s all the more gratifying that we have managed to attract talent of this magnitude,” said Hornby.
“Sundance is thrilled to partner with our good friends at See-Saw Films on this short form original production,” stated Jan Diedrichsen, General Manager, SundanceTV and Sundance Now. “We are fortunate to have a dream team in front of and behind the camera to bring to life Nick’s intimate, entertaining and relatable story of a modern marriage to life.”
Amy Jackson is producing, with Hornby, Frears, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, and Emile Sherman executive producing.
“The short form series has given Nick the freedom to explore a marriage in crisis which manages to be both funny and touching in equal measure. Realized by such amazing on and off-screen talent, we couldn’t be more excited to see these scripts brought to life,” said See-Saw Films’ COO of Television, Hakan Kousetta, and Head of Television jamie Laurenson.
The Plot: State of the Union follows Louise and Tom (Pike and O’Dowd) who meet in a pub immediately before their weekly marital therapy session. With each successive episode we piece together how their lives were, what drew them together and what has started to pull them apart. Hornby explores the complexities of marriage with his inimitable honesty and humor.
