EXCLUSIVE : Charise Castro Smith ( Encanto ) has signed an overall deal with 20th Television. Under the multi-year pact, she will develop, write and executive produce original series for linear networks and streamers with a focus on the Disney Entertainment Television platforms.
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Castro Smith has Confessions On The 7:45 , a series adaptation of Lisa Unger’s international bestseller, in development at Hulu with Jessica Alba attached to star and Eva Longoria set to direct the pilot. Castro Smith and Alba originally set the series up at Netflix for development two years ago. It is now being redeveloped for Hulu under Castro Smith’s deal at sibling 20th TV, a part of Disney Television Studios.
Based on Unger’s novel, Confessions On The 7:45 is a psychological thriller in which a working mom (Alba) meets a stranger on a train as she is commuting home who upends her life. As her life unravels and betrayals are revealed, she questions whether we can ever truly know the people closest to us.
Castro Smith is writing and executive producing. Alba is executive producing via her Lady Metalmark Entertainment, along with Longoria via Hyphenate Media Group, Unger and 3 Arts.
“We have been enamored by Charise’s captivating storytelling, unique world-building and authentic point of view for years,” said Karey Burke, President of 20th Television. “She’s not only an acclaimed playwright and television writer, but her incomparable work on Encanto was simply spectacular. She has the rare ability to capture the human condition across multiple genres, she brings characters to life, and her words literally leap off the page, and the entire team at 20th Television is thrilled to officially welcome her into the studio fold.”
This marks Castro Smith’s return to the Disney fold after serving as co-writer and co-director of the 2021 Oscar-winning animated feature Encanto. Prior to the Disney-Fox merger, she worked on the 20th TV drama series The Exorcist for Fox and saw her ABC Studios drama script The Death Of Eva Sofia Valdez go to pilot at ABC with Gina Torres starring.
“Having been a part of the Disney family for many years now, this feels like coming home,” Castro Smith said. “I’m so grateful to Karey Burke and Eric Schrier for welcoming me into the fold at the most writer friendly studio in town. I’m so looking forward to making excellent television with this incredible team.”
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Confessions On The 7:45 also marks Alba’s return to 20th Television more than two decades after her breakout lead role in the studio’s 2000 James Cameron drama series Dark Angel, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination.
At the time Confessions On The 7:45 was sold to Netflix in 2022, Alba spoke of her reaction to Unger’s novel that led to her involvement in the project.
“I could not put this book down. The moment I read the line, ‘If you want to keep a secret you must first hide it from yourself,’ I was hooked,” she said. “This book is about trying to bury secrets and the shame we carry until the truth exposes us. I can’t think of a more exciting person to partner with on this project. Charise is so ridiculously talented and truly gets every nuance under the skin of these characters and their web of lies.”
Alba has made more than 25 feature films, including Fantastic Four and Sin City , that have earned a combined box office total of $800 million-plus. She most recently starred in and executive produced the Netflix action thriller Trigger Warning and, along with Gabrielle Union, she headlined and exec produced the action drama series, L.A.’s Finest . Alba’s Roku series, Honest Renovations, which she created, exec produces and hosts with Lizzy Mathis, was just picked up for a third season . She is repped by 3 Arts Entertainment, UTA and Sloane, Offer, Weber and Dern.
In TV, Castro Smith most recently staffed on Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House and Starz’s Sweetbitter . A prolific playwright, her work includes El Huracán (Yale Repertory Theatre), Estrella Cruz: The Junkyard Queen (Ars Nova/Halcyon Theatre), The Hunchback of Seville (Washington Ensemble Theatre/Trinity Repertory Company), Washeteria (Soho Rep), and Boomcracklefly (Miracle Theatre). Castro Smith is repped by UTA and attorney Scott Whitehead.
Longoria stars in Season 4 of the hit Hulu/20th TV series Only Murders in the Building and in Hyphenate’s Apple TV+ series Land of Women. Her TV directing credits include Gordita Chronicles , Devious Maids, Telenovela, Grand Hotel, Empire, Jane the Virgin and The Mick. She also directed the 2021 Sundance feature documentary La Guerra Civil, and the film Flamin’ Hot, which became Searchlight Pictures’ biggest streaming debut ever. Longoria is repped by WME, Linden Entertainment and Yorn Levine.
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