Disney Channel has greenlit a new comedy series, “Bizaardvark,” Variety has learned exclusively.
The project — previously titled “Paige & Frankie” when it was ordered to pilot in May — revolves around two 13-year-old best friends, Paige and Frankie, who write funny songs and create music videos for their online channel, titled Bizaardvark, which has 10,000 subscribers. The amateur musicians get to work from a creative studio space that they hope will take their videos to the next level. In their cool new environment, and with the help of family and friends, the girls will embark on a series of comedic adventures in their quest to become online stars.
Newcomers Olivia Rodrigo and Madison Hu (pictured) will star as Paige and Frankie, respectively.
The series hails from scribes Kyle Stegina and Josh Lehrman, who come from Disney Channel’s inaugural Storytellers program, which is designed to develop the next generation of creators and writers of for kids, tween and family programming. The pair will serve as co-exec producers. Eric Friedman (“Austin & Ally,” “Crash & Bernstein”) will serve as exec producer and showrunner. Marc Warren (“Full House, ” “Even Stevens,” “That’s So Raven,” “Cory in the House”), who supervisedDisney Channel Storytellers, exec produced the pilot.
“Bizaardvark” marks a continuation into music-based content for the kids’ cabler, following the huge success of series such as “Hannah Montana,” which shot Miley Cyrus into superstardom; “Shake It Up,” which brought Zendaya and Bella Thorne into the limelight; plus “Austin & Ally,” which will end after its current fourth season. The network is also behind musical franchise phenomenons “High School Musical” and the “Teen Beach Movie” made-for-TV flicks.
The series is also part of the network’s continued effort into diversified casting and programming with the young leads being Latina and Asian-American. In addition to Zendaya’s current Disney Channel hit “K.C. Undercover,” which revolves around an African-American family, the Mouse House also recently ordered Latino family sitcom “Stuck In the Middle” to series, starring “Jane The Virgin’s” Jenna Ortega.
“Bizaardvark” begins production early next year and is set to premiere in summer 2016.
No comments:
Post a Comment