When readers and audiences hear that Hello Sunshine has acquired a bestselling book, it’s likely that the production company’s president of film and television, Lauren Neustadter, spearheaded the deal.
Before joining Reese Witherspoon’s production company in 2017, Neustadter spent more than a decade working in film as an executive at companies such as Miramax and 20th Century Fox, before eventually moving into television and become director of the Fox network. Once she landed Hello Sunshine — and before developing a series of book-inspired series, including “Big Little Lies,” “Little Fires Everywhere” and “Truth Be Told” — she had a first book adaptation at “Americanized” screen, which has reached the final stages of the network’s pilot development cycle.
Iranian immigrant Sara Saedi’s memoir of the same name aligns with Hello Sunshine’s mission to portray a series centered around the unique experiences of women. In October 2018, it was announced that Hello Sunshine would adapt “Americanized” into a half-hour comedy with ABC Studios. What motivated
Neustadter to acquire “Americanized” was its ability to provoke social commentary, while also serving as a spectacle that “parents and children could watch together”. “Americanized” allowed Hello Sunshine – which carefully curates female-centric projects – to fill that space.
Saedi’s memoir-turned-pilot resembled “The Wonder Years,” but was set during the author’s childhood in the 1990s.
“It was really centered around an Iranian teenager who was in America, living near Silicon Valley. This character, Leila, clearly inspired by Sara, didn’t know that her family was in the country illegally. During the pilot, hijackings ensue and she realizes they are undocumented,” says Neustadter. “I
I just thought it was such a wonderful, beautiful show that balanced something that felt really substantial, with a really approachable and entertaining tone.
Since the story was the author’s lived experience, it was filled with emotion and humor, says Neustadter.
“I think there was real buoyancy and humanity about it. She found the laughter, [even though] she didn’t know they were undocumented,” she says. “I thought the themes for this one, like it doesn’t matter where you’re from, what matters is who you are, who you love, and wherever your family is, that’s home. The truth is Sara loved being American and it was a journey to citizenship. But it really was kind of the truth of that moment.
Developing Saedi’s very personal story was no small feat, but Neustadter says, “It all really starts with the relationship with the author. We always talk about honoring the book, and that the first and most important thing is that we honor the book,” she says. “It’s always tricky working with someone who adapts something they’ve written, and even more so when it’s someone who adapts something they’ve written that is so personal.”
Neustadter respects an author’s work and recognizes the intimate bond between a writer and a reader – traits that have helped him develop a steady stream of book-to-screen adaptations over the past year, releasing recently four adapted series: “Daisy Jones and the Six”, “The Last Thing He Said to Me”, “Tiny Beautiful Things” and “From Scratch”.
The Hello Sunshine executive hopes the “Americanized” pilot will one day join her long list of adaptations produced. “I hope one day it will come back – never say never,” she says. “The great thing about these stories is that once they’re written, there’s always a chance they’ll be told.”