Copyright Variety
An American version of “Call My Agent” is currently in development at HBO, Variety has learned. While the original French series “Call My Agent” (a.k.a. “Dix pour cent”) was set at a fictional talent agency in Paris, the American version will be set at a sports agency. The official logline states, “Four work-obsessed sports agents struggle to balance their personal lives and their clients’ needs in an industry where, more and more, it feels like being an athlete is just the start.” Sarah Schneider is attached to write and executive produce the HBO version. Plan B will executive produce along with Fulwell Entertainment’s SpringHill Studios. Plan B is majority owned by French media conglomerate Mediawan and counts Brad Pitt among its co-founders, while SpringHill was co-founded by NBA great LeBron James. Fulwell 73 and SpringHill completed their merger earlier this year. “Dix pour cent” originally debuted on France 2 in 2015 and starred Camille Cottin, Thibault de Montalembert, Grégory Montel, Liliane Rovère, Fanny Sidney, Laure Calamy, Nicolas Maury, and Stéfi Celma. Following the show’s successful launch in France, Netflix bought it and renamed it “Call My Agent.” Four seasons have aired to date, with a fifth season and a Netflix movie on the way. This would be the latest in a string of international adaptation of “Call My Agent.” There have been versions set in Turkey, India, Germany, the U.K., and Korea, among others, while it was recently reported that a Chinese version is in the works. Interestingly, should the project go to series, it would be the third HBO show set in the world of sports representation. The premium cabler most recently aired the comedy “Ballers” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for five seasons between 2015 and 2019, which focused on financial managers for athletes. Prior to that, Robert Wuhl starred as fictional sports agent Arliss Michaels in the comedy series “Arliss” at HBO for seven seasons from 1996-2002. Schneider previously co-created the popular comedy series “The Other Two” alongside Chris Kelly. The show originally debuted on Comedy Central before moving to HBO Max for its final two seasons. She and Kelly received two Emmy nominations for best writing for a comedy series for their work on the show. Schneider was also previously a writer at “Saturday Night Live,” with she and Kelly serving as co-head writers for the NBC sketch comedy show’s 42nd season. She received eight Emmy nominations in total for her time at “SNL.” Her other writing credits include new HBO comedy “The Chair Company,” “Master of None” at Netflix, and CollegeHumor. She is repped by UTA.
