Copyright Deadline
One of the most popular international scripted formats of the past decade, Call My Agent, is coming to the U.S. via HBO. The premium network is developing an American adaptation of the 2015 French comedy-drama (original title Dix Pour Cent, aka Ten Percent, the portion of talent’s paychecks that goes to their agents.) It is being written and executive produced by The Other Two co-creator/exec producer Sarah Schneider. The original series, which ran for four seasons on France 2, revolved around talent agents and their relationships with their actor clients, many of them French celebrities playing themselves. Taking a page from HBO’s 1996 comedy-drama Arliss, the American adaptation is tweaking the premise, moving the setting to the sports representation world. In it, 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. French media conglom Mediawan, whose labels Mon Voisin Productions and Mother Production produced the original series, is behind the proposed U.S. remake via its subsidiary, Brad Pitt’s Plan B, which executive produces alongside Fulwell Entertainment’s SpringHill Studios, led by LeBron James and Maverick Carter. SpringHill’s involvement signals a likely retention of the original’s format, with real sports stars playing themselves as clients of the fictional sports agency. The French series, starring Camille Cottin, Thibault de Montalembert, Grégory Montel and Liliane Rovère, is well known in America via its run on Netflix which gave it the Call My Agent title. As Deadline reported earlier this year, the streamer is doing a followup movie with the original cast. To date, the French series, which won the International Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series in 2021, has been adapted in about dozen countries, including the U.K., Germany and India. Sarah Schneider, a former Saturday Night Live co-head writer, is currently at HBO, serving as co-executive producer on the new Tim Robinson comedy series The Chair Company.
