Kimberly Belflower’s YA Drama ‘John Proctor Is The Villain’ Comes to 20th Television with Kim Rosenstock as Showrunner

Kimberly Belflower’s Untitled YA Drama Acquired by 20th Television

In a competitive bidding process, Kimberly Belflower’s untitled young adult drama has been secured by 20th Television for series development. Belflower, known for her acclaimed play John Proctor Is The Villain, will have her work brought to life with Kim Rosenstock as showrunner and executive producer. Thomas Kail and Jennifer Todd will also serve as executive producers through their company, Old 320 Sycamore.

The drama centers on a sheltered teen girl living in the rural South who, upon turning 16, experiences personal growth amid church scandals and her first job at a waterpark. There, she forms new friendships and grapples with her affections for both a troubled hometown boy and a new city arrival who represents a broader future.

Executive producers include Belflower, Rosenstock, Kail, and Todd, with Chloe Hales and Mia Del Duca overseeing the project for Old 320 Sycamore.

Concurrently, Belflower is adapting her celebrated play John Proctor Is The Villain for film, with Tina Fey and Marc Platt attached at Universal Pictures and Tony Award-winner Danya Taymor set to direct. The play will debut in London at the Royal Court Theatre this March.

Belflower is also known for her other works, including Lost Girl, which received the Kennedy Center’s Darrell Ayers National Playwriting Award in 2018, and Saint Pigtail, a finalist for the 2023 O’Neill Conference. Her experience extends to collaborations with established organizations like South Coast Rep and Manhattan Theatre Club. With an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, she currently teaches playwriting at Emory University in Atlanta and is represented by WME and Goodman, Genow, Schenkman, Smelkinson & Christopher, LPP.

Kim Rosenstock brings extensive experience to the project as well, having co-created and served as a writer and executive producer for the limited series Dying for Sex, which earned nine Emmy nominations, including two for her. Her other television credits include New Girl, Only Murders in the Building, and the WGA-nominated Glow, among others. She is represented by WME, Mosaic, and Johnson Shapiro Sleweet & Kole, LLP.