Michael Connelly Drama Inspired By His Crime Reporter Days In Works At Paramount TV Studios

EXCLUSIVE: Before Michael Connelly (Bosch, Ballard) became a famous crime novelist, he was a crime reporter. His experience as a crime beat writer at Florida’s Daytona Beach News-Journal and the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel serves as inspiration for a drama series project in development at the new Paramount Television Studios run by former Skydance TV President Matt Thunell.

Connelly is co-creating the Untitled Florida Task Force series with playwright/TV writer Jim Leonard (Ray Donovan) who will serve as showrunner.

The duo will executive produce alongside Rick Jackson. Theresa Snider of Connelly’s Hieronymus Pictures serves as co-executive producer. PTVS is the studio.

The project originated at Skydance Television and was carried over to PTVS following Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount Global, sources said. In addition to Skydance Television, PTVS absorbed Paramount Global’s MTV Entertainment Studios/Showtime production division. The new TV label under the Paramount Pictures umbrella focuses on streaming series for sibling Paramount+ as well as third-party buyers.

Connelly got into crime reporting after graduating from University of Florida. After the stints at the two Florida papers, he did one more job as a crime reporter, at Los Angeles Times, before segueing to writing books. His Bosch novels have spawned a TV series franchise for Prime Video that includes mothership Bosch and offshoots Bosch: Legacy and Ballard. Connelly has executive produced all three as well as Netflix’s series adaptation of his novel The Lincoln Lawyer.

An Edgar Award-winning author of over 40 bestsellers, Connelly is repped for film and television by Joel Gotler of the Intellectual Property Group and attorneys Diane Golden and Sarah Lerner at Katz Golden Lerner LLP.

Leonard served co-executive producer on Showtime’s Ray Donovan and TNT’s Major Crimes and as a consulting producer on Showtime’s Dexter. As a playwright, his productions have received the Outer Critics Circle Award, Ovation Award, and Dramatists Guild Award. Leonard is repped by Dan Halsted and Nate Miller of Manage-ment, Innovative Artists Entertainment and Diane Golden and Sarah Lerner at Katz Golden Lerner.