Hulu continues to lean into pilots with a greenlight for drama Durango, from writer Eliza Clark (FX’s Y: The Last Man), 20th Television and Media Res.
The streaming wars ushered in a rise of the straight-to-series orders which became the default model in the new medium. A year and a half ago, Hulu reverted to a more traditional model where pilots are the norm and direct-to-series orders the exception, reserved for rare projects like Dan Fogelman’s upcoming NFL drama The Land or Mindy Kaling’s comedy Not Suitable For Work, as well as for limited series.
Pilots have now been embraced across Disney: at ABC and FX, where they have had a long tradition, Onyx and Disney Branded Television, in addition to Hulu whose current roster of pilots includes Greg Berlanti and Bash Doran’s high-profile drama Foster Dade.
In lieu of traditional pilot season, Hulu has been picking up a handful of pilots a couple of times a year. This is expected to again be the case, with Durango followed by one and possibly two more pilot orders.
Written by Clark, Durango follows Mikey, a ski bum townie chasing a buzz, and Bunny, a homeschooled runaway working as a greasy-spoon waitress. Together they’re riding an avalanche of bad decisions and falling in love while running from cops, criminals, and Mikey’s wife in pursuit of their own American dream.
Clark executive produces with Media Res’ Michael Ellenberg and Lindsey Springer.
In addition to developing the version of FX’s comic book adaptation Y: The Last Man that got on the air and executive producing/showrunning it, Clark served as executive producer and showrunner on TNT’s Animal Kingdom. Her series credits include AMC’s The Killing and Rubicon and CBS’ Extant.