Prime Video has given a series order to Rally, a drama set in the elite world of competitive tennis, from Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries, We Were Liars), Universal Television, Entertainment 360 and Amazon MGM Studios. Tennis great Andre Agassi will executive produce.
Written, showrun and executive produced by Plec, the series was inspired by Entertainment 360’s Guymon Casady’s experience in the world of elite tennis academy culture.
In Rally, at a hyper-competitive elite tennis academy, ambitious young players discover that the loneliest sport in the world demands sacrificing the very connections that might be the only thing that makes winning worth it.
“The inspiration for Rally came from a deeply personal place – watching my kids train and navigate the intense pressure, dedication, and heartbreak of elite junior tennis at the IMG Academy,” said Casady. “To build this world alongside a master storyteller like Julie Plec, and to ground it in the unmatched, authentic perspective of a true legend like Andre Agassi, is a remarkable privilege.”
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Rally was originally set up at Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, a year ago under Plec’s overall deal there. The series is executive produced by Plec and Emily Cummins for Plec’s My So Called Company under Plec’s overall deal at Universal Television, alongside Entertainment 360’s Casady, Agassi and Justin Gimelstob.
This is Plec’s second series at Prime Video; she also has We Were Liars, which is returning for a second season.
“Julie Plec is a masterful storyteller with an extraordinary ability to build worlds audiences fall in love with and characters they can’t let go of,” said Peter Friedlander, Head of Global Television, Amazon MGM Studios. “With an unmatched team including Andre, Guymon, Justin, and Emily, Rally takes audiences inside the pressure cooker of elite tennis, where every match point carries the weight of dreams and relationships hanging in the balance. We couldn’t be more excited to serve this series to Prime Video audiences around the world.”
This marks the first producing gig for eight-time Grand Slam singles champion Agassi, working alongside fellow former tennis pro and business partner Gimelstob who executive produced Apple TV’s Agassi documentary Open.
“I am eager for Justin and I to lend our experiences to help the incredible Rally team,” said Agassi. “At this stage of our lives having an endeavor that allows us to work with the best in class in what they do and hopefully contribute to the process, is an exciting challenge. We are all aligned in creating an entertaining and most importantly, authentic look at a beautifully complicated sport.”