FX Developing New Series From The Bear Co-Showrunner and Blindspotting Director

FX is developing a new series from The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo and Blindspotting director Carlos Lopez Estrada. The series is set to be based on a 2021 This American Life segment titled “I Was a Teenage Smuggler”. According to Deadline, the series will be a half-hour comedy written by Calo, Estrada, and the story’s reporter, Kevin Sieff. The three will executive produce alongside This American Life‘s Ira Glass and Alissa Shipp. Estrada will also direct the pilot and will also produce via his Antigravity Academy.

The new series is set to follow a group of Mexican teenagers who end up enlisted by cartels to smuggle migrants across the U.S. border thanks to loophole in immigration laws that prevents anyone under the age of 18 from being prosecuted. As a result, the teenagers soon find themselves making immense amounts of money as the clock ticks until they are legally adults.

In addition to Blindspotting, Estrada is known for his film Summertime as well as his documentary film, Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero. In terms of television, Estrada directed an episode of Marvel’s Legion and is also developing an original comedy at FX as well as is writing and attached to direct Paramount and Bad Robot’s reimagining of the Japanese anime Your Name.

Calo is the co-showrunner, writer, director, and executive producer of The Bear. She’s also has writing credits for Hacks, The Baby-Sitters Club, Undone, and BoJack Horseman.

The Bear Recently Concluded its Second Season

The Bear recently concluded its second season on FX. Here’s how the network describes the series: “Season two of FX‘s The Bear, the critically acclaimed original series, follows Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White), Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri) and Richard “Richie” Jerimovich (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) as they work to transform their grimy sandwich joint into a next-level spot. As they strip the restaurant down to its bones, the crew undertakes transformational journeys of their own, each forced to confront the past and reckon with who they want to be in the future. Of course, it turns out the only thing harder than running a restaurant is opening a new one, and the team must juggle the insane bureaucracy of permits and contractors with the beauty and creative agony of menu planning. The transition brings a newfound focus on hospitality as well. As the entire staff is forced to come together in new ways, pushing the boundaries of their abilities and relationships, they also learn what it means to be in service, both to diners and each other.”

The Bear stars Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri, Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colón-Zayas and Matty Matheson, with Edwin Lee Gibson, Oliver Platt and Molly Gordon.