It looks like Debra Granik might be the latest in a long line of high profile filmmakers to make the jump and direct an HBO series. However, after the recent pilot rejections from some of said filmmakers (like Noah Baumbach's failed adaptation of The Corrections or Spike Lee's Da Brick), she better have the same kind of 'connections' as Lena Dunham in order to ensure that this potential project goes to series.
Actually, HBO has yet to even officially green-light the pilot but with the Academy Award nominated director attached it should hopefully help grease the wheels. According to Indiewire's TOH!, the female filmmaker behind the 2010 Oscar underdog Winter's Bone (as well as 2004's excellent Down to the Bone) is attached to direct the pilot for Nicki Paluga's American High Life. Paluga's only previous writing credit includes episodes of Legend of the Seeker, but the article notes that the director was taken by both the young writer and her semi-autobiographical potential series that "follows a young career woman to her economically depressed small home town in the midwest." Yep, that definitely sounds up right in Granik's backyard.
Indiewire's Thompson also notes that this is just one of several potential projects on the go for Debra Granik, so if HBO once again proves a tough nut to crack, we should still soon see something from the talented artist. She is developing an adaptation of Russell Banks' novel Rule Of The Bone which tells the story of a troubled 14-year-old Jamaican-American boy who resorts to thievery and drugs after his step-father molests him. When kicked out of the broken home, he decides to fly to Jamaica and find his father. Granik sure doesn't shy away from tough material and I hope that we get to see not only this film but also American High Life (at HBO or any network smart enough to take her on).
