DVDizzy Forum

Freeform has put in development Motherland, an hourlong drama from Gary Sanchez Productions, with Adam McKay, Will Ferrell and Kevin Messick executive producing.

Written by Eliot Laurence (Welcome to Me), Motherland is described as an epic military fantasy set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country. The project is set in contemporary times where young women conscript at 18 and receive basic training in combat magic at a base called Fort Salem. The show follows three young women from basic into early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped. Women are on the front lines fighting looming terrorist threats that are familiar to our world, but their tactics and weapons are supernatural.

Freeform has given a pilot order to a show with the working title Motherland, an hour-long military fantasy drama from Claws creator Eliot Laurence and Gary Sanchez Productions. Motherland (which execs emphasized they prefer be known as Untitled Eliot Laurence Project) is from Freeform Studio and Gary Sanchez Productions. It was originally put in development in August 2016. Gary Sanchez’s Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick are executive producers on the pilot, which Steve Adelson is aboard to direct.

During a conversation with reporters at the lunch event, Karey Burke, EVP, Programming and Development, said the show fit with the network’s new brand identity and “A Little Forward” tagline. ‘We had been looking for a show about witches,” she said, citing the network’s investment in genre fare. The “alt” landscape of the show suggested a world in the vein of Man in the High Castle or Handmaid’s Tale, she said. While a military force is the center of the show, she said, instead of guns and bullets, the characters use elements like weather patterns and sound to subdue evildoers. “We really like the story possibilities that gives us,” she said.

Newcomer Ashley Nicole Williams has been cast as one of the three leads in Motherland: Fort Salem, Freeform’s newly picked up hourlong drama series from Claws creator Eliot Laurence and executive producers Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick. Williams takes over the role played by Kelcey Mawema in the pilot in a recasting. Williams’ character is Abigail Bellweather, a driven and courageous witch who is excited to join the ranks of the witches’ army.

Set in an alternate America where witches ended their persecution nearly 300 years ago by cutting a deal with the U.S. government to fight for their country, “Motherland: Fort Salem” follows three young women – played by Williams, Taylor Hickson and Jessica Sutton — from basic training in combat magic into early deployment. In this world, the traditional roles of gender and power are flipped, with the more dominant women on the front lines fighting looming terrorist threats that are familiar to our world—but with supernatural tactics and weapons.

Amalia Holm and Demetria McKinney co-star in the series, written and created by Laurence. Laurence serves as showrunner and executive produces on the series alongside Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick of Gary Sanchez Productions. Maria Maggenti and Steven Adelson will also serve as executive producers; Adelson directed the pilot. Freeform Studios and Gary Sanchez Productions are producing.

Kai Bradbury (Warigami) is set for a recurring role on Motherland: Fort Salem, Freeform’s new hourlong drama series from Claws creator Eliot Laurence and executive producers Will Ferrell, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick. Bradbury plays Gerit, a male witch who comes to Fort Salem and strikes up a whirlwind relationship with Tally (Sutton).