‘Holes’ TV Series Pilot to Be Directed By ‘Agatha All Along’ Creator Jac Schaeffer (EXCLUSIVE)

The new “Holes” TV series has filled in a key role: Jac Schaeffer, creator of the Marvel Studios series “WandaVision” and “Agatha All Along,” will direct the pilot episode for the Disney+ production, Variety has learned exclusively.

Disney Branded Television ordered the show to pilot in January (as first reported by Variety), with Alina Mankin serving as writer and executive producer and Liz Phang serving as showrunner and executive producer. The logline for this adaptation of Louis Sachar’s 1998 book shifts the story to focus on a teenage girl, who “is sent to a detention camp where the ruthless Warden forces the campers to dig holes for a mysterious purpose.” (Sachar’s novel and its 2003 feature film adaptation focused on a kid named Stanley Yelnats, played in the movie by Shia LaBeouf.)

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As well as serving as showrunner and executive producer on “Agatha All Along,” Schaeffer directed Episodes 1, 2, and 7 of the show, the latter of which especially won wide acclaim last fall for its complex, time-hopping structure and performance showcase for costar Patti LuPone. Her career launched with the 2009 sci-fi rom-com “TiMER,” which Schaeffer wrote, directed and produced and was recently rereleased on multiple digital platforms. She subsequently wrote the screenplay for the 2017 Disney animated short “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” and co-wrote the 2019 Anne Hathaway-Rebel Wilson film “The Hustle” (a female-led update of the 1988 comedy classic “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels”). After earning a story by credit on Marvel Studios’ 2020 feature “Black Widow,” she was tapped to create one of the studios’ first streaming series, “WandaVision,” which earned 23 Emmy nominations, along with major recognition from the Golden Globes, Writers Guild Awards, Producers Guild Awards, and Critics’ Choice Television Awards.

Drew Goddard and Sarah Esberg are executive producing the “Holes” pilot through Goddard Textiles, with Andrea Massaro serving as co-executive producer. Other executive producers include Walden Media, Shamrock, and Mike Medavoy. 

Schaeffer is represented by Curate, CAA, and attorney Erik Hyman.