It’s good to see Jennifer Garner’s production company, Vandalia Films, ramping up its production slate. Having produced 2012’s Butter, Garner teamed with that film’s writer Jason Micallef for a strip club-set drama for Fox during the previous TV season. Now the company is developing All The Pretty Faces for Bravo, and has just sold Half Full to Fox.
Half Full is a single-camera, half hour comedy show focusing on a newly-wed couple who are forced to adjust their plans due to a surprise pregnancy. Instead of moving to New York, they have to stay at home in Agawam, Massachusetts, within five miles of the husband’s five bitter older siblings. The script is being written by actor-writer Matthew Nicklaw (LoveFinder), who will also co-executive produce the project. The show comes from Warner Bros Television with Vandalia Films, and features Jennifer Garner as executive producer, with Juliana Janes as producer.
It is gratifying to see a growing number of female executives behind new projects for television, hopefully giving more opportunity to positively influence a medium that still, for the most part, expects women to fit into a very narrow pigeon-hole in terms of plot and character. For example, it is still the case that in the vast majority (though thankfully, not all) of television comedies, actresses that do not fit a specific profile are generally consigned to the side-kick role. In drama – as demonstrated by the recent batch of Amazon Originals – women are more likely to be plot devices, than interesting, challenging characters. Sure, we have The Good Wife, Scandal, and a few other female-led dramas, but these remain rare shining beacons amidst a sea of testosterone.
Will Vandalia Films’ Half Full dispense with the favoured template of television network comedy convention, or will it be forced to uphold the status quo in order to make it to the screen? The current deal constitutes a script commitment on the part of Fox, so at the moment, there is everything to play for. This could prove to be an entertaining ensemble comedy, if the project moves forward and the right cast is assembled – and with Fox now on board, we will hopefully hear those announcements soon.
