Tag Archives: Liz Heldens

ABC Renews Ramón Rodríguez’s Drama Series “Will Trent” for Third Season

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Ramón Rodríguez’s latest project Will continue…

ABC has renewed drama series Will Trent, starring the 44-year-old Puerto Rican actor, for a third season.

Ramón RodríguezBased on Karin Slaughter’s New York Times bestselling Will Trent books, the series follows the titular special agent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation who was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system. Now, Will uses his unique point of view to pursue justice and has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.

Will Trent also stars Erika Christensen as Angie Polaski, Iantha Richardson as Faith Mitchell, Jake McLaughlin as Michael Ormewood and Sonja Sohn as Amanda Wagner.

Liz Heldens, Dan Thomsen, Slaughter, Oly Obst and Howard Deutch executive produce. Rodriguez serves as co-executive producer on Season 2.

The pilot episode was written by Heldens and Thomsen, and directed and executive produced by Paul McGuigan. The series is produced by 20th Television, a part of Disney Television Studios.

The show’s renewal isn’t surprising, given the series’ ratings success.

Season-to-date, Will Trent is a top performer across both linear and streaming, and is gaining ratings momentum among adults across all platforms, up each week since its second-season premiere on February 20.

The sophomore drama recently reached its highest rated episode ever on March 5, delivering 9.02 million total viewers in seven-day metrics. Since Season 1, the show has reached nearly 70 million total viewers across platforms.

Will Trent received an early Season 2 renewal last year on the heels of Season 1’s promising performance. The series led the ABC freshman pack as the No. 1 new drama in total viewers (9.9 million) and adults 18-49 (1.65 rating) after 35 days of viewing across linear and digital platforms.

Will Trent airs Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC.

ABC Picks Up Ramón Rodríguez’s Drama “Will Trent” to Series

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Where there’s a Will (Trent), there’s a way for Ramón Rodríguez.

ABC has picked up the drama pilot Will Trent (working title), starring the 42-year-old Puerto Rican actor, to series for a midseason launch.

Ramón Rodríguez Will Trent is one of four 2022 ABC drama pilots whose production was targeted for off-cycle and the first of the bunch to land a series order.

Will Trent emerged as an early front-runner in what ABC calls “second cycle” as part of its year-round development strategy. There was a small hiccup in the final stretch, which was reportedly over the nature of storytelling, but the pilot remained on track for a pickup.

In anticipation of a series order, writers have been working on scripts for the past three weeks.

Based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling “Will Trent” series, the series stars Rodriguez as Special Agent Will Trent of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations (GBI), who was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system. But now, determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was, Will Trent has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.

The series is expected to be a procedural.

In addition to Rodriguez, Will Trent also stars Erika Christensen as Angie Polaski, Iantha Richardson as Faith Mitchell, Jake McLaughlin as Michael Ormewood and Sonja Sohn as Amanda Wagner. Liz Heldens, Dan Thomsen, Karin Slaughter and Oly Obst executive produce.

The pilot episode is written by Liz Heldens and Dan Thomsen, and directed and executive produced by Paul McGuigan.

Ramón Rodríguez to Star in ABC’s Drama Pilot “Will Trent”

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Ramón Rodríguez has found a new will to thrive…

The 42-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast in the lead role of ABC’s drama pilot Will Trent, which now has been officially cleared for production.

Ramon RodriguezRodriguez will also be a producer on the project, which hails from 20th Television.

Rodríguez was approached just a couple of weeks after the series had received a cast-contingent pilot order in early February. Trent’s casting, which comes after lengthy negotiations, removes that contingency.

Rodríguez most recently starred opposite Aubrey Plaza and served as producer on the Hulu pilot Olga Dies Dreaming, which isn’t moving forward.

In Will Trent, written by Liz Heldens and Dan Thomsen based on Karin Slaughter’s bestselling book series, Special Agent Will Trent (Rodríguez) of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations was abandoned at birth and endured a harsh coming-of-age in Atlanta’s overwhelmed foster care system. But now, determined to use his unique point of view to make sure no one is abandoned like he was, Trent has the highest clearance rate in the GBI.

Rodríguez’s Will Trent is a gifted GBI agent and a loner within the law-enforcement community who hides the severe dyslexia that went untreated during his traumatic childhood in foster care. But with the Bureau’s best clearance rate, he couldn’t care less if people don’t like him.

Heldens and Thomsen executive produce along with Slaughter and 3 Arts’ Oly Obst.

Rodríguez’s television series credits include Showtime’s The Affair and Netflix/Marvel’s Iron Fist and The Defenders. In features, he next will be seen starring in the horror film Lullaby from Annabelle director John R. Leonetti. He recently starred in Disney’s The One and Only Ivan alongside Bryan Cranston.