EXCLUSIVE: Michaela McManus (The Village) is set as the female lead in ABC’s national parks drama pilot from Rashad Raisani and A+E Studios.
Written and executive produced by Raisani, the as-yet untitled drama is a “soapy” procedural set in the world of national parks. It revolves around the tangled, messy lives of the agents who work for the ISB — an elite law-enforcement unit responsible for solving all serious crimes that occur in our country’s 81,000 square miles of protected land.
2022 ABC Pilots & Series Orders
McManus will play Audrey, a beautiful but completely unaffected young Park Service agent, a “wild at heart rule breaker” with a big heart and self-deprecating sense of humor who loves the wilderness. Amazingly intuitive, Audrey can size up a crime scene like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes. Her mother was killed by the infamous Wild Flower Killer when she was just 11, and she has been raised ever since by Hugh, who is now her boss. When a young man is killed in Yosemite, it appears that her mother’s murderer has become active again after many years, and Audrey is determined to bring him to justice.
Raisani, who began his career on USA Network’s Burn Notice, where he rose from staff writer to co-exec producer, will exec produce with A+E Studios’ Barry Jossen and Tana Jamieson. The company is producing with 20th Television.
McManus played the series-regular role of Sarah on NBC’s The Village. She most recently was seen in recurring roles on SEAL Team and You and appeared in the McManus brothers’ horror feature The Block Island Sound. She’s repped by UTA and Artists First.