Starz developing dark drama about ballet

Lawrence Bender previously brought you a bloody, horrific WWII fantasy with 'Inglorious Basterds.' Moira Walley-Beckett co-produced 'Breaking Bad,' exposing the dark, seedy, amoral world of suburban drug dealers. Now, the two have teamed up to shine a light on the evil, dirty, unspeakable world of... professional ballet?

Starz has greenlit development on a drama project from Bender and Walley-Beckett described as a dark and gritty series that unflinchingly explores the dysfunctional underbelly of the ballet world. Written by Walley-Beckett herself, the untitled drama series follows a young female ballet dancer, Claire, who has a distinctly troubled past as she joins a prestigious ballet company in New York.

So what makes Walley-Beckett such an expert on the subject? Well she's a former ballet dancer herself. Walley-Beckett was a dancer and an actress before transitioning to television writing and eventual producing. Her first television writing credit was for the short-lived 2007 series 'Raines' starring Jeff Goldblum. As a staff writer on the second season of 'Breaking Bad,' Walley-Beckett was nominated for a Writer's Guild of America award, prompting her promotion to co-producer come season three. Come the fourth 'Breaking Bad' season, Walley-Beckett was promoted once again to full producer credit.

Well that explains Walley-Beckett's involvement in the subject; what about feature film producer Lawrence Bender? Well would you believe that Bender was once a ballet dancer as well? Yes, the man with an astounding twenty-nine Academy Award nominations was a dancer before he transitioned to the film industry.

With these two heavy-hitters on board, this project seems like quite a coup for Starz. More as it develops.