Paramount, Skydance Sports Land Sorority Betting Drama 'Knockouts'
Paramount Television Studios and Skydance Sports have snapped up "Knockouts", a drama about four women in a struggling sorority who run an illegal sports betting operation from their basement.
The sale followed a competitive situation, meaning more than one buyer chased the project, according to Variety. The two studios will co-produce the show. No network or streaming home has been announced.
The series is set around SEC sports and Southern sorority life. SEC refers to the Southeastern Conference, a major US college sports league. The story follows four members of a bottom-tier sorority who use insider knowledge to build the betting ring.
It is an early-stage sale. A spec script, meaning a script written without a commission in place, has been bought for development. That is the first step. Casting beyond the leads, episode orders and release plans have not been disclosed.
Writers Clara Nevins and Harper Oreck will star in the series as well as executive produce it, meaning they will lead the show creatively as well as appear on screen. Producers Marty Bowen, Wyck Godfrey and James Seidman will also executive produce through their company Temple Hill, Variety reported.
Nevins and Oreck met at Harvard University and started writing together there. Both graduated in 2023. Nevins previously worked as an assistant at Counterpart Studios. Oreck went on to complete a master's degree in gender studies at the University of Cambridge.
The pair previously collaborated on the short film "Tank Top". Their focus now is how this small group organises its secret business and what it risks to keep it running.
Nevins and Oreck are represented by UTA and Kaplan Perrone. Temple Hill is represented by UTA.
What makes this stand out for viewers is the combination. New writer-performers are fronting a college sports story built around women who are usually pushed to the edge of that world. For now, it lives as a script with studios attached and producers in place.
