Comfortably eschewing his old flame of film for the return to one-time beau television Steven Soderbergh already has one show on US cable channels, with period medical drama The Knick preparing to arrive on Cinemax later this year (the latest trailer is here). Now one of his films, The Girlfriend Experience**, is set to become an anthology series over at rival outlet Starz.
Based on the 2009 film that starred porn veteran Sasha Grey as a high-end Manhattan call girl juggling the challenges of her clients, her boyfriend and the rest of her life, the show will feature 13 episodes written and directed by indie filmmakers Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz, which will explore the world of modern courtesans of all stripes and types who provide their clients with more than just sex.
Unlike The Knick, Soderbergh won’t be directing this one, but he will be crucially involved as an executive producer alongside Philip Fleishman.
“When Philip floated the idea of a **Girlfriend Experience-**inspired television show, I thought: ‘Let's make it a different woman in a different city, let's pair two independent writer / directors, one male and one female, and let them do the whole thing.’” Soderbergh says in a statement picked up by The Wrap. “I've known Lodge for 20 years and I became a fan of Amy's when I saw her first feature last summer. We went to Chris Albrecht because he and I have been trying to find something to do together since we did K Street 11 years ago. He responded without hesitation to both the idea of the show and the approach.”
No details have been released on when the show might hit screens, but we’d guess some time next year.