HBO will present Paul Rudnick’s comic satire Coastal Elites, featuring an all-star cast playing characters from New York to Los Angeles coping with politics and the pandemic.
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Airing in September and produced entirely under quarantine, this brand-new special tells stories of breaking down and breaking through in the summer of 2020 that are funny, searing, poignant, and now. Playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick (Addams Family Values, In & Out) writes, and Jay Roach (Bombshell, HBO’s Emmy-nominated All The Way and Emmy-winning Game Change) directs, and both serve as executive producers, in addition to Jeffrey Seller (Tony winner for Broadway’s Hamilton, In the Heights, and Rent), Flody Suarez (Rise, 8 Simple Rules, Broadway’s The Cher Show), Scott Chaloff, and Michelle Graham (Bombshell).
In addition to Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe, and Grammy winner Bette Midler (Hello Dolly, The Rose), Coastal Elites will star (in alphabetical order) Kaitlyn Dever (Golden Globe and BAFTA nominee for Unbelievable), Dan Levy (Emmy nominee for Schitt’s Creek), Sarah Paulson (Emmy and Golden Globe winner for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Golden Globe and Emmy nominee for HBO’s Game Change) and Issa Rae (Emmy and Golden Globe nominee for HBO’s Insecure).
“Paul Rudnick and Jay Roach bring their razor-sharp perspective and wit to HBO,” said Casey Bloys, President, HBO Programming. “We are thrilled to partner with them in telling this story, which is uniquely resonant for these times.”
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Exploring our current world of deeply divided politics and the universal pursuit of human connection, Coastal Elites features a series of confessionals from five main characters.
Coastal Elites is written by Rudnick and directed by Roach with executive producers including Rudnick, Roach, Jeffrey Seller, Flody Suarez, Scott Chaloff, and Michelle Graham.
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Michael Kors, Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for MTV & Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Glamour x Tory Burch)