Tori Sampson Boards Tessa Thompson & HBO Max’s ‘The Secret Lives Of Church Ladies’, Will Write & EP With Deesha Philyaw

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Three Women and Hunters writer Tori Sampson will co-create HBO Max’s Tessa Thompson-produced adaptation of The Secret Lives of Church Ladies.Sampson will work with Deesha Philyaw, the author behind the book, and the pair will write and exec produce the drama project.It comes after Deadline revealed that that the Westworld star had set up her own production company Viva Maude, with a first-look deal at HBO and HBO Max and had set The Secret Lives of Church Ladies adaptation as one of the first projects that she has in the works with the streamer.The Secret Lives of Church Ladies was published in September 2020 and was a finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction.