“I hope Lean Machine will be a home for material that is character-driven, inclusive, human and which puts writers and writing at the center of the creative process,” Brosh McKenna told THR.
Anything that means more TV from Brosh McKenna is okay by us, and this announcement includes some details about the first project in development through Lean Machine—a potential Hulu series called Hit. Brosh McKenna will co-write and executive produce the project alongside Alden Derck, also an alumnus of the Crazy Ex-Girlfriend writers’ room. Hit “revolves around a young pop star, struggling to write her debut album, who gets stuck in a songwriting bootcamp organized by the anxious execs at her record label,” which sounds just about right for that team. Derck and Brosh McKenna are joined by director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who wrote and directed the 2019 Netflix film Someone Great.
When The A.V. Club visited the set of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend last year, we learned a bit about Brosh McKenna’s commitment to developing other artists. Here’s how the show’s Emmy-winning choreographer, Kathryn M. Burns, put it:
“I’ve been shadowing Aline to learn more about the directing process and scene work, things like that. She really wants me to start directing. I think she asked me more questions than she otherwise would have.”
So Lean Machine’s focus should come as no surprise, and nor should the involvement of another up-and-coming writer. Brosh McKenna’s news is the latest in a string of announcements involving the cast and creative team behind Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, including Vella Lovell joining Tina Fey and Robert Carlock’s Ted Danson-starring untitled L.A. mayor series, co-creator Rachel Bloom’s pilot at Pop TV and musical adaptation of The Nanny, and writer Ilana Peña’s new Disney+ series Diary Of A Future President, among others.
