The on-a-roll production duo of Roma Downey and Mark Burnett are launching a new project in which they enlist female faith leaders of today to help tell the stories of some of the key women portrayed in the Bible.
Women of the Bible will examine the stories of Eve, Sarah, Rehab, Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary and feature interviews with Christine Caine and Priscilla Shirer, co-founders of Going Beyond Ministries; Victoria Osteen, co-pastor of Lakewood Church; Eva Rodriguez of the Latino Evangelical Women’s Association; Kay Warren, co-founder of Saddleback Church; and Bible teacher/best-selling author Joyce Meyer.
Women of the Bible is the latest in a stream of projects coming from Burnett and Downey since the two set the United Artists Media Group partnership with MGM and Hearst Corp. Downey is set to host a series for TLC next year revolving around stories from people who believe they witnessed real-life miracles, according to a report on deadline.com.
And the new project comes in the wake of last year’s hugely successful The Bible miniseries, which aired on the History Channel.
“There’s no one better than Mark Burnett and Roma Downey to create this special, which is the perfect complement to Lifetime’s miniseries event, The Red Tent,” said Rob Sharenow, executive vice president and general manager of Lifetime.
Last May, Lifetime announced it was going into production on The Red Tent, which tells the story of Dinah the daughter of Leah and Jacob, who is only briefly referenced in the Old Testament. The two-night, four-hour miniseries adaptation of the best-selling novel by Anita Diamant published in 1997 stars Rebecca Ferguson, Minnie Driver (About A Boy) and Homeland alumna Morena Baccarin.
Earlier this month, TLC ordered a six-part series about people who claim they’ve experienced “divine intervention,” from Downey and Burnett—the “It Couple” of biblical TV. Downey will host that series, which TLC says explores “the stories of people who claim that they’ve experienced modern-day miracles, incredible twists of fate, and phenomena that logic and science cannot explain.” TLC brags the series “will leave even the most skeptical viewers considering if a divine force was at work.”
In April, Burnett and Downey joined Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and Paramount Pictures’ Ben-Hur. In December, they landed CBS’ first announced project from its new limited series and event programming unit—The Dovekeepers, a four-hour miniseries based on Alice Hoffman’s historical novel about the siege of Masada, scheduled to air in 2015, the deadline.com report added.
That same month, NBC gave a formal green light to Burnett and Downey’s 12-hour miniseries A.D.,—a follow-up to their highly rated miniseries The Bible. The project, produced by LightWorkers Media with Burnett, Downey and Richard Bedser serving as executive producers, is eyeing a premiere in spring 2015.
The Women of the Bible will be produced by Burnett and Downey’s Lightworkers Media, the faith and family division of United Artists Media Group (UAMG). They will also executive produce the special. UAMG is a joint venture among MGM, Burnett, Downey and Hearst Corporation.
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