Lily Rabe to Produce Drama ‘Big D’ in Development at HBO

HBO is developing a drama series that boasts Lily Rabe among its executive producers.

The project is currently titled “The Big D.” Set during a hot and hotly contested summer in Dallas 1980, the show follows a triangle of women as their lives collide to unearth a secret past involving the city’s would-be First Lady, Pat Pangburn, and her mysterious bout of amnesia.

Samantha Buck and Marie Schlingmann will serve as writers and co-executive producers on the project. Rabe and Bettina Barrow will executive produce via Kill Claudio Productions.

Rabe is set to appear in the upcoming HBO limited series “The Undoing” opposite Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. She is also known for her roles on the FX anthology “American Horror Story,” having appeared in eight seasons of the show to date. She is currently working on “The Underground Railroad” at Amazon, which hails from Barry Jenkins. Rabe is also an accomplished stage actress, having been nominated for both a Tony and Drama Desk Award in 2011 for her role in “The Merchant of Venice.” She was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award in 2005 for “Steel Magnolias.”

She is repped by WME, Mosaic, and Gang Tyre.

Buck and Schlingmann’s past credits include “Sister Aimee,” which was produced by Kill Claudio, and the 2013 Peabody Award-winning documentary “Best Kept Secret.” They are 2020 Sundance FilmTwo fellows and were named LGBTQ filmmakers to watch by Indiewire.

They are repped by ICM and Lichter Grossman.

Other recently announced projects in development at HBO include a series adaptation of “Sphere” from “Westworld” producer Denise Thé. Prior to that, the premium cabler announced that it was in early development on a drama about the race for the COVID-19 vaccine with Adam McKay set to executive produce under his first-look deal with HBO.