‘Vampire Diaries’ creator Julie Plec unveils Universal Television slate

The Vampire Diaries

Julie Plec, the US creator and producer behind The Vampire Diaries, has unveiled a large slate of projects in development under her overall deal with Universal Television, and made two new appointments at her label, My So-Called Company.

Plec has been based at Universal Television since 2020 after moving over from Warner Bros. Television. She is working on 10 projects in total, executive producing each alongside My So-Called Company president Emily Cummins.

The projects include Clifton, an adaptation of Margaret Peterson Haddix’s novel Running Out of Time, for Peacock. Aisha Porter-Christie is adapting the story, which is about a 17-year-old who uncovers a secret about her island village of Clifton – a sanctuary for runaway slaves and others who fled the US at the height of the Civil War.

Plec and Emily Cummins will executive produce alongside Kevin Misher for Misher Films, whose Andy Berman will serve as a producer.

Drama series Douglass Medical, from Ayanna Floyd, follows a doctor who is forced to return home to Washington DC in the wake of a devastating professional scandal, while Freeman, from Adam Starks, is about a family that moves to an idyllic town in Georgia after acquiring a lucrative inheritance, including the mysterious house known as Freeman Manor.

Other projects on the slate include romantic drama-comedy Stay Gold, and romantic horror fantasy This Savage Song, based on a novel by Victoria Schwab.

These latest projects follow recent orders for an adaptation of the AfterShock supernatural drama comic-book series Dead Day and young adult series Vampire Academy, both for Peacock.

Plec has also made new appointments at My So-Called Company, hiring former ABC Signature exec Marc Parra as creative executive, and promoting Joey DeAngelis to director of development.

Erin Underhill, president of Universal Television, commented: “When we closed our deal with Julie, we said the sky’s the limit, and she’s absolutely reaching new heights with this upcoming roster. The depth and breadth of her development slate, from doctors to monsters and soap to spectacle, proves that Julie’s creativity is boundless, and we’re excited to bring these diverse projects to market in the near future.”