EXCLUSIVE: Desperate Housewives alumna Eva Longoria is returning to ABC for another soapy drama, this time as a producer. ABC has bought Trust, an hourlong soap based on the popular Colombian telenovela Pura Sangre, which is produced by Longoria’s UnbeliEVAble Entertainment, Berman/Braun and Universal TV. Written by Katie Lovejoy (Dracula), Trust centers on David Montenegro, a humble attorney in Miami who is given the chance to become the Trustee of the Lagos estate. David takes the job to try and rekindle a romance with his first and only love, Rosella Lagos – who is now engaged to another man – but before long, he finds himself sucked into her dysfunctional family and discovers that, in a world of so much money, the only true currency is trust. The project stems from UnbeliEVAble’s first-look deal with Uni TV. UnbeliEVAble’s Longoria and Ben Spector executive produce with Gail Berman, Lloyd Braun and Gene Stein.
Produced by RCN Television, Pura Sangre (trailer below) ran for 126 episodes between 2007 and 2008 to strong ratings and award recognition. Written by Mauricio Navas, Conchita Ruiz and Tania Cardenas, it starred Marcela Mar and Rafael Novoa. Its international adaptations include a Mexican version by Televisa. In addition to Trust, CAA-repped UnbeliEVAble has a comedy at NBC inspired by sex therapist Laura Berman, and Longoria exec produces Lifetime’s Devious Maids. Katie Lovejoy, repped by CAA and Bob Myman, came out of the USC screenwriting program after winning the Humanitas Prize’s Student Drama Fellowship for a House M.D. spec. She went on to pen a rewrite on Disney’s Prom and was the highest ranked woman writer on the 2010 Black List for her script The Arsonist’s Love Story. In TV, Lovejoy also sold a pitch to ABC to adapt the bestselling book series The Spellman Files with Greg Yaitanes and has The Quilted Giraffe at Bravo!
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