Spirit Digital
Media was awarded the broadcast and publishing development rights to the
award-winning magazine feature Ballad of the Trunk Monkey Bandit, it was
announced Tuesday.
Spirit will
develop a television comedy series as well as a long-form book based on the
feature.
Appearing in Slake,
Ballad tells the autobiographical story of actor and writer David Henry
Schneider's cross-country drug run gone bad. It was awarded the Best Magazine
Feature for 2010 from the Los Angeles Press Club Journalism Awards.
"Even though
spending time in Federal Prison was a terrible thing, I now know how people
like Martha Stewart and Bernie Madoff spent their days behind bars," said
Schneider. "The levity of the situation was undeniable and Spirit has been
greatly supportive to embrace the material and this sensibility."
"David's
perspective on being in a 'camp for criminals' is hilarious and tragic.
The material is a fascinating insight into white collar prisons in the
way M*A*S*H* explored combat hospitals - we are certain that this will
have broad appeal across all media platforms," noted Zev Suissa, Spirit's
creative director.
