Steven Soderbergh may be the busiest retired person working in Hollywood. Okay, while Soderbergh’s announced retirement may not be a stoppage of work, the man who directed OCEANS ELEVEN, TRAFFIC, CONTAGION, SIDE EFFECTS, and the upcoming Cinemax series THE KNICK is still very hard at coming up with new producing and directorial projects. One of those is a new TV series based on his film THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE.
THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE was originally released back in 2009 and barely broke even on it’s $1.3 million budget but did represent porn star Sasha Grey‘s first foray into legitimate film acting. Now, Starz will bring the high class subject matter to cable in the form of a thirteen episode anthology series that follows a similar plot to the feature film.
The half-hour series, from Transactional Pictures, which explores the relationships of the most exclusive courtesans who provide their clients with far soderberghmore than just sex. These purveyors – or GFEs (Girlfriend Experience) – share intimacies more common to romantic partners or husbands and wives, becoming quasi-lovers and confidants who are richly paid for their time.
Soderbergh will serve as an executive producer on the series but there is no word on whether he will direct any of the episodes. Starz has been trying to flesh out it’s creative programming side in the absence of any substantial series since the end of SPARTACUS. Many shows have come and gone on the network including the excellent BOSS with Kelsey Grammer, CAMELOT with Eva Green, and mob series MAGIC CITY. The recently launched hip hop series POWER was just renewed for a second season.
At this point, there are worse ideas for a show out there, but even with Soderbergh producing, I cannot help but feel this is going to end up being another RED SHOE DIARIES type softcore anthology. Hopefully they can find intriguing stories to tell as THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE was one of the director’s least entertaining films in recent years.