{"id":855499,"date":"2026-08-14T23:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T23:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/855499\/"},"modified":"2026-08-14T23:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T23:20:10","slug":"inside-luckychap-tv-sterling-point-life-is-strange-sex-criminals-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/855499\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside LuckyChap TV: Sterling Point, Life is Strange, Sex Criminals and More"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIf the YA drama \u201cSterling Point<\/a>\u201d has become your new hyper-fixation show, you\u2019re not alone.
Amazon reports that the coming-of-age series, from creator Megan Park, was the most-watched show on Prime Video worldwide since its Aug. 5 debut.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSterling Point\u201d centers on 17-year-old Annie Jacobson (Ella Rubin, best known for \u201cThe Idea of You\u201d), who was raised in New York City with her twin brother (Keen Ruffalo) by her adoptive father (Jay Duplass). But when the twins\u2019 grandfather dies and they inherit his picturesque island, Annie sets out for Muskoka, Canada, to learn more. What, or who, she finds is Ramona (Am\u00e9lie Hoeferle), a standoffish girl who looks just like Annie\u2019s late mother and insists Gordon was also her granddad. The series unfolds over a sun-drenched summer as the two young women develop a sisterly bond while navigating all sorts of drama in the romance department (It wouldn\u2019t be a YA series if there wasn\u2019t at least one love triangle!) and more family secrets are revealed.<\/p>\n

\n\tVariety\u2019s review was a rave, with TV critic Aramide Tinubu pointing out how \u201cSterling Point\u201d offers something \u201cwholly unique and wistfully authentic\u201d to the YA genre \u2014 populated by such hits as \u201cThe Summer I Turned Pretty,\u201d \u201cOff Campus\u201d and \u201cEvery Year After\u201d on the same streamer. What sets this show apart, Tinubu writes, is the depth of its exploration into themes of \u201cgrief, self-discovery and being brave enough to face the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe success of \u201cSterling Point\u201d doesn\u2019t surprise the team behind it as much as it delights them.
\u201cWe made this show for audiences, so to have audiences begin to engage with and hopefully gravitate toward the things that were really important to us in the telling of it, and to see themselves reflected in the storytelling and the characters,\u201d executive producer Dani Gorin tells Variety over Zoom. \u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGorin leads the TV division at LuckyChap<\/a>, the company behind \u201cWuthering Heights,\u201d \u201cPromising Young Woman,\u201d \u201cI, Tonya\u201d and the $1.4 billion-grossing blockbuster, \u201cBarbie.\u201d LuckyChap also produced Park\u2019s second feature, \u201cMy Old Ass,\u201d which was where their professional love affair with the filmmaker (who began her career as a teen star on shows like \u201cThe Secret Life of the American Teenager\u201d) and the Canadian island of Muskoka (where Park spent summers growing up) began.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe \u201crepeat business\u201d with Park is just one of the elements that makes \u201cSterling Point\u201d the epitome of a LuckyChap show. The company has been in the TV business since 2019, launching with the Hulu comedy \u201cDollface,\u201d then going on to produce acclaimed limited series like Netflix\u2019s \u201cMaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tJosh Schwartz, Raffi Donatich, Megan Park, Dani Gorin and Anna Beben on the set of \u201cSterling Point.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSabrina Lantos\/Prime<\/p>\n

\n\tThis time last year, Gorin was gearing up for the launch of \u201cSirens\u201d \u2014 their second series with creator \u201cMaid\u201d creator Molly Smith Metzler \u2014 and visiting the set of \u201cSterling Point,\u201d which featured \u201cThe O.C.\u201d and \u201cGossip Girl\u201d alums Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage as co-showrunners.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBeing in Muskoka with everyone \u2014 the cast, the crew \u2014 it\u2019s such a special place, and it does have like a camp sort of feel,\u201d Gorin recalls. \u201cWe had days where we would be shooting on the water, and you\u2019d be jet-skiing over to a camera boat, and you\u2019re like, \u2018This is work?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut for all the fun in the sun, Gorin and her six-person team were simultaneously working on their next few shows. \u201cWe were getting ready to start the writers\u2019 room on \u2018Life is Strange<\/a>\u2019 in London, and we were working on the pilot script for \u2018Sex Criminals<\/a>,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cAnd we were starting to think about \u2018Retrievals,\u2019 which is our next show with [Metzler].\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLouie Hayes, who oversaw the day-to-day on \u201cSterling Point,\u201d is now focused on \u201cSex Criminals,\u201d the live-action adaptation of the popular comic book series written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Chip Zdarsky for Amazon. Imogen Poots will star as Suze, a \u201cnormal girl with an extraordinary ability: when she has sex, she stops time.\u201d One night, the logline explains, Suze meets Jon (John Reynolds), who has the same gift. \u201cAnd so they do what any other sex having, time stopping couple would do: they rob banks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKumail Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon and Tze Chun developed the series, produced by LuckyChap and Winter Coat Films, with Nia DaCosta directing multiple episodes and joining the team as an executive producer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat I love about \u2018Sex Criminals\u2019 is how specific it feels to the people making it,\u201d writes Hayes in an email from the New York set. \u201cBuilding off what Matt and Chip created in the comic, Emily, Kumail, and Tze are taking this big, provocative, high-concept idea and making something only they could make \u2014 a show that\u2019s funny, idiosyncratic, and ambitious with an enormous amount of heart. It\u2019s such a surprising way into something so romantic and life-affirming.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tMeanwhile, Natalie Berkus is across the country in Vancouver for production on \u201cLife Is Strange,\u201d a sci-fi mystery drama, based on the hit video game. The series follows photography student Max Caulfield (newcomer Tatum Grace Hopkins), who gains the ability to rewind time while saving her best friend, Chloe Price (Maisy Stella). Max and Chloe then work together to explore the town of Arcadia Bay and solve the disappearance of Chloe\u2019s friend, Rachel Amber (Esther McGregor).<\/p>\n

\n\tCharlie Covell will serve as showrunner for the series, which is a co-production between LuckyChap, Square Enix, Story Kitchen and Amazon MGM Studios. Karyn Kusama will direct the first two episodes and executive produce.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhat I love about \u2018Life is Strange\u2019 is that it\u2019s a big and operatic idea based on beloved IP, but the thematic foundation of the show that Charlie has so brilliantly crafted is rooted entirely in the emotional truths of the characters,\u201d Berkus says. \u201cIt\u2019s a really exciting foray into opening up the aperture of our brand and challenging ourselves to explore new types of stories and worlds while always coming back to the authenticity of our artists and what they want to tell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tGorin also notes that \u201cLife is Strange\u201d is a game where, unlike most, 50% of the audience who plays it are women.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIf you\u2019ve played \u2018Life is Strange,\u2019 it really does lend itself to this sort of long-form storytelling. That\u2019s such a unique and exciting challenge for us. It\u2019s something that we did with \u2018Barbie.\u2019 We feel there\u2019s a big opportunity there if the source material is treated with that sort of reverence and care,\u201d she says. \u201cEveryone who\u2019s part of making the show is a fan of the game. There are so many Easter eggs and little nods that the eagle-eyed fans are going to be so excited about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCasting Stella in the lead role is also an Easter egg of sorts, and it proves that \u201crepeat business\u201d extends to all the company\u2019s creative relationships, not just filmmakers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cMegan is such a superstar with casting. It is one of her superpowers,\u201d Gorin says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if she gets enough credit for this, but Megan helped break Jenna Ortega in \u2018The Fallout\u2019 and Stella in \u2018My Old Ass,\u2019 and I think this cast that she has assembled for \u2018Sterling Point\u2019 really are the next generation of big stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMaisy Stella stars in LuckyChap\u2019s upcoming series \u201cLife is Strange.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tEarl Gibson III\/Deadline<\/p>\n

\n\tLike Stella, LuckyChap is keeping star Emilia Jones on their talent roster after she starred in their upcoming film \u201cBad Bridget,\u201d opposite Alison Oliver. News broke Thursday that Jones will star in \u201cRetrievals,\u201d the Netflix limited series, based on the New York Times and Serial Productions podcast of the same name.<\/p>\n

\n\tPer the logline, the show follows an \u201cunlikely community of IVF patients who come together to crusade against Yale University after they are operated on without anesthesia \u2014 because a nurse stole their fentanyl.\u201d Jones will play Gabby Clemente, described as \u201ca New Haven bartender and student teacher whose life is upended by her traumatic egg retrieval surgery. Upon discovering that a nurse at the clinic was stealing vast amounts of fentanyl, Gabby seeks out other victims and leads a groundbreaking legal battle.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe opportunity to work with Metzler again was at the top of the LuckyChap team\u2019s list of reasons to produce the series, but there\u2019s also a more meaningful aftereffect.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to shine a light on a really insidious systemic failure in the medical space, which is the way that women\u2019s pain is routinely dismissed and ignored, and the standard of care is different for women,\u201d Gorin says about the storyline. \u201cIt\u2019s a really hard thing to talk about and to showcase, and the podcast did that so brilliantly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tShe continues: \u201cThe opportunity to tell stories that can have an impact is such a privilege. It\u2019s something \u2018Maid\u2019 did as it related to what domestic violence could look like. We never are issue driven for the sake of it. But when we\u2019re able to move the conversation in and around those sorts of things, it\u2019s really meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tConsidering all these different genres, one might wonder, what makes something a LuckyChap show?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPart of what makes the brand so strong is that there is a shared vision across film and TV: it really comes down to supporting artists and their vision,\u201d Gorin says. \u201cOur brand definitely is about female stories and\/or storytellers, but that works across genres.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother key factor is that the idea feels truly authored. \u201cThat is something that helps cut through for an audience because you can feel that you can feel a voice, you can feel a point of view,\u201d she says. \u201cOnly this person could have done this in this way; it\u2019s so very much in their voice, which I think is rare in television, actually, just given what the medium is and how it\u2019s typically made.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe final ingredient is finding fresh stories that feel \u201ca little bit left of center\u201d tonally. Gorin explains that they aim to produce projects \u201cthat have something to say but aren\u2019t being didactic in the way that we\u2019re saying it and aren\u2019t force-feeding an audience a message, but rather, engaging in a dialogue with them and giving them things to chew on and sit with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cSterling Point\u201d hasn\u2019t officially been renewed by Amazon yet, but rest assured that Park and LuckyChap are invested in telling more of this story. In fact, the show represents the company\u2019s first step toward more ongoing series after enjoying success making limited series.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt is a different calculus than building a limited series,\u201d Gorin says, but creating series that could continue for multiple seasons was a big priority for her team. \u201c\u2019Sterling Point,\u2019 \u2018Sex Criminals\u2019 and \u2018Life is Strange\u2019 are meant to be ongoing. There\u2019s a lot in the pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAnother point of pride is that all those shows have female filmmakers at the center: from Park with \u201cSterling Point\u201d and Nicole Kassell with \u201cSirens\u201d to DaCosta (\u201cSex Criminals\u201d), Kusama (\u201cLife is Strange\u201d) and Lila Neugebauer (\u201cRetrievals\u201d). \u201cIt very much represents the ethos of the company,\u201d Gorin says.<\/p>\n

\n\tWith so many projects in the works, what could the LuckyChap team possibly do next?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are really interested in and excited by the music space and feel like there\u2019s a big opportunity there in television,\u201d Gorin says, teasing that the company is developing a mystery project with a \u201cmusical component.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m Glad My Mom Died,\u201d based on Jennette McCurdy\u2019s bestselling memoir, is still in development at Apple TV. Plus, LuckyChap is working on a family drama, which is a project close to Gorin\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201c\u2019Six Feet Under\u2019 was my absolute favorite show, and probably the reason I work in television,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s something I\u2019ve never done and the company\u2019s never done, and that\u2019s definitely a big target for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo, as the old TV saying goes, \u201cTune in next week.\u201d It probably won\u2019t be the same time or the same channel, but for LuckyChap, the same success feels inevitable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If the YA drama \u201cSterling Point\u201d has become your new hyper-fixation show, you\u2019re not alone.Amazon reports that the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,258957,380362,357208,416481,427],"class_list":["post-855499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-life-is-strange","tag-luckychap","tag-sex-criminals","tag-sterling-point","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}