CBS has put in development Closure, a one-hour drama loosely based on the life of baseball Hall of Famer-turned-funeral home owner Andre Dawson, from Samantha Corbin-Miller (Swagger, Absentia), DeVon Franklin (Breakthrough) and his Franklin Entertainment and CBS Television Studios, where Franklin is under an overall deal.
Written by Corbin-Miller, in Closure, a beloved baseball Hall of Famer takes over his uncle’s funeral home in an unexpected second chapter of his career in the wake of the unsolved disappearance of his adult son. Rocked by his family’s loss, he and his three daughters — a homicide detective, coroner and trauma nurse, who each have their own parallel journeys in the business of death — commit themselves to helping others find the peace and closure their family hasn’t been able to yet.
Corbin-Miller executive produces with Franklin. Jenna Nicholson, VP Television for Franklin Entertainment, will co-executive produce. Dawson will serve as a consultant. CBS Television Studios is the studio.
Corbin-Miller is currently an executive producer on Debris at NBC and previously on Swagger, Apple’s new basketball-themed drama series from NBA superstar Kevin Durant, Shots Fired co-creator Reggie Rock Bythewood, Imagine Television Studios and CBS TV Studios. She served as an executive producer on the second season of Amazon’s Absentia, and her other previous credits include Conviction and Law & Order: SVU. Corbin-Miller is repped by Anonyomus Content and attorney JR McGinnis at Felker, Toczek.
A former professional baseball player and inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Dawson played for four different teams as an outfielder over a 21-year career, spending most of his time with the Montreal Expos (1976–1986) and Chicago Cubs (1987–1992). He was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a free agent in 1992, where he played for two seasons. He went on to the Florida Marlins, where knee problems forced his retirement after the 1996 season.
He entered the funeral business in 2003, investing in a funeral home his younger brother owned, and became the owner and operator of Paradise Memorial in 2008 in Florida. He talked to the Associated Press in April about how he and his business were having to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. “It’s very sad. Because people mourn and grieve differently, and they’re not getting through that process as they would under normal circumstances. You see a lot of hurt and pain,” he said.
Dawson released his autobiography If You Love This Game: An MVP’s Life in Baseball in May 2012.
The project is among the first for Franklin under his recently signed CBS TV Studios deal. On the film side, he most recently produced the inspirational film Breakthrough, the Sony Pictures Animation film The Starring and Sony’s Miracles From Heaven. Franklin is repped by WME and John Meigs at HJTH.
