Watkins
"Burn Notice" scribe Ben Watkins has set up a drama project at Fox and 20th Century Fox TV about a undercover femme investigator who battles her own identity issues.
Watkins is penning the pilot and will exec produce with Mike Tollin. Fox has given the project a script commitment.
Series revolves around a woman in her late 20s of mixed-race heritage who works for the Alameda County D.A.'s office. Having been adopted as an infant, the woman also is dogged by questions about her own identity.
Project marks Watkins' first solo flight on a pilot script. He has also worked as an actor on "The Young and the Restless," among other shows.
"This is a character who has never truly felt like she belongs anywhere," said Watkins, who is biracial. "The coping mechanism that she developed as a kid makes her able to fit in anywhere."
Watkins, who is an exec story editor on USA Network's "Burn Notice," and Tollin first worked together a few years ago in developing a feature adaptation of a short film, "Quest to Ref," that Watkins wrote, produced and starred in. They've been looking to work together on a TV project ever since Tollin was impressed by another spec script that Watkins showed him.
"I knew then this was somebody who was going to go far as a writer," Tollin said.
Watkins is repped by CAA.
Contact Cynthia Littleton at
cynthia.littleton@variety.com