ABC Orders Drama Pilot from ‘American Crime’s John Ridley

As the broadcast networks’ annual pilot season starts to take flight, ABC is kicking off things early with a new drama from John Ridley.

The network has ordered the drama pilot Presence (Unlic) from prolific writer/executive producer Ridley. Presence (Unlic) follows the story of woman who’s an Army veteran, and now finds herself working as an unlicensed private eye in Los Angeles. It’s there that she begins interacting with a wide variety of unique Angelenos.

Ridley is writing the pilot, which also comes from Michael McDonald’s Stearns Castle production company. ABC Studios is the studio.

Ridley has been steadily increasing his output at ABC, where his critically acclaimed drama American Crime is about to enter its second season. Also at ABC, he’s developing a limited series based on Kim Reid’s book No Place Safe: A Family Memoir, and he’s working on a top-secret show with Marvel.

Ridley’s film credits include 12 Years a Slave.