Carter Burwell has been hired to score the upcoming HBO mini-series Olive Kitteridge. The series directed by Lisa Cholodenko (Laurel Canyon, High Art) is based on the Pulitzer Price-winning novel of the same title by Elizabeth Strout and stars Frances McDormand, Richard Jenkins, Zoe Kazan, John Gallagher Jr., Jesse Plemons and Brady Corbet. The two-parter takes place in a seemingly placid New England town wrought with illicit affairs, crime and tragedy, told through the lens of Olive, whose wicked wit and harsh demeanor mask a warm but troubled heart and a staunch moral center. Jane Alexander (It Could Happen to You, Normal) has adapted the material for television. Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman (The Pacific, John Adams) are executive producing the project with McDormand and Anderson. Burwell has previously collaborated with Cholodenko on the Academy Award-nominated indie dramedy The Kids Are All Right. Olive Kitteridge is set to premiere in 2014 on HBO.
Burwell’s most recent project, The Fifth Estate directed by Bill Condon and starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Daniel Bruhl is currently playing in theaters.
Does Carter Burwell only do TV if it’s HBO?
Maybe his fee is too high for regular television and only pay cable channels, like HBO, can afford to retain him. Maybe he doesn’t like the quick demand in turn around for standard TV series, which can be days from writing to recording, and prefers the time an HBO series (which doesn’t have as many seasonal episodes) affords, thus more writing time.
Just my guesses.