Lionsgate’s Death at Penn State Lands at Hulu

Death at Penn State, a limited series from Lionsgate Television and executive producer Robert Greenblatt, is in development at Hulu.

The project is based on an article from The Atlantic by Caitlin Flanagan and tells the story of Tim Piazza, a college student who fought for his life for 12 hours after a hazing incident before his fraternity brothers finally sought medical aid. It hails from Greenblatt and co-executive producer Jon Wu via The Green Room banner and writer/executive producer Joe Hortua. Flanagan is attached as a non-writing executive producer.

Greenblatt stated: “I appreciate Lionsgate and Hulu for taking on the tragedy of Tim Piazza’s death due to a careless hazing incident at Penn State’s Beta Theta Pi fraternity in 2017. It resulted in one of the largest criminal indictments against a fraternity and its members in recent U.S. history. While hazing is illegal, there continue to be similar incidents around the country each year, and we want this to be a cautionary tale. Tim’s bereaved parents, Jim and Evelyn, are now crusaders for reform, and last year, the Timothy J. Piazza Anti-Hazing Law was passed. We all hope this will be drama with a purpose.”

Jim and Evelyn Piazza commented: “We are grateful and fully supportive of Lionsgate and Hulu taking on this project related to our son’s tragic and very preventable death. Given the reckless and deplorable behavior of fraternity members and their advisors, the lack of oversight by the University and the National Fraternity and the ongoing criminal and civil proceedings that continue five plus years later, we feel this is a story that must be told to prevent similar incidents from happening to another young man (or woman) and their family.”