Toronto

Come From Away creators partner with Ellen DeGeneres on new TV series for CW

The Canadian couple behind the Broadway hit Come From Away is teaming up with Ellen DeGeneres on an upcoming TV project.

Show will focus on collision victim's recovery at trauma hospital on Rikers Island in New York

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, the Canadian couple behind the Broadway hit Come From Away is teaming up with Ellen DeGeneres on an upcoming TV project, Warner Bros. Television confirmed Friday. (The Canadian Press)

The Canadian couple behind the Broadway hit Come From Away is teaming up with Ellen DeGeneres on an upcoming TV project.

Irene Sankoff and David Hein, who created the Newfoundland-set musical that has won international acclaim, will write and executive produce a series for the CW network, Warner Bros. Television confirmed Friday.

Talk show host and comedian DeGeneres will also executive produce the one-hour drama, titled How To Get Run Over By A Truck, alongside Jeff Kleeman.

The series, which is in development, is inspired by a memoir written by Katie McKenna, who at age 24 was hit by a massive semi while riding her bike in Brooklyn.

Produced by Very Good Production in association with Warner Bros. Television, the show will focus on the collision victim's recovery at a trauma hospital on Rikers Island in New York.

Sankoff and Hein's Come From Away is set in Gander, N.L., in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. Since opening on Broadway in 2017, the show has gathered several big wins at the Tonys, the Olivier Awards and Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards.