Amazon Prime Studios is geared up to fast-track a new show that will feature the difference between the haves and have-nots in Jackson, Wyoming.
“Teton” is the latest project between Amy B. Harris, know for working on such TV hits as “Sex and the City” and “The Carrie Diaries,” and Jason Reilly who has (“Jane the Virgin” and “Puppy Love” on his resume. The two creators as well as Amazon have been scarce to reveal any details about the show other than the working title, “Teton.”
According to the exclusive Deadline story, “Teton” is the co-creation between Harris and Reilly who will serve both roles as writers and show-runners for the new series.
The concept of the show came from a man who knows Jackson and its foibles, high-priced homes, and celebrity sightings very well. Cameron Duddy is a Grammy-nominated bass player for the group Midland and has deep roots in the town that has the only fully-constructed airport in the middle of a national park. Duddy is the stepson of Joely Fisher and stepgrandson of actress Connie Stevens, who has owned a home in Jackson for decades. He is best known for his musical prowess with his band but he’s also worked behind the camera. His father is noted cinematographer Christopher Duddy.
Duddy’s band, Midland, rose to fame from their hit song “Drinkin’ Problem” in 2017 and followed their break-out single with more hits like “Make a Little” and “Mr. Lonely.” Duddy has directed all the band’s videos.
Even though he hails from Dripping Springs, Texas, Duddy has insight into the Jackson “culture” that undoubtedly will provide some keen insight into the show’s premise. So far, his involvement in producing the show will be as an executive producer and contributing writer. According to Amazon, episodes have been sketched out and half-written, but no casting or big stars have been attached to the project.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and “Teton” will take elements from such popular dramas like “Upstairs, Downstairs” and “Downton Abbey” which compare class, culture, haves and have-nots by using the ski-bum lifers, known to the locals as “skids,” as fodder for the themes and backdrop of the episodes. Besides the couch-surfing, powder-chasing stereotype that “skids” have, they are a tight-knit, mountain community, known for the eccentricities, lovable personalities, forever bordering on being broke. Contrasting that are the third-home, uber-rich crowd that is fertile ground when those two worlds collide for an eight-episode run.
The series, according to the Deadline article, will follow a main character named Kick Taylor who is a ski-racing legend and returns home to Jackson to recover from an mental meltdown while she was competing in world-wide competitions. Taylor has to reconcile her mother’s death, family and friends she left behind in pursuit of gold and glory and adjusting to a small town coming from the bright lights of the big city.
The expectation from Amazon is that the show will have mass appeal outside of the Cowboy State, where Jackson remains a chic, exclusive, (and for some elusive) brand and lifestyle that many have people have yet to be discovered.
Jackson sees over 3 million visitors to it’s mountainous town a year as a passthrough to the south entrance to Yellowstone National Park during the summer season and fly in private jets during the winter season to ski in unparalleled conditions.
