HBO acquires Sky Living comedy Doll & Em

US premium cable net HBO has bought Doll & Em, a new comedy from Emily Mortimer and Dolly Wells originally commissioned for UK pay TV channel Sky Living.

HBO has bought US and Canadian rights the 6x30mins comedy show from Mortimer and Alessandro Nivola’s new imprint King Bee Productions.

The series follows real life best friends and co-writers Mortimer (The Newsroom) and Wells (The Mighty Boosh, Spy) as fictional versions of themselves.

David Weber of Sloane, Offer, Weber & Dern; Jeremy Gawade of Lee & Thompson, Nivola; and Sky Vision, which has international rights outside North America, brokered the deal with HBO. Sky Vision is planning to launch it to the global market at MIPCOM.

Jane Millichip, director of sales and global brands at Sky Vision, said: “Working with Emily and Alessandro on their first production is a great coup for us. Doll & Em has widespread international appeal and we are proud to launch it at MIPCOM following the deal with HBO.”

Actor Nivola produced the series, along with Mortimer, Wells, Stacia Peters, Kevin Comer, Azazel Jacobs, Revolution Films’ Andrew Eaton and BSkyB’s comedy chief Lucy Lumsden.