‘Schitt’s Creek’ Actress Annie Murphy To Star & EP ‘Witness Protection’ For MRC Film Female Comedy Label

EXCLUSIVE: Schitt’s Creek Emmy winning star Annie Murphy is set to star and executive produce Witness Protection for MRC Film’s female-driven comedy label, led by Becky Sloviter.

Witness Protection reunites Murphy with scribes Rupinder Gill and David West Read of the Emmy-winning Schitt’s Creek, who will write and executive produce the feature.

Witness Protection centers on a woman who has always defined herself by her romantic relationships, but when she is forced to enter witness protection, she must try to figure out who she really is for the first time while maintaining her cover and keeping the criminals at bay.

The original conceit for the project was developed in-house at Alloy Entertainment, which worked with Murphy to package the project that ultimately sold to MRC Film in a competitive situation. Elysa Dutton and Leslie Morgenstein will produce for Alloy Entertainment, with Sloviter producing for MRC.

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Murphy played Alexis Rose, the daughter of former video baron Johnny Rose (Eugene Levy) and soap actress Moira Rose (Catherine O’Hara) for 80 episodes on Schitt’s Creek, winning Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series at the Emmys last year. For the series’ sixth and final season, it amassed nine Emmy wins, the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series, and many more, becoming the most awarded comedy series in a single year. Murphy currently stars as Allison on AMC’s new series, Kevin Can F**k Himself, a dark comedy that follows the secret life of a sitcom wife. She will also be featured in the highly anticipated second season of Netflix’s Russian Doll. Recent guest appearances off-camera include Robot Chicken (Cartoon Network), American Dad, and Family Guy (20th Century Fox).

Murphy has written, produced and performed in The Plateaus,  a web series for the CBC which also features Elisha Cuthbert and Jay Baruchel. Born and raised in Ontario, Canada, she is a graduate of both the Canadian Film Centre Actors’ Conservatory and the Theatre Performance Program at Concordia University.

Murphy is repped by Gersh, Mosaic, GGA, and 42West. Gill is repped by UTA, 3 Arts and Hansen, Jacobson Teller. Read is repped by Gersh.

Previously announced projects in development for MRC Film’s female driven comedy label include The Inheritance from Emmy Award winner Ashley Nicole Black and Adam Sztykiel’s directorial debut Let’s Have Kids!, written by Sztykiel and Ellie Knaus. Sloviter most recently produced the Golden Globe-nominated and Critics Choice Awards’ Best Comedy film Palm Springs.