Bri Lee’s Novel ‘The Work’ Set For TV Adaptation At Dollhouse Pictures

EXCLUSIVE: Bri Lee‘s Australian bestseller The Work is getting a TV adaptation.

Dollhouse Pictures – the Sydney-based production collective led by Rose Byrne, Krew Boylan, Shannon Murphy and Jessica Carrera – landed the screen option on the novel following a negotiation with rights holder UTA.

Published by Allen & Unwin, The Work is set between New York, Brisbane and Sydney and follows Lally, an ambitious New York gallerist, and Patrick, a Sydney-based junior antiques appraiser, two young professionals, both desperately trying to establish themselves in the contemporary art world.

Per the synopsis, “When they meet, their chemistry is instant, beginning a turbulent long distant relationship. As their personal and professional lives become increasingly entangled, they begin to question if their love can survive distance, ambition and their cut-throat workplace.”

Screenwriter Hannah Lehmann, who created and directed Snap original series Two Sides, is creating the TV series, with Lee and Carerra the executive producers. Screen Australia is supporting development.

“I’ve always admired Bri Lee’s writing and her willingness to question power, privilege and the institutions that shape us,” said Carrera. “What excites me about The Work is its seductive world, where everything has a value and the rules are constantly shifting. At its heart is a complicated relationship that asks what if the person you desire most is also the person who costs you the most. Hannah Lehmann brings a sharp and assured voice to the adaptation.”

Dollhouse’s productions include Dolly Parton biopic Seriously Red. Other titles on the slate include the first adaptation of Anh Do’s Wolf Girl, which we first reported on in October 2024.

Lee said The Work had found “a production and writing team that are committed to making this show properly gutsy, hella sexy, and seriously funny.”

She added the novel “was always so cinematic in my head, and Dollhouse Productions are going to take the words off the page and build a magnetic, can’t-look-away spectacle. Hannah is a genius who understands these characters’ deepest fears and desires.”

Lee is represented by UTA and Grace Heifetz at a4 Literary. Her other books include non-fiction titles Eggshell Skull, Beauty and Who Gets to Be Smart, and literature publication News & Reviews. Her second novel, Seed, was published last year.