Speculation: Zach Woods’ upcoming TV project
I am going to start this out with the following:
- I cannot confirm this information is true. That said, please take this speculation as it is: speculation. Until an independent media source verifies this production, I cannot say this is 100% accurate.
- This is purely based on publicly available announcements, blog posts, and social media and connecting some possible dots.
- My intention for this write-up is simple: celebrating Zach’s work as an artist, director, actor, writer, multihyphenate, icon, etc.
- If you are involved with this project and would like to either comment or provide more information, please email press@dailyzachwoods.com. (More than happy to keep you anonymous.)
The Guess: Zach Woods and Fred Hechinger are partnering to make a television series based on a memoir set in prison.
The Evidence
A TV project in the works
Zach tells AV Club in an interview from January 2024: “…We’re in the process of getting financing for it. A wonderful actor named Fred Hechinger [The White Lotus] and I are developing another TV show that I hesitate to say too much about because it’s early days, but I’m very excited about it.” (source)
Fred Hechinger starred in Zach Woods’ short film David (2020) with William Jackson Harper and Will Ferrell.
Present Day: Instagram Clues
After Zach announced The Accompanist’s debut at Tribeca, he started to get tagged in a few Instagram posts:
Alt text pulled from Instagram:
Photo by Will Leyva in East End Studios with @/stonedread, @/theactorsgang, @/fabianalomarofficial, @/atoasttolifepodcast, @/shutt3rwerks, and @/fred.hechinger. May be an image of standing and text that says ‘Welcome 2 ADAAN. 2b continued… တေ်’.
What’s East End Studios? A “premier independent studio management and development company.” (source)
Zach is toward the back left of the photo. The people in the group are holding copies of a book:
That book is called Grit Grind and Glory, a memoir written by Anthony McDuffie, Jr., an “author, motivational speaker, and spoken word artist”. In a blog post from March 2024, McDuffie wrote:
I am collaborating with producers to adapt my memoir, “GRIT GRIND AND GLORY,” into a TV series, furthering the reach of our mission to inspire and empower youth.
Don’t need to say that Fred Hechinger is pictured in group photos alongside Zach Woods. Brandon Gardner, a frequent collaborator with Zach, also seems involved in the project; he has worked with Zach on the animated series In the Know (Peacock, 2023) as well as Zach’s first short films David and Bud (2021) (source).
Additionally, McDuffie himself is pictured crouching and wearing a recognizable jacket (source):
Alt text for group photo:
Photo shared by Andre Lascaris on April 23, 2026 tagging @/ceddymanu, @/luke.tennie, @/thats.kylemurphy, @/casey.m.d, @/fred.hechinger, @/gritgrind_glory, @/mrzachwoods, and @/will_leyva_adaan. May be an image of standing and text.
Fan page @/hechingerquinn on Instagram posted about “Fred [Hechinger] on the set of “Grit, Grind and Glory”, his new project which is set in a prison!, crediting photos to cast member Kyle Murphy. Murphy seemed to affirm this (source):
All this said, I have not independently verified the title of this production, though the TV series’ source material is clear.
Who Else is Involved?
Now here’s what’s really interesting that I would LOVE for someone to verify:
The Actors Gang
The Actors Gang is a nonprofit based in Culver City, California, which carries the following mission:
to present new, unconventional and uncompromising plays and dynamic reinterpretations of the classics, to restore the ancient sense of the stage as a shared sacred space, to introduce theater to children and help them find their own creative voices, to bring the freedom of self-expression to the incarcerated. (source)
I wonder if this production have brought in actors who are or were incarcerated to participate in this project.
Future Updates
I will update this post with further details as I encounter them and verify them to the best of my abilities. Send corrections to press@dailyzachwoods.com.
—MK, proprietor